Die 'Neue Frommigkeit' in Europa im Spatmittelalter

The articles in this volume—one of the last published by the recently abolished Max-Planck-Institut für Geschichte in Göttingen—offer a summary of the work on late medieval religious culture in different European regions: Poland, Bohemia, Southern Germany and Italy. They also present a welcome starting point, suggesting methods and approaches for renewed research into the diffusion of spiritual ideals. The subject is introduced by Kaspar Elm, who reminds his audience that the new devotion has been seen as a precursor of the Reformation, or the breeding ground for it, and also as a sectarian and peripheral movement. He describes the phenomenon of a devout lay initiative which generated its own spiritual support structure in the form of the congregation of Windesheim. Thomas Kock asks how the rapid development of the new piety was managed, chosing the priory of Böddeken near Paderborn as his example. He demonstrates that reform was associated with economic recovery and reconstruction but he also draws attention to the excesses of the movement, among which corporal punishments and apparently also self-mutilation featured. The protocol of a visitation by Johannes Busch of 1469 is given as appendix.

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