Madame Guyon is known for her high degree of spirituality. She was born into a corrupt time in history and the church at that time was especially corrupt. She was persecuted during her career and worked with very little religious training yet she rose to the heights of Christian devotion. She spent her life devoted to the Catholic Church even when she spent years imprisoned by the church. She was a French mystic who believed in Quietism, which was considered heretical by the church. After publishing a book on Quietism she was imprisoned for eight years. She spent the last 15 years of her life is silence writing poetry.