The Brethren of the Common Life was a religious community founded in the 14th century by Geert Groote, formerly a successful and worldly educator who had had a religious experience and preached a life of simple devotion. A small band of followers attached themselves to Groote and became his fellow-workers, thus becoming the first "Brethren of the Common Life". The reformer, of course, was opposed by the clergy whose evil lives he denounced, but the cry of heresy was raised in vain against one who was as zealous for purity of faith as for purity of morals. The best of the secular clergy enrolled themselves in his brotherhood, which in due course was approved by the Pope. Groote, however, did not live long enough to finish the work he had begun. He died in 1384, and was succeeded by Florence Radewyns, who two years later founded the famous monastery of Windesheim which was thenceforth the centre of the new association. This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ... Geert Groote (1340 – 20 August 1384), otherwise Gerrit or Gerhard Groet, in Latin Gerardus Magnus,was a preacher and founder of the Brethren of the Common Life. ... The Pope (from Greek: pappas, father; from Latin: papa, Papa, father) is the head of the Catholic Church, which considers him the successor of St. ... Events May / September 3 - Siege of Lisbon by the Castilian army, during the 1383-1385 Crisis Births Antoine, Duke of Brabant (died 1415) St Frances of Rome (died 1440) Khalil Sultan, ruler of Transoxiana (died 1411) Deaths January 1 - King Charles II of Navarre (b. ...

The Confraternity of the Common Life resembled in several respects the Beghard and Beguine communities which had flourished two centuries earlier and were then decadent. The members took no vows, neither asked nor received alms; their first aim was to cultivate the interior life, and they worked for their daily bread. The houses of the brothers and sisters occupied themselves exclusively with literature and education, and priests also with preaching. When Groote began, learning in the Netherlands was rare; the University of Leuven had not yet been founded, and the fame of the schools of Liège was only a memory. Apart from some of the clergy who had studied at Paris or Cologne, there were no scholars in the land; even amongst the higher clergy there were many who were ignorant of Latin, and the burgher was quite content if when his children left school they were able to read and write. The Beghards were a religious associations of men in Europe, organized similarly to the Beguines. ... Beguines are lay sisterhoods made up of women who devote themselves to a life of religion without taking monastic vows. ... The Catholic University of Leuven, founded in 1425, is now the names of two Belgian universities, after the original university split in 1968: the Dutch-speaking Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and the French-speaking Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium This is a disambiguation page — a navigational... Liège (Dutch: Luik, German: Lüttich; before 1946, the citys name was written Liége, with the acute accent) is a major city located in the Belgian province of Liège, of which it is the capital. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Cologne Cathedral with Hohenzollern Bridge Cologne (German: (help· info) [kÅ“ln]; Kölsch: Kölle) is Germanys fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Groote determined to change all this, and his disciples accomplished much. Through their unflagging toil in the scriptorium and afterwards at the press they were able to multiply their spiritual writings and to publish them widely. Amongst them are to be found the choicest flowers of fifteenth-century Flemish prose. The Brethren spared no pains to obtain good masters, if necessary from foreign parts, for their schools, which became centres of spiritual and intellectual life; amongst those whom they trained or who were associated with them were men like Thomas à Kempis, Dierick Maertens, Gabriel Biel, and the Dutch Pope Adrian VI. Before the fifteenth century closed, the Brethren of the Common Life had placed in all Germany and the Netherlands schools in which the teaching was given for the love of God alone. A Scriptorium was a room or building, usually within a Christian monastery where, during medieval times, manuscripts were written. ... Thomas à Kempis (1380 - 1471) was a medieval Christian monk and author of Imitation of Christ, one of the most well-known Christian books on devotion. ... Gabriel Biel (c. ... The house where Adrian VI was born Adrian VI (also known as Hadrian VI or Adriano VI), born Adrian dEdel (March 2, 1459 - September 14, 1523), pope from 1522 to 1523, was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and studied under the Brethren of the Common Life either at Zwolle...

Gradually the course, at first elementary, embraced the humanities, philosophy, and theology. The religious orders looked askance at these Brethren, who were neither monks nor friars, but the Brethren found protectors in Pope Eugenius IV, Pope Pius II, and Pope Sixtus IV. The great Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa had been their pupil and became their stanch protector and benefactor. He was likewise the patron of Rudolph Agricola, who in his youth at Zwolle had studied under Thomas à Kempis; and so the Brethren of the Common Life, through Cusa and Agricola, influenced Erasmus and other adepts in the New Learning. More than half of the crowded schools -- in 1500, Deventer had over two thousand students -- were swept away in the religious troubles of the sixteenth century. Others languished until the French Revolution, while the rise of universities, the creation of diocesan seminaries, and the competition of new teaching orders gradually extinguished the schools that regarded Deventer and Windesheim as their parent establishments. Eugene IV, né Gabriele Condulmer (1383 – February 23, 1447) was Pope from March 3, 1431 to his death. ... Pius II, né Enea Silvio Piccolomini, in Latin Aeneas Sylvius (October 18, 1405 – August 14, 1464) was Pope from 1458 until his death. ... Sixtus IV, born Francesco della Rovere (July 21, 1414 – August 12, 1484) was Pope from 1471 to 1484. ... Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 - August 11, 1464) was a cardinal of the Catholic Church, a philosopher, a mathematician, and an astronomer. ... Rodolphus Agricola (1443 - October 28, 1485), was a Dutch scholar and humanist. ... Country: Netherlands Province: Overijssel Coordinates: 52°30′ N 6°5′ E Area - Land - Water 119. ... Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ... 1500 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Deventer is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel on the east bank of the IJssel river. ...

• I assume this is drawn from the early-20th century encyclopedia. Some of the statements border on polemical, and should be edited, or atleast backed-up with citations. Any experts on 15th century church history?