 As the 13th century progressed, some Beguines came under criticism as a result of their ambiguous social and legal status.As a conscious choice to live in the world but in a way that effectively surpassed (at least in piety) or stood out from most laypeople, Beguines attracted disapprobation as much as admiration.In some regions, the term Beguine itself denoted an ostentatiously, even obnoxiously religious woman; an image that quickly led to accusations of hypocrisy (consider the Beguine known as “Constrained Abstinence” in the "Roman de la Rose").