I-I am known as Petronella Sbackers. In am a case apart. A bit of a cantankerous beguine, me. In 1600 I got into it with the Grand Mistress, who was our leader. We chose her among ourselves. Not that I ever stood much of a chance, I wasn't particularly well off and so more of a maid for all trades. They kept an eye on me. They always found something. That I wasn't obedient enough. That I sometimes had "suspicious conversations" on the corner of the square, that I wrote love letters. And why I would sometimes stay outside? They found that fishy too. Not that it is all true, and who will check it now? I think the facts are expired. But I got my ass kicked and kept quiet afterwards. I didn't have much choice either. What was I supposed to do with my life, in the world, as a not-so-rich woman? 

Just to say, things were not always rosy here. Clémence van de Putte, for instance, one of my sisters, once rang the alarm bell, for the fun of it. Everyone took to the streets in a panic, terrified of fire. She also let ladies stay in her cottage, with whom men would then "come and visit". A so-called uncle from Lille, a baron who held dinner parties with rabbit, cakes, lots of wine and other goodies. Clémence also sometimes wore men's clothes. Nowadays, nobody looks surprised by it, but in my time, that was marginally innovative, to put it mildly. The worst thing, however, which they blamed on Clémence, was that she gossiped. About the Grand Mistress. That' something you were better off not doing.

Not that our leaders were angels. They regularly had squabbles, with the bishop, sometimes even the pope, about who was allowed to choose our chaplain, for instance. Arguments with the monarch too, who insisted that in exchange for his protection we should give his friends shelter and food. And of course we were sometimes at loggerheads with each other. Who could be Grand Mistress and who could be porteress, and who could do what in the chapel, for instance. All sorts of trifles, really. 

Of course, I am folding a handful of centuries into a few sentences. All in all, we kept it peaceful, among ourselves. So don't let our bickering be a reason to make a bit of a racket here yourself. Nice to have a sandwich on the bench, or fine conversations, men included, lucky bags, but otherwise keep it tidy. We are much obliged.