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From the Margins to the Mainstream: Dutch History to 1384 - The Prosperous Thirteenth Century - Religious Life

5 important questions on From the Margins to the Mainstream: Dutch History to 1384 - The Prosperous Thirteenth Century - Religious Life

How was faith perceived for most inhabitants?

Faith, for most inhabitants at that time, was less a matter of theological doctrine than of in an intense identification with the Host, the sacred body of Christ offered by the priest during the Eucharist.
Faith was also increasingly a matter of doing. The laity, particularly in the larger towns, engaged in acts of charity such as erecting kitchens for the poor, or alms-houses for the destitute or for the elderly.

What was another sign of lay spirituality?

A different sign of lay spirituality lay in the rise of the beguine movement, another from the south and also sometimes suspected by the Church of heresy.

What did the beguines attempt to do?

Possibly named for their grayish, uncolored clothing, beguines attempted to live simply as imitators of Christ, often holding a more mystical faith, inspired by mystics such as the Flemish woman Hadewijch.
They forswore convent life, favoring a more informal community within the towns, often spinning to make a living.

Which other movements settled in the Netherlands?

The Franciscans, the most famous of these orders, first established themselves in what is now the Netherlands in 1228, in Den Bosch, ultimately establishing nine monasteries before 1300. The women Franciscans, the Poor Clares, also made their presence known.
Though the older orders of monks also grew strongly in the course of the thirteenth century, it was even more the Cistercian nuns who succeeded in establishing many chapters in the Netherlands during this period, exceeding the number of men in monastic life.

What theme did religious orders signal?

The tension between the Church as powerful and wealthy institution and a faith that demanded personal identification with "the Man of Sorrows," the way in which Jesus was increasingly depicted in art and in theology of the period.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

A Concise History of the Netherlands | 9780521699174 | James C Kennedy

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