Inwardness, Individualization, and Religious Agency in the Late Medieval Low Countries. Studies in The 'Devotio Moderna' and its Contexts

Hardback, x + 230 pages, Size:156 x 234 mm, Illustrations:9 b/w, 6 col., 5 tables b/w., Language: English. ISBN 9782503585390. Summary Recent scholarship on the Middle Ages has highlighted the importance of individualistic tendencies in devotion in both the lay world and religious communities. This interaction between individualization and religious agency has been scrutinized in numerous studies, focusing on the beginnings during the so-called 'Twelfth-Century Renaissance', and further development in the later medieval and early modern periods. However, there has hitherto been relatively little scholarship on the phenomenon in the Devotio Moderna: the flourishing of more personalized forms of devotion in north-western Europe during the later Middle Ages. The essays in this volume redress this gap by exploring the processes of inwardness and the emergent individualization of religious practices in the late medieval Low Countries. The essays explore issues including the early impact of the printing press on devotion; meditational aids such as identification with Christ, prayer cycles, practices of remembrance, and devout songs; and the tension between inner devotion and the ideal of communal piety in male and female religious communities. They also discuss some leading individuals of the Devotio movement. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations Preface Inwardness and Individualization in the Late Medieval Low Countries: An Introduction - RIJCKLOF HOFMAN 'Individualization' and 'Personalization' in Late Medieval Thought - ROB FAESEN Geert Grote's Choice of a Religious Lifestyle Without Vows - RIJCKLOF HOFMAN 'Ama nesciri': Thomas a Kempis's Autobiography Reconstructed from his Works - MARGARITA LOGUTOVA 'Antiseusiana': Vita Christi and Passion Meditation before the Devotio Moderna - NIGEL F. PALMER Modern Devotion and Arrangements for Commemoration: Some Observations - KOEN GOUDRIAAN Close Enough to Touch: Tension between Inner Devotion and Communal Piety in the Congregations of Sisters of the Devotio Moderna - ANNE BOLLMANN Individuality and Scripted Role in Devout Song and Prayer - THOM MERTENS and DIEUWKE VAN DER POEL Illustrated Incunabula as Material Objects: The Case of the Devout Hours on the Life and Passion of Jesus Christ - ANNA DLABA?OV Index of Persons and Literary Works Index of Place Names Index of Manuscripts and Early Printed Editions 0 g.