Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Introduction: The Devotio Moderna and Modern History
1. Converts in the Middle Ages
—Conversion as a Medieval Form of Life
—Converts in the Low Countries
—Circles of Converts at Strassburg and Brussels
—Converts Under Suspicion: Legislating Against Beguines and Free Spirits
2. Modern-Day Converts in the Low Countries
—The Low Countries
—Households of Devout Women
—Societies of Devout Men
—Modern-Day Conversion
3. Suspicion and Inquisition
—Suspicion of Devout Practices
—Charge and Counter-Charge in the Mid-1390s
—Sisters Under Inquisition, 1396-1397: Friar Eylard Schoneveld Intervenes
—Resisting the Inquisitor: Legal Tactics
—Awaiting the Bishop's Decision, 1398-1401
4. From Converts to Communites: Tertiaries, Sisters, Brothers, Schoolboys, Canons
—Tertiaries "Living the Common Life"
—Sisters of the Common Life
—Brothers of the Common Life
—Schoolboys
—Windesheim Canons and Canonesses
—An Option for Enclosure: Male Canons and Female Tertiaries
5. Inventing a Communal Household: Goods, Customs, Labor, and "Republican" Harmony
—Living Together Without Personal Property
—House Customs and Personal Exercises
—Obedience and Humility in a Voluntary Community
—Labor: Living from the Work of Their Own Hands
—Communal Gatherings and a "Republican" Impulse
6. Defending the Modern-Day Devout: Expansion Under Scrutiny
—Women's Houses and Converting Schoolboys: Burgher Critics at Zwolle
—Friar Matthew Grabow and the Council of Constance
—The Sisters and the Aldermen in Conflict at Deventer: The Women's Narrative
—Institutionalizing Under Scrutiny
7. Proposing a Theological Rationale: The Freedom of the "Christian Religion"
—Place in Society: Taking on the "Estate of the Perfect"
—John Pupper of Goch (d. 1475)
—Gospel Law and the Freedom of the Christian Religion
8. Taking the Spiritual Offensive: Caring for the Self, Examining the Soul, Progressing in Virtue
—Reading, Writing, and the Lay Tongue
—Exhortation in Public and Correction in Private
—Spiritual Guidance and Mutual Reproof
—Modern-Day Devotion: Examining the Self, Making Progress, Experiencing Peace
Conclusion: Private Gatherings and Self-Made Societies in the Fifteenth Century
—The Question of an Afterlife
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments