Schenken, begraven, gedenken: Lekenmemoria in het Utrechtse kartuizerklooster Nieuwlicht (1391-1580)

Abstract

For the last forty years the commemoration of the dead (i.e. memoria) has become an important research topic in medieval studies. Memoria is a complex phenomenon with theological, liturgical, social-political and cultural aspects, touching every aspect of medieval life and society. At the centre of the commemoration of the dead stands the mentioning of the name of a deceased person in prayer or during mass, in order to shorten the time this person had to spend in purgatory. During the Middle Ages people donated land, money and other precious gifts to religious institutions for the benefit of their souls. Many religious institutions kept detailed records of the gifts that they received and the commemorative services (the countergifts) that were expected in return. Although much research has been carried out, the organisation and administration of memoria-culture for lay-people in the Carthusian Order got little attention so far, even though in the Middle Ages the Carthusians were seen as professional intercessors, praying daily for many people. Due to the austerity of the order, the prayers of the Carthusian monks were considered to be the most effective. This research focusses on the administration and organisation of memoria in the Carthusian Order and the Utrecht charterhouse Nieuwlicht in particular. Nieuwlicht existed from 1391 until 1580, when it was dissolved by the city council of Utrecht. The administration of memoria was registered in memorial registers. There are five main types of memorial registers: registers of memorial services (e.g. necrologies); registers of gifts; registers of pittances; registers of graves, and registers of names. Sources of all these categories have survived from Nieuwlicht. These sources are thoroughly analysed and placed in their context, often making use of additional source material e.g., cartae (sources from the Carthusian Order), cartularies, archaeological findings, and surviving gifts. The main research questions are: how was memoria for lay-people organised in Nieuwlicht? And how reliable are the memorial registers of Nieuwlicht for researching memoria? These questions are answered while looking at three different themes that are interlocked: gift-giving practices (schenken), burial practices (begraven), and commemoration practices (gedenken). In the first century of its existence the Utrecht charterhouse was a popular destination for wealthy people to make a donation to, to be buried in, and to be commemorated in. Lay-people were buried on the grounds of Nieuwlicht, but they were buried separately from the members of the monastery. In addition, there was, to a certain extent, also a separation between men and women, because women were officially not allowed inside a charterhouse. The registration of the names of the people in the necrologies that had to be commemorated was partly organised by the Carthusian Order itself, through the annual meetings of the General Chapter of the order. Additionally, there were ‘locally’ remembered persons. The analyses of the memorial registers and the additional source material shows that the Carthusians of Utrecht were very accurate in keeping their memorial registers, although it resulted in an extensive amount of work while dealing with the accumulating memorial services.