ABSTRACT
Transformation within the devotions themselves is a neglected aspect of the study of religious developments. Late medieval devotion in the Low Countries is a subject that has attracted a great number of researchers. When studying late medieval devotional practices with a quantitative approach, it is necessary not only to look at religious and socio-economic circumstances, but to include, also, certain other aspects: changes in the importance of family ties, prestige, gender, charity, and commemoration. In the late 1980s, Hans Mol published an article on the pious bequests in medieval Frisian last wills. This appears to be the first – and so far only – publication of a quantitative analysis of the religious aspects of last wills in the Netherlands. Another area that has attracted quantitative medievalists from the Low Countries is that of religious confraternities.
