Antoinette Bourignon (1616-1680), the Flemish Christian mystic, was a self-proclaimed visionary and radical advocate of quietism, a form of mysticism that stresses withdrawal from worldly concerns, suppression of the will, and passive meditation on the divine.
She left home in 1636 to avoid a marriage planned by her father and lived in a convent for a short time. She later managed an orphanage. She also came to believe that she was personally directed by God to restore the true spirit of the Gospel to Christianity.
An active critic of all forms of religious organisation, she travelled throughout England, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, carrying her printing press and spreading her quietistic teachings. Her autobiography was translated into English as “The Light of the World” (1696).