The Modern Devotion

Confrontation with Reformation and Humanism

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Chapter One
Geert Groote as revealed in his Letters and Books

Letters are, in general, important historical sources. They usually reveal the ideas of the writer, the motives for his actions, his daily occupations, the milieus in which he moves and the persons to whom he is writing, more clearly and more reliably to posterity than the biographical stories of contemporaries and of later writers. With the works - in this case a couple of treatises or sermons elaborated into treatises - the personal element is not so clear as in the letters, but for us, seeking to learn as much as possible about Geert Groote's ideas, the treatises which have come down to us are also of great importance.

It is not unusual for a historian to study and discuss separately the letters and treatises of a historical personality. Letters and treatises can acquire an intrinsic value. They are historical documents which not only tell us something of the personality of their author, but also have some value in themselves. One could, for example study Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica without applying the data to the person of the author. We could thus do the same with the letters and treatises of Geert Groote. This, however, is not our intention. We wish to learn to know the person himself and his range of ideas. It will perhaps be remarked here that in that case we should also take into consideration the data from the Vitae. This would, indeed, be necessary in order to gain a complete picture of the person in question, in this case Geert Groote. I think, however, that I have sufficient reasons to justify a departure from this plan: i.e. to deal first with the letters and treatises, and then with the Vitae.¹ I shall set out these reasons at the beginning of the next chapter.

1 It is not our intention to write here a life of Geert Groote. The most detailed Life at present is that by Th. van Zijl S.V.D., Gerard Groote, Ascetic and Reformer (1340-1384), Washington 1963.

A. Groote's Attitude to Monasteries

We begin with a group of letters in which Groote attempts to find a place in a convent or monastery for one of his acquaintances or

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protégés.¹ These are Mulder's Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12, 14, 24, 26 and 34. Mulder dates the first ca. 1374 without any particularly convincing reason, as he himself admits. The letters are concerned with one woman and six men. He is attempting to place the woman, Elsbe de Gherner, in the St. Clara convent in Cologne. This was probably a convent like that of St. Clara of Neurenberg, in which various female members of the Pirckheimers lived. It will have been intended exclusively for noble or high born ladies. Elsbe was a noble lady, ‘ene walgheboren joncfrou’² - daughter of Albert of Gherner, one of the most powerful men in Salland, a sort of robber baron who was put to death in 1363 (during the time that bishop John of Arkel was setting things in order). She was thus of a ‘noble family of our territory’.³ The family made no difficulty and yet it cannot have been easy to get Elsbe into the convent. Usually there existed a numerus clausus for such an institution, and in any case there were applicants enough. Preference was generally given to girls from the city and surrounding district. Also a dowry or dos was usually required on entry, the amount to be fixed by contract. This requirement was an abomination to Geert Groote, since in his opinion it was in direct conflict with positive church law.⁴ This is a first sign of Groote's later bitter struggle against simony. The person of Elsbe herself seems to have offered no difficulty; she was not only the ‘joncfrou’ but was also prepared to leave the world and her family⁵ and to choose God and the spiritual life or, as stated in the Latin letter to the Abbess: eadem dudum iam Deo dispensata, and long since betrothed to God.⁶ She despised the world and its outward pomp. Her inclination was towards heavenly things.⁷ To put it more biblically: ‘She went with Abraham in a spiritual manner from her country and from those near to her out of the house of her fathers, but staying a while between the Euphrates and the Tigris in Mesopotamia,

1 Edition employed: W. Mulder, S.J. Gerardi Magni epistolae, Antwerp 1933, the largest and best annotated collection. Hereafter quoted as Ger. M. Ep. For the chronology see R.R. Post, Chronologie en Interpretatie van de brieven van Geert Groote, Archief voor de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse kerkprovincie, 7 (1965) 257.

2 Ger. M. Ep. 1.

3 Ibid., p. 1.

4 In the letters he referred to a decree by Urban IV, Ne in vinea Domini. The reference is Extra, Comm. L.V. T.I. Sane ne in vinea Domini of Urban IV. See note in Mulder, p. 5 note 1. Friedberg II 1287.

5 Ger. M. Ep., p. 1: ‘She was willic ende bekiert van der werlt ende van horen maghen toe Gode ende to geestelicheit.’

6 Ibid., p. 2.

7 Ibid., p. 2.

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she turned her eyes towards the holy city of Jerusalem and formed the desire to approach the dwelling of the promised land or a place nearby, and exerted herself to this end.’¹ I should not care to hazard an explanation as to the exact meaning of this promise to God in virginity and withdrawal from the world. Probably it was only a private promise to enter a convent. She may already have lived in Groote's house in the Begijnenstraat which from September 1374 received such single and pious women.² She wished now, on Groote's advice,³ to enter a convent. He sent the young lady off to Cologne, accompanied by Stinne of Bonne, a friend of the abbess of St. Clara of Cologne, perhaps the same as Bertuina, Soror Coloniensis⁴ and also by the ‘joncfrouwe’ of Zutphen, an unknown young lady. Groote gave her various letters of recommendation, two for the abbess of St. Clara, one in Dutch and one in Latin (nos. 1 and 2), and one for two canons of Cologne, Arnoldus de Celario from Lochem, whom Groote probably knew from his student years in Paris, and Hermann of Lippe, canon of St. Severinus, a more intimate friend, to judge by the close of the letter.⁵

The real motive for entering the convent was her vocation, her retiring nature, her distaste for the world and her sacrifice to God. An additional reason, however, was that it would be dangerous for her to remain in the world - evidently on account of her father's misdeeds. She could be obstructed by her friends in many ways ‘for the plant is delicate and she has not yet tasted the joys of the inner life,’⁶ or, as the letter to Herman of Lippe expresses it: ‘It is the via securior. Although narrow, it is the shortest and well trodden.’⁷

Groote was thus convinced that convent life, as lived in St. Clara of Cologne, would suit this noble lady. He therefore turned with great insistence to the abbess and also enlisted the aid of two canons of the city. But the goal had to be reached without any obligation to pay a dowry. This is clearly stated in so many words in three of the five letters. There is to be no condition concerning, ‘what she shall bring, but that she will remain free to bring or give or not as she will.’⁸

1 Ger. M. Ep. p. 7.

2 G. Dumbar, Kerkelijk en wereldlijk Deventer I, 548.

3 Ger. M. Ep. p. 7.

4 Cf. Ep. no. 1 and no. 5.

5 Ep. n. 4 and 5.

6 Ger. M. Ep. p. 5.

7 Ibid., p. 7.

8 Ibid., p. 1: ‘wat si brenghen sol; mer dat in haren vrien wille bliven to brenghen of to ghevene wat of niet.’

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To Arnoldus of Celario, he says that all must be done: ‘without simony and without conditions, not even under the pretext of custom.’¹ Whereas this is copiously repeated in the first letter to Herman of Lippe,² he refers to it only in veiled terms in his Latin letter to the abbess: ‘I hope that you will deal with the request, not according to the decline of many monastic orders, nor following the decadence of the world and the church, but following the renewal of your spirit, in evangelical wise not seeking what is yours, but what is Christ's.’³

In the meantime Groote remained very business-like in the letters to the two canons. To canon Arnold of Celario or of Lochem he writes that Elsbe wishes to expend her inheritance from her father and everything she has obtained during his lifetime, in making restitution for her father's crimes. She possesses as a tithe 60 measures, half wheat and half barley⁴ (perhaps she might voluntarily give some to the convent if it were necessary). He besought Herman of Lippe in any case to find her a place in a convent. She has some sources of income and will probably obtain letters of recommendation from noble persons. If, however, she is not considered fit to take the veil, because she has little education and knows no Latin, let her then plough with such oxen as she has, or for lower services, if she is not suited for higher. Truly the lowest places in the ship of the church are the safest.⁵

Groote's talent for choosing the right word is clearly displayed in the Latin letter:

‘First my humble greeting in Jesus Christ, most esteemed lady, according to the choice of your state and my hope in the Lord. I repeatedly try (whether it is well done or not I do not know, but I hope that it is done piously) to send my letters, I who am unknown, to people unknown to me, to whom I am known neither personally nor by renown, even though they are secular and worldly persons, but never in a secular and worldly manner, nor with worldly or secular intentions. But my confidence becomes much greater and my hope more efficacious, and disappointment more rare, when I, unknown as I am, write to those in whom the spirit which according to God asks for the saint, moves, especially if, according to my powers, I constantly try to write that which can and must strike straight to their hearts (not laved by milk nor shaped by earth and flesh, but open to the brightness

1 Ger. M. Ep. p. 5.

2 Ibid., p. 7.

3 Ibid., p. 3.

4 Ibid., p. 5.

5 Ibid., p. 8.

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of the eternal sun and renewed after the image of God in the knowledge in Him and reformed according to the inner man) and be heard by them with love.’¹

The play with the word ‘clarissima’ becomes in the end a veritable game: ‘Vale claritate, qua sancta clares et omnis clara anima, et omnis sancta vita et doctrina clarius clarescit et clarificatur que est Christus Dominus noster semper clarificans, clarificandus et clariosus, id est gloriosus in secula.’²

While it is sufficiently clear from this letter that Groote held certain ideas and could express them well, although his style was sometimes rather forced, he also shows here his love and esteem for inner piety. This does not prevent him from recommending monastic practices or from approving of a convent for aristocratic ladies. Renunciation of personal possessions and income and the practice of mortification can in these institutions be preserved. In these letters Groote reveals himself as an erudite scholar, who, to judge from the quotations and allusions, had a wide command of Bible texts. They seem to flow easily from his pen, which indicates a wide range of reading. In the notes to his edition of the letters, Mulder has noted the Biblical sources: Psalms, Canticles, Genesis, Exodus, the Gospels of Luke and John, Paul's Epistles to the Romans, Colossians, Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians and Galatians and the Epistle of James. To judge by the titles of the persons mentioned Groote had connections among the academic world of Cologne. He calls master Arnold his especial and dearly beloved friend who would become more agreeable, as he grew more hostile to the world. Groote impresses upon him that no man can serve two masters, and also quotes the text of James: he who would be a friend of this world becomes an enemy of God. (James 5,4)

‘Oh that you might be freed from earthly honour, which has robbed you of much honour. I shall see - God, when shall I see? - that that noble soul is made self reliant (sui iuris), that it breaks the stinking vault, and flees towards the freedom of those in heaven, to the peace of the celestials and to the peace of Devotionalists, to the joys of the true philosophy, that is God, in whom is the paradise of all joys, all that is desirable and giving of pleasure. Sweet Jesus, speak to his heart, draw him after you, give him the milk of your wounds, make him entirely free for you, that he may already partake of eternal life. May he live not only for himself, but for you, Christ, who will dwell in him, you the ineffable sweetness, the immeasurable virtue, the unending majesty.

1 Ger. M. Ep., p. 2.

2 Ibid., p. 3.

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To you, from him and through him (i.e. through Christ), entirely and always with the elect, glory and praise and thanksgiving for ever and ever.’ Groote is more personal in the letter to Herman of Lippe.¹ He writes here of his own condition: ‘I am slovenly and useless to myself and others, and compared with you and those like you, who seek God and not their own repose, I become even more indolent.’

Groote reveals himself as man with a social sense who had compassion on the unfortunate and pious daughter of an executed robber; as a devout and erudite preacher, a business-like advocate who, however, has nothing but contempt for himself.

Letter number 12² recommends a certain Gijsbert to a monastery, according to Mulder Monnikhuizen near Arnhem.³ This Gijsbert was evidently already living in the monastery as a postulant, for Groote speaks of ‘your’ Gijsbert. He thinks that the vocation is not a sudden inspiration of the Holy Ghost, but already of some duration, and hopes that it may be steadfast. He has told Gijsbert that the fathers have his spiritual welfare and God's glory at heart and, alluding to the text of the liturgy for the Sunday: Invocavit, on which he is writing the letter, gives his opinion that Gijsbert has behaved well and is entering the monastery with the best of intentions. Gijsbert's decision was an especial joy to him, so that he (Groote) is moved to tears. He hopes therefore that they will welcome him with joy - not that they are accustomed to do otherwise, but he asks not what is customary but a right, a favour, - for custom is no favour. He then proceeds to the business details: ‘I have told Gijsbert that I do not doubt but you will supply him with a sufficiency of material things, as I know you will.’ He goes on to speak of the copying of various books, which will be discussed elsewhere, and then concludes ‘Recommend me to the Lord vicar and all the community and especially to the two novices from Nijmegen and Zutphen, whom it is true I have never seen but who are known to my heart in the Lord. More I do not know.’ This is a precious expression of sympathy. He goes on. ‘Pray father, pray

1 The inscription reads Hendrik van Lippe, but this should be Herman.

2 Ger. M. Ep. no. 12 p. 40. Dated by Mulder 1380.

3 There is no title to the letter in the MS. What now stands at the top of the page is an inscription derived by Mulder. It seems to me hardly correct, since it mentions that one of the monastics was to bring books to Zutphen by way of Nijmegen, which is a strange detour from Monnikhuizen. Perhaps he means St. Geertruidenberg or Eemsteyn. This question is of no importance for Groote's character. He does his best to have Gijsbert admitted.

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insistently and often, for I was certainly more impure than I thought and I am still, and will not impute to myself the word, which I said to you secretly in my chamber; God knows with what feeling. I hope also, according to the knowledge of God, although I consider it indecent and unfitting for me to say such things and I have scruples about this. My seal and my signature.’¹ The poor man probably has scruples concerning a confession, but his sympathy with Gijsbert and the two other novices is touching.

The same social sympathy is revealed in letter number 14, which Mulder dates with the preceding one ca 1380.²

‘Our (in the Lord) Everard has been received into the monastery of Altenkamp,’ that is as postulant or novice, for a little further on it says that he is striving after the monastic state. The pronoun our is as typical of Groote as what follows. Everard needs money for clothes - most probably an outfit for the monastery - and Groote writes about this to John Cele, the school rector at Zwolle. ‘I really have not got it.’ Moreover Everard is a stranger in Deventer and it is dangerous for him to approach his parents on this subject. ‘Therefore I exhort you to help this poor clerk, who wishes to enter a monastery, and incite others to offer help.’ This alms is important, just because it concerns entry into a monastery. Groote identifies himself to such a degree with Everard's fate that he calls it his own - even Christ's. Another (John of Culemborg) will prevail upon his acquaintances to help the good work. In the same letter he implores Cele, as he had done before, ‘to receive your Matthias, because he is yours, poor and humble, into a hospice. Blessed be God, who gives you the opportunity to care for yours, entirely without votum.’³

Letter No. 24, placed by Mulder in 1381, strikes a somewhat different note. Groote gives Herman Horstiken a letter of recommendation for Ruusbroec, requesting that he be admitted into the monastery of Groenendaal. This Herman is not mentioned again. Groote considers him, however, to be a man of good will, who wishes to serve God. He could give him no better or safer advice than to entrust himself completely to people of experience. He considers Ruusbroec and his Canons the most suitable for this purpose. ‘Moreover I heard from our John that you need a brewer. After some instruction as to how you want the beer, he could take over this task. In this way you would

1 Ger. M. Ep. p. 41.

2 Ibid., 14.

3 Here too something about books which is important in another context.

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be able to study whether he is suited to the monastic life, and only decide later if you will keep him or send him away.’¹

The rest of the letter is addressed not to the prior Ruusbroec but to the fathers of the monastery at Groenendaal. It is probably another letter which was also given to Herman Horstiken. It is important for various points which must be discussed later. Here we will mention only what Groote says of himself. He speaks of his particular esteem for Ruusbroec and longs to be renewed and inspired again by the Canons of Groenendaal. For the time being, however, there seems little prospect of a journey to Groenendaal. His condition remains the same - ‘always useless, always garrulous and always longing and longing for books, as you know. I am obliged from now on to restrain myself and to put an end to this, for there is no money, and anyway I am tired of dealing with the writers and all connected with them.’² In actual fact Groote never gave up.

That the preacher of penitence was very careful whom he recommended to a monastery, appears from the 26th letter, dated 28 December 1381 and according to Mulder addressed to the reverend fathers of Monnikhuizen.³

‘Master Ricoldus, bearer of this, who for the rest has already visited you, is without doubt a man of keen and superior intelligence. He has an excellent and retentive memory and is most suited for many things, to practise any branch of learning and to understand any doctrine. He is suitably initiated into the various branches of the Artes, which help not a little on the way to God.’ Groote knew Ricoldus, who had attained his master's degree, well. He had had dealings with him shortly before writing this letter, since he was under consideration for the rectorship of the school at Zwolle. On this occasion, however, Groote gave clear preference to William Vroede who, for the rest, also wished to join the Carthusians (he did, in fact, finally do so) and therefore established contact with Groote. Since Groote was so well acquainted with him, he was able to be precise in his recommendation. ‘So far as I can judge Ricoldus devoutly desires a place in your monastery. He has given the matter a great deal of thought and he thinks with me, surely and certainly, that the monastic life is to be desired and striven for above all things in the world. Therefore we ask you, he and I, to

1 Ger. M. Ep. no. 24, p. 107.

2 Ibid., p. 108.

3 Ibid., pp. 117-118. In fact, there is nothing in the letter from Monnikhuizen. The person in question did indeed enter.

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consider his application favourably. I dare to add myself to this request that in my opinion he will be a fruitful olive tree for your monastery and for others, and will in time bear fruit. This, however, will only come about - and I do not seek to conceal this from you, my fathers - if he is inclined to submit all the acuteness and tenacity of his mind (to which he is driven by his informed nature and by custom) to the bridle of obedience, despising himself and his own inclinations, and to compel and bind it according to the discipline of the saints to the service of Christ.’

Master Ricoldus seems to have been somewhat opinionated and stubborn. Groote is well aware that the bad leaven spoils the whole dough. ‘But devout confession earns forgiveness. It opens the wound, seeks an antidote, longs to obey, to be tormented, cauterized and cured. And who more fitting physicians than you, true samaritans, true imitators of Christ. For near you is a monastery stable, nor are the implements of the stable boys lacking. And for what should this fertile root, once manured, be more useful, more fruitful than for your rich and fertile land and well tended cultivation. It is not so, my fathers that if Ricoldus is not at one with you, as he is not with us, he will offend your pious eyes.’

This appears to be a difficult case. Groote recommends Ricoldus yet does not hesitate to suggest that the authorities must be on the look out. What now follows is also interesting: Ricoldus wishes to go first to Rome, and Groote finds it reasonable that he should ask this favour and that he should go to Rome with the right intentions. Groote is convinced that, when Ricoldus returns chaste and purified, ‘he will apply to you without further study of place and monastery.’ Ricoldus is also inclined to do this. There is one striking exhortation: ‘help Ricoldus by buying a few generally useful books.’

There is another long letter, again addressed to his friend Cele, which for various reasons is interesting in this connection. Groote sees a prospective candidate for the monastery.¹ ‘There is a certain relative of mine, whose father did not do very well. I should like to place him in the Cistercian monastery at Altenkamp, but he is neither pliable nor devout. I shall send him to Zwolle and place him under your guidance, so that he may be made more tractable and devout. Be good enough to help him as though he were my own brother, not by giving him what is yours, but by providing him with board and

1 Ger. M. Ep. no. 34, p. 145.

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accommodation, and other things, as you know. I shall send you a sum of money when he arrives. Recommend him to Aleidis and Henry Mande and to John, my cousin so that we may draw him to devotion by our exhortation. I dare not recommend him for the monastery, however, unless he first becomes more devout.’

I cannot quite escape the impression that, in this letter, as in the first, Groote tends to regard and use the monastery as a sort of charitable institution. He does, however, make the obedience and devotion of the candidate conditions for recommendation, and leaves the final decision to the head of the monastery. He certainly respects the monasteries and the life of the monks, to whom he recommends his friends. This attitude of the founder of the Brethren of the Common Life towards the monasteries is certainly rather remarkable. Yet he does not automatically regard the monastic life for everyone as superior to the task in the world. This appears from the case of John Cele who did such good work as rector of the school at Zwolle. This devout man had a leaning towards the cloister and wished, around 1380, to enter a Franciscan monastery. Geert Groote, however, exhorted him to have joy in the Lord. Cele must certainly be aware that this idea of joining the Franciscans, who were not yet reformed in this region, i.e. had nowhere adopted the observance, must be considered as an inspiration of the devil. The devil had the power to move the imagination to a votum (vow) and to reject it. Groote could quote various ‘authorities’ in support of this opinion.¹

Letter No. 48 has a rather different import.² It is a pressing letter from Groote and the parish priest of Zwolle, Reynerus, addressed to John Cele who has suddenly left Zwolle and gone to Monnikhuizen. He must return to deal with various matters, and principally to testify in the legal action against Bartholemew (see pp. 120-122). Once the affair is settled he will be able to return to Monnikhuizen and stay there for the undetermined time which still remains to him. It does not seem to me absolutely certain that Cele wishes to enter Monnikhuizen as a monk. At this time he must still have been a young man, for he spent at least 30 years afterwards as head of the school in Zwolle. Groote's friendly relationship with this rector is symptomatic and will be discussed later.

The letter to the novice Matthias of Tiel³ reveals Groote's attitude

1 Ger. M. Ep. no. 10, p. 37.

2 Ibid., 190-191.

3 Ger. M. Ep. no. 15; dated by Mulder anno 1380 ex.

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towards monasteries or at least towards some orders even more clearly than the letters of recommendation quoted above. Groote expounds to the novice the real meaning of entering a monastery and of the profession after the novitiate. He warns him at the same time to expect certain trials. To enter the cloister with the intention of choosing in this way a permanent state of life, is particularly pleasing to God. No better or safer state could be found. ‘And if later another state of life appears to you even safer - for the world is evil - remember then that the way of simplicity which you choose now is the best and most agreable to God. Being received into a monastery is like a second baptism, a putting off of the old man, forgetting what is past: your people, the house of your parents, because the king has desired it. Apply yourself to the internal affairs which belong to the order, and only think of the world to pray and do penance for it. For God is your heritage.’

The description of the coming trial is resumed thus: the devil will make use of a physical weakness, a spiritual suffering to suggest to you that it was better before, or that you would do better in a different order; and he will encourage you to leave. But the very fact that such an inspiration would make you hostile towards your own order is a sign that this trial is sent by the enemy.

Groote partly repeats this and partly supplements what he had written to Matthias of Tiel in a letter to a newly entered monk.¹ I shall give only a short extract, but it would profit anyone who wishes to evaluate Groote's attitude to the monasteries to read the whole. He lays great emphasis on obedience, even when moderation in devotion or in eating and fasting are prescribed. The command of the superior must be considered as an order from God: ‘have confidence in him (the superior) and consider yourselves as he esteems you. Refrain from judging him and flee every thought directed against your Superior as you would reject thoughts of impurity. Do not permit anyone to speak evil of him’ - scandalmongering tends to occur in the monastic life. Then follows the warning against future trials as in the previous letter. The monastic must not allow himself to be influenced if he comes across a few less discreet or stupid and uneducated or less zealous monks, or monks who are much tormented by physical or spiritual trials. ‘It is always dangerous to judge others,’ remarks Groote, with a reference to Seneca. ‘He should rather - as Augustine says - admire

1 Ger. M. Ep., no. 16, p. 52-53.

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everyone and always assume the best intentions. Remember that you too can fall far in a short time. Finally, if you do persevere in the order, never strive after any dignity or office.’¹

Groote expressed himself very forcibly in a letter to a person who had been placed by virtue of primariae preces in a monastery, according to the bishop's right. This ‘right of the first prayer’ was the bishops privilege, after his enthronement, of placing people in various monasteries, where the superior of the monastery was obliged to accept them.² It usually happened that one of the bishop's friends, servants or patrons asked him to place a son, cousin or frequently a daughter in some monastic institution. This was often done by a noble lord in order to be freed from the responsibility for such a child, while at the same time knowing it well placed. No mention is made of whether such a forced monk or nun agreed with this arrangement. Groote addressed his letter De pacientia to a man in this situation.³ He exhausted himself in arguments to persuade this man, placed in a monastery against his will, to remain patient. The result was an extremely religious letter, but in the end Groote is obliged to confess that he cannot alter the situation which he considers deplorable. He has indeed made an attempt to speak with bishop Florens, but after waiting a day, had to go. He promised, however, to do everything in his power for the victim. But meanwhile he strongly advised him to remain in the monastery. ‘I do not say that you must take the vow, but that you must make a firm purpose to remain.’⁴ This piece is particularly rich in allusions to Biblical texts.

The letter to the mentally ill Carthusian does not deal with the monastic life, although it is mentioned incidentally when Groote says that this ill and scrupulous priest must not have scruples if he makes mistakes in reading the hours. He must not overestimate the requirements for inner participation. Groote gives this man some important pieces of advice, which have at times a rather psychic character. He recommends him to be joyful, ‘not to go to bed with cold feet, not to hold the head too low, to work: not to worry and not to have scruples about the impure images which the devil sends.’ Remarkable are the references to De re militari by Vegetius, Collationes Patrum, De divinis nominibus by Dionisius, the Aphorisms of Hippocrates, the 1st and 2nd Moralia

1 Ger. M. Ep. no. 16, p. 52-57, dated by Mulder anno 1381 in.

2 R.R. Post, Kerkelijke verhoudingen in Nederland vóór de Reformatie, Utrecht 1954, 177.

3 Ger. M. Ep. no. 62 pp. 232-243. The inscription: notabilis epistola est et valet ad patientiam et eciam ad imitationem Christi, is not by Groote.

4 Ger. M. Ep. p. 242.

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of Gregory I, to Anselm and Climacus, to Thomas Aquinas¹ (secundum sententiarum). There are fewer references to Biblical texts.

Finally, it appears from a letter, found and edited by sister Feugen several years after Mulder's edition of Groote's letters, that Groote had helped yet another person to enter a monastery.² This is in addition to the person already mentioned. This man, whose name sister Feugen reads as Petrus Coning, is probably the same as the Peter of letter No. 6.³ At the time too there was some trouble with this Carthusian in Coblenz. He was under threat of being sent away. Groote put in a good word for him.⁴ If this is Peter Coning, the Petrus (Coning) did leave the monastery. He soon regretted it, however, returned to his institution and was readmitted. He seems, alas, not to have been able to persevere and left again. Groote felt this to be a reflexion on his own integrity, since he had recommended him and had declared that he considered him a steadfast man. Groote now wrote the letter in question to persuade the superior of the monastery to try again with Peter, and sent him back to the monastery with this letter.

Groote requests Godfried of Wesel, provost of Eemsteyn, to receive Berthold ten Hove, - who seems to have been some sort of relation - into the monastery. Not yet, it is true, as a postulant or a novice, but as a pupil. This young man, on Groote's advice, strove to flee the world, but his guardian and friends were doing their best to prevent him. The youth was thus exposed to all kinds of dangers and Groote hoped that the monastic atmosphere would not only preserve him from them, but also foster his vocation. Once again Groote shows his businesslike side and says that the young man can meet the costs. He hopes that the fathers will teach him Latin, but above all sanctity.⁵ Berthold evidently made good progress in Eemsteyn and some years later⁶ Groote writes that he has heard that he has promised himself to God and offered his body to God with a vow. This does not appear to be the same as being received into the monastery. Groote exhorts him to persevere. To preserve his purity he must avoid worldly and vain

1 Ger. M. Ep., no. 70, p. 282-292.

2 Ons geestelijk Erf XV (1941) 75.

3 Ger. Mag. Ep. no. 6 p. 11. Unlike Mulder, who places this letter in 1376, H.J.J. Scholtens, in a study on Hendrik van Eger van Kalkar (Dr. L. Reypens-Album, Antwerp 1964, Studies en textuitgaven van ons geestelijk Erf XVI, 392) proves that this letter dates from 1383.

4 Ger. Mag. Ep. p. 11.

5 Ger. Mag. Ep. no. 40, p. 158-159, dated by Mulder anno 1382.

6 Ger. M. Ep. no. 56, p. 212-213, dated by Mulder anno 1383.

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company, beware of evil conversations and keep his eyes averted to avoid the sight of women and other vanities. When Groote wrote this he was staying in Woudrichem, near Eemsteyn, and would be pleased to see the young man. He was indeed worried that the world should hold attractions for him, since he was by nature ‘sweet (dulcis), unstable and easily swayed.’ ‘Come if you wish,’ Groote writes. ‘We can speak a little of our family and family friends.’ He cannot resist, however, instilling in him some fear of the God of chastisement.

Besides John Cele Groote advised another friend against entering a monastery. This was John Oude Scutte who, during Groote's years as a preacher, had laboured as a priest in Amsterdam and done much apostolic work. He expressed himself very cautiously: ‘I dare not advise you to enter a monastery. Not that I lack confidence in this way of the Lord. But I desire that you should remain in the world, without being of the world. There are religious who are of the world. But the true religious seeks not a particular place for himself, but the whole world and the eternal.’ For Groote, John Oude Scutte was one of these true religious, although he remained outside the monastery.¹

A remarkably large percentage of Groote's letters which have been preserved are concerned with admission to monasteries and with novices and young monks. He is perfectly acquainted with the monastic life and sees in it a work pleasing to God and a way safer than that of the world. Obedience, piety, humility and love are the conditions for success in monastic life. A special vocation is therefore necessary, and it is not easy to persevere. Groote shows his sympathy both with those who seek the monastic life and with those who experience difficulties once inside the monastery. In this his practical good sense and his medical studies stand him in good stead.

He seems to address himself to various orders or monasteries which evidently command his respect: St. Clara of Cologne, Monnikhuizen, Eemsteyn, Groenendaal, both of the Canons Regular, but to none of the mendicant orders. There was one condition, however, on which he insisted. There might be no contract for the giving of a dowry. If a novice wished to give anything on entering, this must be done voluntarily.

He considered such a contract a danger to the monastic ideal of poverty. There was also the danger that a poor and worthy person might be at a disadvantage compared with a rich and perhaps less suit-

1 Ger. M. Ep. no. 61, p. 229-230.

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able person. The acceptance of rich novices easily led to the development of the prebendary system, by which each of the monastics drew part of the income, administered it and used it on his own behalf. Those who followed this system were called the patres proprietarii, the monks with personal possessions. This was one of the abuses which Groote tirelessly opposed in sermons and letters. He clearly sets out his spiritual ideal in a letter to an hermit.¹ Such a person must be truly a hermit, that is, lead an inner spiritual life. Living in a closed hermitage is not sufficient. The hermit must also close his ears, his eyes and his mouth to the outside world. He must read, fast and do other good works without being seen, without the city's knowledge. He must be content with the barest essentials, a sober garment of rough wool and a very plain bed. He may not beg, but must live from the work of his hands, as Bernard had already recommended to the hermits. He may speak to no one before Mass time, before praying the hours and after five and six o'clock in the evening. He must forbid people to bring him news of wars, fights, weddings, trade and especially he must not tolerate slander. He must also guard against private friendships with man or woman. In order to persevere it is necessary to rejoice inwardly in God and in the sweet things of God and with the best and most holy people.

Just as Groote often tried to place a young man or woman in a monastery or convent and exhorted the novice to persevere, warning him against temptations to come, so also he tried to persuade those who, having entered and taken their vows, afterwards wished to be released, to change their minds. One example is his letter to the so-called Carthusian,² who according to this letter, had had four pastoral positions and had probably been a member of the German order as well.³ He thought that he, with his talents, could do much better work in an order with pastoral care than with the Carthusians. He did not therefore wish to be released from every order, but to be transferred to an easier one, with the cooperation of the Holy See.⁴ Groote strongly and very cleverly opposed this idea. He realized that the unnamed monk longed in reality to return to the fleshpots of Egypt. He found that the monk had no need of philosophizing -, that a monk's simplicitas was his phi-

1 Ger. M. Ep. no. 68, p. 265-268.

2 Ibid., no. 69, p. 269-281.

3 This opinion is based on the fact that the churches mentioned on p. 270 belonged to the German order; whereas Groote says that the Carthusian wishes to change for the third time. See Schoengen, Monasticum Batavum, Amsterdam 1941, under Doesburg, Rhenen, Katwijk and Schelluinen.

4 Ger. M. Ep. p. 270.

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losophy. The monk wishes to return to the world. But what is the world? Groote gives a splendid description of the world from his point of view.¹ The monastery is indeed a place of penance, mortification, monotonous and very sober as regards eating and drinking. But all this is good for the health. If everyone wished to leave the monastery because of a weak constitution, the entire order would begin to totter. If this anonymous father should leave the monastery it would give rise to all kinds of gossip. What ails this man to be changing his state of life again for the third time?² This gives great scandal, for which the priest will be held responsible. Groote ends with a few warm words of encouragement to the fainthearted father and an exhortation to remain with the Carthusians. In dealing with this priest Groote stresses not the inner piety of the monastic life, but the abandoning of the world and the choosing of the place of fasting and poverty. His recommendation, however, is powerful and expressed with conviction. Contempt for and flight from the world are held up as ideals. In this letter too, and even especially, he displays once again his great knowledge of the Bible. He has an easy command of texts from the Old and New Testaments, and also of quotations from Jerome, Peter of Blois, St. Bernard, Hugo of St. Victor, and even of lines from Ovid and of an anonymous medieval poet. All these quotations are most aptly applied.

One may wonder whether Groote, in his letters and treatises, devoted as much attention to the religious training of non-monastics, notably his own direct pupils. These were the Sisters in his own house and the Brothers who gathered in the house of Florens Radewijns. There were, in addition, other groups of clergy or lay people, for example, the rectors of the schools of Deventer, Zwolle and Kampen who were his friends: William Vroede in Deventer, John Cele in Zwolle, Werner Keinkamp of Lochem in Kampen and Master Rycoldus who was at least in the running to succeed Cele in Zwolle. One might also attempt to answer this question with regard to those categories of people, who according to a letter to bishop Florens of Wefelinkhoven, were converted by Groote's preaching.³ Sufficient data is lacking, however, to provide any satisfactory answer.

1 Ger. M. Ep., p. 272.

2 Ibid., p. 276.

3 Ibid., no. 58, p. 216-217.