§ 34. GEllKIT DE GROOTE. 279
visits to Ruysbroeck, " Thy wisdom and knowledge are greater than the report which I heard in my own country."
At forty he began__^eacliiijg. Throngs gathered to hear himTn the chufclies and churchyards of Deventer, Zwolle, Leyden and other chief towns of the Lowlands. ^ Often he preached three times a day. His success stirred up the Franciscans, who secured from the bishop of Utrecht an inhibition of preaching by laymen. Groote came under this restriction, as he was not ordained. An appeal was made to Urban VI., but the pope put himself on the side of the bishop. Groote died in 1384, before the decision was known.
Groote strongly denounced._the low m orals of thf^ «^lerg^^ but seems not to have opposed any of the doctrines of the Church. He fasted, attended mass, laid stress upon prayer and alms, and enforced these lessons by his own life. To quote an old writer, he taught by living righteously — docuit sancte vivendo. In 1374, he gave the house he had inherited from his father at Deventer as a home for widows and unmarried women. Without taking vows, the inmates were afforded an opportunity of retirement and a life of religious devotion and good works. They were to support themselves by weaving, spinning, sewing, nursing and caring for the sick. They were at liberty to leave the community whenever they chose. John Brinkerinck further developed the idea of the female community.
The origin of the Brothers of the Common Life was on this wise. After the inhibition of lay preaching, Groote settled down at Deventer, spending much time in the house of Florentius Radewyn. He had employed young priests to copy manuscripts. At Radewyn's suggestion they were united into a community, and agreed to throw their earnings into a com-
1 The title, hammer of the heretics, — malleus hereticoi'um, — was applied to him for his defence of the orthodox teaching. For the application of this expression, see Hansen, Gesch. des Hexenivah7is, p. 361. On Groote's fame as a preacher, see Grube, p. 14 sqq., 23. Thomas a Kempis vouches for Groote's popularity as a preacher. See Kettlewell, I. 130-134. Among his published sermons is one against the concubinage of the clergy — de focaristis. For a list of his printed discourses, see Herzog, VII., 692 sqq., and Langen' berg, p. 35 sqq.
280 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
mon fund. After Groote's death, the community received a more distinct organization through Radewyn. Other societies were established after the model of the Deventer house, which was called "the rich brother house," — het rijke f rater kuis, — as at Zwolle, Delft, Liege, Ghent, Cologne, Miinster, Marburg and Rostock, many of them continuing strong till the Reformation. ^
A second branch from the same stock, the canons Regular of St. Augustine, established by the influence of Radewyn and other friends and pupils of Groote, had as their chief houses Windesheim, dedicated 1387, and Mt. St. Agnes, near Zwolle. These labored more within the convent, the Brothers of the Common Life outside of it.
The BrothejiiOj3d.j3f_tlx&-CianmQj3^Xdfe never peached the position qI^ an ^xj^er sanctioned by Church authority. Its members, including laymen as well as clerics, took no irrevocable vow, and were at liberty to withdraw when they pleased. They were opposed to the Brethren of the Free Spirit, and were free from charges of looseness in morals and doctrine. Like their founder, they renounced worldly goods and remained unmarried. They supported the houses by their own toil.^
To_gardening, making clothes and other occupations-pertaining to tFe dailyTile, they added preaching, conducting schools and copying manuscripts. Groote was an ardent lover of books, and had many manuscripts copied for his library. Among these master copyists was Thomas a Kempis. Classical authors as well as writings of the Fathers and books of Scripture were transcribed. Selections were also made from these authors in distinct volumes, called ripiaria — little river banks. At Liege they were so diligent as copyists as to receive the name Broeders van de penne. Brothers of the Quill. Of Groote, Thomas a Kempis reports that he had a
1 See Grube, p. 88, and Schulze, p. 492 sqq., who gives a succinct history of 18 German houses and 20 houses in the Lowhands. The last to be established was at Canibray, 1505.
2 Writing of Radewyn, Thomas k Kempis, Vita Florenlii, ch. XIV., says that work was most profitable to spiritual advancement, and adapted to hold in check the lusts of the flesh. One brother who was found after his death to be in possession of some money, was denied prayer at his burial.