The Friends of God (German: Gottesfreunde; or gotesvriunde) was a medieval

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

group of both ecclesiastical and lay persons within the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(though it nearly became a separate sect) and a center of German

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

. It was founded between 1339 and 1343 during the

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles, Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than i ...

of the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon bo ...

, a time of great turmoil for the Catholic Church. The Friends of God were originally centered in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and were also fairly important in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. Some late-nineteenth century writers made large claims for the movement, seeing it both as influential in fourteenth-century mysticism and as a precursor of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. Modern studies of the movement have emphasised the derivative and often second-rate character of its mystical literature, and its limited impact on medieval literature in Germany. Some of the movement's ideas still prefigured the

Protestant reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Name

The name "Friends of God" may have been influenced by various sources. A number of biblical passages use the term (e.g. Judges 8.22, James 2.23, Exodus 33.11, Psalm 138.17, Wisdom 7.27, Lk 12.4, John 15.15) The concept of friendship with God had also been applied by various medieval authors, and particularly among

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master EckhartM ...

, and especially his Dominican spiritual heirs, the preacher

John Tauler Johannes Tauler OP ( – 16 June 1361) was a German mystic, a Roman Catholic priest and a theologian. A disciple of Meister Eckhart, he belonged to the Dominican order. Tauler was known as one of the most important Rhineland mystics. He prom ...

and the writer

Henry Suso Henry Suso, OP (also called Amandus, a name adopted in his writings, and Heinrich Seuse or Heinrich von Berg in German; 21 March 1295 – 25 January 1366) was a German Dominican friar and the most popular vernacular writer of the fourteenth centu ...

. An influence on the Friends of God, although remaining in the background, was the secular priest

Henry of Nördlingen Henry of Nördlingen (german: Heinrich von Nördlingen) was a German Catholic priest from Bavaria, who lived in the 14th century, his date of death being unknown. He was the spiritual adviser of Margaretha Ebner (died 1351), the mystic nun of Medin ...

, from the

Bavarian Oberland The Bavarian Oberland (german: Bayerisches Oberland) is a region in Upper Bavaria north of and including the Bavarian Pre-alps between the rivers Lech and Inn. Historical Oberland Originally the region, which roughly corresponds to the county o ...

, who met Tauler and Suso in Basel in 1339.

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

had a great deal of interaction with other Bavarian and German mystics and introduced the Friends of God to ''The Flowing Light of the Deity'' by

Mechthild of Magdeburg Mechthild (or Mechtild, Matilda, Matelda) of Magdeburg (c. 1207 – c. 1282/1294), a Beguine, was a Christian medieval mystic, whose book ''Das fließende Licht der Gottheit'' (''The Flowing Light of Divinity'') is a compendium of visions, ...

. The group achieved a nascent institutional form in 1367 when wealthy layman

Rulman Merswin Rulman Merswin (c. 1307 - 1382) was a German mystic, leader for a time of the Friends of God. Life Born into an important family in Strasbourg, at the time a free city of the Holy Roman Empire, Rulman Merswin became a banker and amassed a large fo ...

purchased and restored a derelict monastery in Strasbourg known as the ''grünenwörth'' ('Green Isle'). Grünenwörth served as a refuge for study for the Friends of God and as a “school of prophets” which produced a number of mystical texts. Jones, Rufus M., ''Studies in Mystical Religion'', Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, no date pp. 247-252 (originally published London: Macmillan, 1909) Merswin is suspected of being the anonymous author

The Friend of God from the Oberland The Friend of God from the Oberland (''Der Gottesfreund vom Oberland'', sometimes translated as "the friend of God from the Upland," or "the mysterious layman from the Oberland") was the name of a figure in Middle Ages German mysticism, associated ...

. The Friends of God, as led by Tauler and Suso, sought a mystical path in line with established Catholic doctrine, following Thomas Aquinas. Rulman Merswin, under the guidance of The Friend of God from the Oberland, wanted to purify the Church. This stress on reform brought The Friends of God into conflict with the Church and not long after Merswin’s death in 1382, they were condemned.Walsh, Reginald. "Friends of God." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 December 2017 After Merswin's death, some sources claim that

Nicholas of Basel Nicholas of Basel (1308 – c. 1395) was a prominent member of the Beghard community, who travelled widely as a missionary and propagated the teachings of his sect. Life Nicholas of Basel was born at Basel, Switzerland, in 1308. The son of a rich ...

became the leader. He was eventually

burned at the stake Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...

with two of his followers for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

around 1395. The relationship of Nicholas of Basel to the Friends of God is unclear as he was condemned as a

Beghard The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take form ...

.Leff, Gordon. ''Heresy in the Later Middle Ages: The Relation of Heterodoxy to Dissent, c. 1250 – c. 1450'', Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1967 (reprinted by Sandpiper Book, 1999), p. 383 Another prominent member, Martin of Mainz, a follower of Nicholas of Basel, was also burned for heresy in 1393.

Beliefs

Many leaders of the group were executed for heresy because they criticized the corruption of Catholicsm, they believed that there will soon be judgement from God on the church. The group was a democratic lay movement, and they held holiness, love, piety and devotion as important. The movement was a

mysticist Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

movement and they held great importance in rescuing other peoples' souls.

Texts

A number of mystical texts are associated with The Friends of God, most notably the

Theologia Germanica ''Theologia Germanica'', also known as ''Theologia Deutsch'' or ''Teutsch'', or as ''Der Franckforter'', is a mystical treatise believed to have been written in the later 14th century by an anonymous author. According to the introduction of the ...

and the

Book of the Nine Rocks The ''Book of the Nine Rocks'' is an anonymous 14th century German mystical text. Contents The ''Book of the Nine Rocks'' uses the metaphor of jumping from rock to rock to illustrate the soul’s journey to God. Each rock represents a higher le ...

. Many of the works were attributed to The Friend of God from the Oberland, although probably written by

himself.

References

Works cited

External links

"The Friends of God" (Schaff - CCEL)
{{Proto-Protestantism Christian mysticism History of mystic traditions Christian communities 14th-century Christianity Christian mystics