Floris Radewyns (or Latinized Florentius Radwyn) (c. 1350 – 24 March 1400) was the co-founder of the

Brethren of the Common Life The Brethren of the Common Life (Latin: Fratres Vitae Communis, FVC) was a Roman Catholic pietist religious community founded in the Netherlands in the 14th century by Gerard Groote, formerly a successful and worldly educator who had had a religio ...

Life

Floris was born at

Leerdam Leerdam () is a city and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. The municipality was merged with the municipalities of Vianen and Zederik on 1 January 2019. The name of the new municipality is Vijfheerenlande ...

, near

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, about 1350. He passed a brilliant university course and took his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree at

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. Returning home, he was installed canon of St. Peter's, Utrecht. For some little time he led a life of pleasure, until converted by a sermon of

Gerard Groote Gerard Groote (October 1340 – 20 August 1384), otherwise ''Gerrit'' or ''Gerhard Groet'', in Latin ''Gerardus Magnus'', was a Dutch Catholic deacon, who was a popular preacher and the founder of the Brethren of the Common Life. He was a key figu ...

.Scully, Vincent. "Florens Radewyns." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 15 Jun. 2013
/ref> Thereupon he resigned his

canonry A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

, placed himself unreservedly under Groote's direction, at his instance was ordained a priest, and accepted a poor

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

at Deventer, where Groote resided. There he powerfully seconded his friend's apostolate, especially among the poor clerical scholars of Deventer, and at his suggestion and in his house the first community of the Brethren of the Common Life was formed. They lived on the income of their book copying, permitting them to teach young men of humbler circumstances who demonstrated a potential for full-time religious life. It was also from his house that the six brethren who established the

Congregation of Windesheim The Congregation of Windesheim ( la, Congregatio Vindesemensis) is a congregation of Augustinian canons regular (i.e., ecclesiastics living in community and bound by vows). It takes its name from its most important monastery, which was located at ...

went forth in 1386, and among them John, the elder brother of

Thomas à Kempis Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380 – 25 July 1471; german: Thomas von Kempen; nl, Thomas van Kempen) was a German-Dutch canon regular of the late medieval period and the author of ''The Imitation of Christ'', published anonymously in Latin in the N ...

. Thomas himself was under the immediate care and guidance of Radewyns from his thirteenth to his twenty-first year. He wrote a loving and edifying sketch of his master, wherein he describes Florens as a man learned in the Scriptures and all sacred science, exceedingly devout, humble, simple, zealous, charitable and excessively mortified. His austerities enfeebled his health, possibly hastened his end; he died at

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

on 24 March 1400. He was commonly regarded among the brethren as a saint. His

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

, with that of Groote, is still preserved in the Catholic Church (Broedern Kerk) of Deventer. Of his correspondence remains only one letter, preserved by à Kempis, who also gives us a collection of his notable sayings.

References

External links

Thomas a Kempis. "The Life of the Reverend Florentius", ''The Founders of the New Devotion'', (translated by J.P. Arthur), Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., London, 1905
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radewyns, Florens 1350 births 1400 deaths Dutch Christian clergy Dutch Renaissance humanists People from Deventer