Guyon, Jeanne Marie de la Mothe, n�e Bouvier 1648-1717
French mystic

Born in Montargis, she had planned to become a nun, but was married at the age of 16 to the wealthy and elderly Jacques de la Motte Guyon. A widow at only 28, she determined to devote her life to the poor and needy, and to the cultivation of spiritual perfection. To this end, she went to Geneva (1681), but three years later was forced to leave on the grounds that her Quietist doctrines were heretical. In Turin, Grenoble, Nice, Genoa, Vercelli and Paris, where she finally settled in 1686, she became the centre of a movement for the promotion of 'holy living'. In 1688 she was arrested for heretical opinions, and for having been in correspondence with Miguel de Molinos (1640-97), the leader of Quietism in Spain. Released by the intervention of Madame de Maintenon, she was again imprisoned in 1695, and not released from the Bastille until 1702. Her works include Les Torrents spirituels, Moyen court de faire oraison (1685, 'The Short and Very Easy Method of Prayer'), a mystical interpretation of the Song of Solomon, an autobiography, letters, and some spiritual poetry.