Western Europe of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was deeply religious and characterized by a lively culture of humour. How did these two characteristics go together? Professor Lieke Stelling (Utrecht University) uses examples to discuss high-profile cases in which humour and faith met. She draws on her own specialty: English cultural history and literature. She examines the ways in which humour is, in fact, an indispensable part of religion.

This talk (in Dutch) is part of our lecture series on the big questions in society.