RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Groote Gropper
J. Clarisse, in Archief, viii., 1836, pp. 129 sqq.), a eulogy of celibacy; and De locatione ecclesiarum, a discussion on leases of livings.
Groote's personality is reflected in his epistles. Twelve are given by Jan Busch in his Chronicon Windeshemense (ed. K. Grube, Halle, His 1886; ed., with other letters of Groote, Letters. J. Clarisse, in Archief, iii., Leyden, 1831, supplement 2, pp. 5 sqq.; ed. J. Acquoy, Gerardi Magni epistolce XIV., Amsterdam, 1857); eight were edited by P. de Ram in Compte rendu des seances de la Commission belgique (Brussels, 1860), pp. 66 sqq.; seven by Nolte in TQ, 1870; one in German addressed to a nun, by W. Moll in Studien en bijdragen, iii., Amsterdam, 1876, pp. 434 sqq.; and sixteen by W Preger in AM A, iii., class xxi., part 1 (Munich, 1894). Many of his epistles were copied as independent treatises, such as the De matrimonio and De institutions noviciorum (the latter ed. L. Schulze, in ZKG, xi. 577).
Groote also rendered three works of his friend Ruysbroeck from Dutch into Latin: Ornatus spiritualium nuptiarum ; De septem gradibus amoris ; De duodecim virtutibus ; and translated from Latin into German for the sister houses several brief treatises (ed. W. Moll, Geert Groote's dietsche vertalingen, Amsterdam, 1880).
The theological standpoint of Groote was that of Thomism. Accepting the theological teachings of his time, he rejected the mystic concepts of Ruysbroeck, although he shared the ascetic His doctrine of renunciation of the world,
Theology, even while opposing it since the new devotion established and advocated by him was to be promoted and spread in the world. All his efforts were intended to lead souls to God, but he can be called a Reformer before the Reformers only in a relative sense. He sought to carry out his principles in the community of brethren and sisters, by the common life of clergy and laity, by work (especially copying), and by the rejection of mendicancy and monastic vows. He never opposed the Church, but assailed the abuses among the clergy and laity, and strongly advocated the reading of the Scripture in the monasteries and schools, and by the members of his communion, also urging the need of a translation of the Bible into the vernacular for the benefit of the laity. L. Schulze.
Bibliography: Sources of knowledge are the writings of Rudolph Dier de Muden, in G. Dunbar, Analecta, Daventry, 1719; the writings of Johannes Busch, q.v.; and the work of Thomas a Kempis, The Founders of the New Devotion, good edition in English by J. P. Arthur, London, 1905. Consult: C. Ullmann, Reformers before the Reformation, ii. 59-81, Edinburgh, 1877; G. Bonet- Maury, Gerard de Groote, un precurseur de la reforme au lit. siecle, Paris, 1878; idem, De opera scholastica fratrum vitce communis in Nederlandia, ib. 1889; idem, Les Precurseurs de la reforme dans les -pays latins, Paris,
1903; A. Anger, in Memoires . . publies par Vacademie royale de Belgique, xlvi. 266 sqq., Brussels, 1892;
_ W. Preger, Geschichte der religiosen Bewegung in den Niederlanden im . . 14. Jahrkundert, Munich, 1894; M. Schongen, Die Schule in Zwolle, vol. i., Freiburg, 1898; KL, v. 1286-89; and the literature under Common Life, Brethren of the.
GROPPER, JOHANN: Roman Catholic church politician of the Reformation period; b. in Soe.sl
(65 m. n.e. of Cologne) Feb. 24, 1503; d. in Rome Mar. 13, 1559. After being made keeper of the seal of the archbishopric of Cologne, he was appointed scholasticus of St. Gereon in 1527. Gropper was an adherent of Erasmus, and aided the At First a reform efforts of Hermann von Wied,
Follower archbishop of Cologne (see Hermann of Erasmus, von Wied). This led him, after having completed his legal studies at Cologne in 1525, to devote himself to theological study. He edited the Landrecht of Cologne, and also the canons of the provincial council at Cologne held in 1536 (both published in 1538, together with a detailed manual of Christian doctrine [Enchiridion] which he had composed). In both of these Gropper's Erasmian tendency showed itself; in both he took pains to make the Bible and the Church Fathers his point of departure. In many matters, especially in the doctrine of justification, he approximated Protestant views, but he did not approve of the doctrine of the Reformers concerning the concept and the organization of the Church. He championed the seven sacraments and the veneration of images and relics. He rejected the doctrine of the priesthood of believers, he defended the hierarchical order of the Middle Ages and the primacy of the pope, though on these very points his differences with the representatives of the papal system were apparent. Protestant and Jesuit writers alike censured the book.
Gropper took a zealous part in the negotiations
for church union and in the religious colloquies held
in 1540 and 1541 in Hagenau, Worms,
Later and Regensburg. In the latter place
Opposes the he secured agreement on the formu-
Reforma- lation of the doctrine of justification; tion in but he and his sympathizers could not
Cologne, reach an understanding with the Protestants about the organization of the Church. When, therefore, Archbishop Hermann felt himself committed to a, far-reaching reform of ecclesiastical affairs in his archdiocese, and invited the Strasburg Reformer Martin Butzer for that purpose, Gropper came forward as the spokesman of the clergy of Cologne in opposition to the plans for Evangelical reform proposed by his former patron; as a representative of the cathedral chapter he sought in the Landtag of March and July, 1543, to persuade the Estates to oppose Hermann and Butzer. As he was unsuccessful, he prepared an answer to the memorial for reformation which the archbishop laid before the latter Landtag. The answer was approved by a committee of the cathedral chapter and was published in 1554 in its name, in German and Latin. When even this document did not convert the archbishop, Gropper and the members of his party lodged complaints against him with the emperor and the pope. Gropper now negotiated eagerly with imperial counselors. He addressed to the emperor his Wahrhaftige Antwort against what he claimed were false accusations by Butzer, but the latter proved the falsehood of Gropper's allegations. In connection with this fight against the heretics, Gropper came to favor the settlement of the Jesuits in Cologne. Canisius, who was especially advanced by him, praises in the
Gropper Grotius