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