Navigating places of knowledge: The Modern Devotion and religious experience in late medieval Deventer

This contribution will develop the two main themes of the Hidden Deventer walk: the visible presence of the Modern Devotion in the cityscape and the transmission of knowledge tied to physical spaces or lieux de savoir. Despite their professed ideals of “inwardness” and rejection of the world, the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life remained present in the city centre. By calling attention to the interactions between communities of the Modern Devotion and the city they were a part of, this contribution will emphasize the “public history” of the religious movement and their continued involvement in urban life. In particular, the houses of Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life constituted “places of knowledge” in which knowledge was transmitted and shaped between religious professionals and urban lay people. Relations between family members remained important and aided the transmission of knowledge, as is clearly visible from the prayerbook and testaments of Katharina Kerstkens, the historical guide in the Hidden Deventer app. In addressing the interconnectedness of lieux de savoir, this contribution thus allows new considerations on the transmission of knowledge within late medieval Deventer.