Contested Space in a Contested Border Area: The Sint Jan in ‘s Hertogenbosch - Or: From Bosch to the Ten Commandments

Abstract

This article investigates contemporary perceptions of church space in the border town of ‘s Hertogenbosch in the aftermath of the Peace of Westphalia. Through a close reading of two chorographies, the study sheds light on ways in which historians can try to grasp contemporary views on what mattered in a church interior in the contested border areas of the Generality Lands, regions in the Dutch Republic, where the Calvinist political elite remained a minority. The study alerts us to the temporality of changes to church interiors and its embeddedness in local and regional circumstances.