Bøker i Brill's Church History-serien

A case study examining the history of a house of English Augustinian canons, this book reveals the ways in which Plympton Priory formed connections with the laity, the episcopacy, the secular clergy, and the Crown in the late Middle Ages.

For a long time it was thought that there were no Middle Dutch sermons dating from the thirteenth century. It was only after J.P. Gumbert had redated the manuscript from The Hague containing the "Limburg Sermons" that its contents could be assigned to that century. Most of the "Limburg Sermons" appear to be translations of the Middle High German "St. Georgen sermons." But sixteen of these texts are known only in Middle Dutch, and among these is to be found material drawn from the works of Hadewijch and Beatrijs van Nazareth. Thus the "Limburg Sermons" emerge to take their place in the famous tradition of Brabantine mysticism.

"Models of Charitable Care" analyses the practice of Catholic nuns in Amsterdam in the 19th and 20th century. Attention is paid to the ambiguous ascetic spiritual discourse that underpinned their work: it encouraged charity as solidarity with strangers, but caused intense emotional distance too. Historiography is mainly manufactured by religious and lay academics who shared the congregational perspective and presented fairly positive evaluations. Criticism from within, however, is voiced by care leavers who grew up in homes ran by religious. Some are grateful, others bitter. The sisters were living models who combined an anti-worldly outlook with a practical concern for vulnerable creatures. Relating various theoretical interpretations, a typology of three models is developed with a ~agencya (TM) as the differentiating criterion.

The contributions reflect a broad range of interdisciplinary research interests in the field of lay piety and learned theology in the Middle Ages, Reformation, and Later Times as well as their representation through certain media such as book printing.

This book focuses on "Orthodox paradoxes" created by the dynamic between tradition and innovation within the Russian Orthodox Church. Nineteen contributions from renowned specialists tackle societal and theological aspects and implications of these paradoxes.

Both men and women have claimed to be the living voices or intermediaries of God. This volume analyses the basis of their authoritative claims and ask how and how far they succeeded in securing obedience from their followers.

In Lay prophets in Lutheran Europe (c. 1550-1700), Jürgen Beyer provides the first study to investigate angelic apparitions in all Lutheran countries.