Collegiant

In Christian history, the Collegiants (Latin: Collegiani; Dutch: Collegianten), also called Collegians, were an association, founded in 1619 among the Arminians and Anabaptists in Holland. They were so called because of their colleges (meetings) held the first Sunday of each month, at which everyone had the same liberty of expounding the scripture, praying, etc.

The practice originated in 1619 when, after the Synod of Dort forced the States of Holland to dismiss clerics for encouraging refuge to individuals being persecuted for religious beliefs, three brothers of Warmond by the name of van der Kodde (or Codde)—Gijsbert, Jan Jacobsz, and Adriaen—decided to hold religious services of their own. The sect began as a refuge from the perceived bitterness of the Calvinist and Arminian controversies of the day. Their name is derived from the custom which they had of calling their communities "Colleges", which they were followed by Spener and the Pietists of Germany.

The Collegiants' first place of meeting was at the village of Warmond, at the residence of one of the brothers, but they shortly established their headquarters at Rijnsburg, a village 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northwest from Leiden, and were hence called the Rijnsburgers (Dutch: Rijnsburger Collegianten).

There were also large communities of Collegiants in other places, for instance in Amsterdam and Hoorn. In Amsterdam, the Collegiants ran an orphanage, 'De Oranje Appel', where the Dutch writer, Aagje Deken, was raised. In Rijnsburg The Collegiants had a guest-quarter in the present-day alleyway of Kwakelsteeg called the Grote Huis (Large House).

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