Flemish Regular Clerics in the Second World War: Different Methodological Approaches

In this presentation I want to demonstrate how some important methods in the research on the Church in the Second World War, can also be used in the more specific research on the regular clergy during this global conflict (in my own research with a focus on Flanders). I will show the specificity of each method and will discuss its strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, I will point out that a complementary approach is necessary to get a good image of this – often very sensitive – history. I will explain the following research methods, by giving some concrete examples and existing models within scientific literature: (1) The ‘hierarchical-institutional’ method (top-bottom): in this method the ups and downs of communities of regular clerics are described through the (changing) policies of their internal hierarchy, the official documents that were released dealing with the extraordinary circumstances of the war, etc. (2) The ‘case study’ method (bottom-top): in opposition to method (1), here every individual cleric can be a starting point for research. By studying his personal story in the time of the Second World War, an alternative version of the history of his religious community in the war can come into being. (3) The ‘material’ method: here the history of a local or national community is described through the history of the buildings it owned, the financial situation, rationing, etc. The material aspect is here considered as a so-called lieu de mémoire.status: publishe