This monograph represents a revision of my doctoral dissertation written under the supervision of prof. dr. Wim François and prof. dr. Mathijs Lamberigts and submitted to the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven in 2014. This project was funded by the FWO Research Foundation Flanders.
Many people have contributed to the completion of the doctoral dissertation and its transformation into this monograph. First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor prof. dr. Wim François and my co-supervisor prof. dr. Mathijs Lamberigts for the continuous support of my research, the valuable and constructive suggestions, their knowledge, motivation, enthusiasm, and patience. Thanks to them, I was not only able to refine my research skills and acquire conference experience, but I was also encouraged to organise a conference on my research topic and to translate my research into an exhibition for a broad audience. Besides my supervisor and co-supervisor, I would also like to thank prof. dr. August den Hollander, prof. dr. Dries Vanysacker and dr. Toon Quaghebeur, the members of my reading committee, for their encouragements and insightful comments.
Next, I would like to express my very great appreciation to the entire library staff of the Maurits Sabbe Library of KU Leuven. Special thanks go to Bernard Deprez, Hans Storme and Yannick Van Loon of the Oude drukken for familiarizing me with the heritage collections of the Maurits Sabbe Library during the numerous walks in the library’s basement. In addition, I would like to thank Guido Cloet and the rest of the staff of the Tabularium of the Central Library of KU Leuven.
Thanks to a Short Stay Abroad fellowship of the FWO, I was able to pursue a part of my research in Utrecht. During this stay in Utrecht, I could count on the help of the collaborators of the Utrecht Archives and of the Special Collections staff of the Utrecht University Library. Special thanks go to prof. dr. Peter-Ben Smit, my scientific host in Utrecht, and to Maria ter Steeg for her hospitality and the inspiring conversations.
I would like to express special thanks to the members of the Special Interest Group Vernacular Bibles (SIG VERBI) for their suggestions and comments.
I am particularly grateful for the support and encouragements of all my colleagues at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies during the numerous coffee breaks, lunches and corridor conversations. Special thanks go to all the members of the Research Unit of History of Church and Theology. At the risk of forgetting people, particular thanks for assistance and comments to Liesbeth, Dries, Rich & Diane, Matthew, Bart, Ward, Anthony, Machteld, Judith, Joris, Chaïma, Annelien, Laura, Elisabeth, Frederiek, Diana, Fabian, Hajnalka, Arjen, Johan, Hanneke, Jannica, Antonio, Bärry, Valérie and Ines. It has been a wonderful experience to work with fun colleagues in an intellectually stimulating environment. I would like to express special thanks to Joseph Grabau for checking the English text.
Additional gratitude is due to numerous friends who endured this long process with me and to everyone who has been showing interest in my work in one way or another, not only my fellow-musicians of the Koninklijke Harmonie van Peer and the youth leaders of Kazou and SnoezelFroezel, but also for instance the bus drivers of line 68 and 178 and my hairdresser Bart.
Throughout the process of publishing my work, I have been greatly supported by the team of Brill Publishers, for which I am grateful.
A very special thanks is due to my family. In one way or another, I must have received the ‘Jansenist gene’ of Lucianus Ceyssens through the lineage of my grandmother’s family. I particularly thank my parents for everything they have done for me, and my partner (and in the meantime husband) Joris for always encouraging me, passionately and enthusiastically in many ways.