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Knowledge Centre (CCBK)

Beguinage

St Annaconvent and the CCBK

Since 2008, the St Annaconvent in the beguinage houses our knowledge centre, the so-called CCBK (the acronym of the centre’s name in Dutch, Corpus Christianorum - Bibliotheek & Kenniscentrum), where the Corpus Christianorum editorial team oversees and facilitates the editing of texts and studies on the basis of modern critical research into this cultural heritage. The CCBK aims to be a lively place of support for those with interests and specialisms in the field, but also a repository where its collection can be cherished and made available to future generations. It houses

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the Corpus Christianorum editorial team;

the Centre 'Traditio Litterarum Occidentalium' (CTLO);

a specialized library.

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Here is a presentation of CCBK, broadcasted by the local television station StadsTV Turnhout on 28 September 2009:

Library

The ground floor of the Sint-Annaconvent in the beguinage of Turnhout houses a specialized research library and repository, with over 25,000 books (including over 550 early printed books and precious books), 250 journals with current subscriptions, and various specialized databases, for the study primarily of Christian texts from the Patristic period (AD 150-750) and the Middle Ages (AD 750-1500) transmitted in Latin, but also in Greek or in Eastern languages (Syriac, Arabic, Georgian, Armenian). It contains works on Patristics, the Bible, spirituality, theology and philosophy, Church history and the monastic movement, medieval history, manuscript catalogues and book history, ecdotics and philology.

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There is also an extensive photographic collection with reproductions of over a thousand manuscripts (on microfilm, photographic prints and digital files), and, finally, the archive of the Corpus Christianorum is housed here.

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Part is on open access in the reading room. The rest of the collection can be requested from the stacks and consulted in the reading room. The library is not a lending library.


Access: Registered visitors and those interested can visit the centre by appointment.

Accommodation

Guestrooms


'Subiaco' and 'Studion' are the names of the two fine guestrooms we have for housing visiting researchers.

Meeting rooms
 

  • a seminar room (seats 12)

  • the reading room, which can be converted into a lecture hall (seats 40)

  • multimedia facilities

  • a small exhibition space

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Conditions:
Accommodation and facilities should be booked in advance. Priority will be given to CC authors with a current contract. Please contact info@corpuschristianorum.org.

vzw CCBK asbl

To manage and develop the library and achieve the centre’s goals a non-profit organization has been founded, vzw CCBK. This body manages the collections that the library owns or has in loan.

Membership of the non-profit association brings the benefits of free access to the library and facilities. vzw CCBK would be glad to accept your support!

You can help:

  • by giving specialized works on loan or as gifts to vzw CCBK.

  • by lending a helping hand in the management and access to the library, the photographic collection and the archive.

  • by becoming a member or making a donation (BE18 5645 1393 2965).

Beguinage
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The history of the beguinage of Turnhout (Belgium) goes back to the the fourteenth century. From early on in that history, apart from individual beguine houses, one also finds so-called 'convents', communal houses for young or destitute beguines. Thus, in 1623 the 'Sint-Annaconvent' was erected. From the dedication to Saint Anne, patron saint of lace-workers, we can assume that the house accommodated a lace workshop and school. Currently, the premises house the Corpus Christianorum and the Brepols Publishers headquarters. In 1998 the Turnhout beguinage - together with twelve other beguinage - was registered on Unesco's official World Heritage List.

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