In Ecclesia Nostra: The Collatiehuis in Gouda and Its Lieux de Savoir

Abstract

This article will show how the concept of lieux de savoir as theorized by Christian Jacob provides an intriguing framework from which to examine the interactions between laypeople and religious professionals and the transmission of knowledge in the late medieval city, by applying it to the Collatiehuis in Gouda. Here, religious knowledge was shaped and communicated in the interaction between the Brothers of the Common Life and visiting laypeople. The separate rooms in which these interactions took place, as well as the location of the house within the city, influenced the circulation of knowledge. Aside from this spatial approach, the article will also propose that the texts used during these meetings can be considered their own lieux de savoir as they played an important role in shaping and communicating religious knowledge between the lay and religious participants of the collatio.

Keywords

• spatiality
• communication of knowledge
• collatio
• lieux de savoir