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Thomas à Kempis, CRV ( – 25 July 1471; ; ) was a German-Dutch
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
canon regular of the
Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...
and the author of '' The Imitation of Christ'', one of the best known Christian devotional books. His name means "Thomas of Kempen", Kempen, Germany, being his home town. He was a member of the Congregation of Windesheim, which was part of the Modern Devotion, a reform movement during the
late medieval period The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...
. Therein, he was a follower of Geert Groote and
Florens Radewyns Floris Radewyns (or Latinized Florentius Radwyn) (c. 1350 – 24 March 1400) was the co-founder of the Brethren of the Common Life. Life Floris was born at Leerdam, near Utrecht (city), Utrecht, about 1350. He passed a brilliant university course ...
, the founders of the
Brethren of the Common Life The Brethren of the Common Life (, 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 religious experience and preached a ...
, of which the Windesheim Augustinians were an offshoot.


Life

Thomas was born in Kempen in the Rhineland. His surname at birth was Hemerken (or Hammerlein), meaning the family's profession, "little hammer", Latinized into "Malleolus". His father, Johann, was a blacksmith and his mother, Gertrud, was a schoolmistress. In his writings he signed himself "Thomas Kempensis" or "Thomas Kempis". In 1392, Thomas followed his brother, Johann, to
Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...
in the Netherlands in order to attend the noted Latin school there. While attending this school, Thomas encountered the
Brethren of the Common Life The Brethren of the Common Life (, 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 religious experience and preached a ...
, followers of Gerard Groote's Modern Devotion. He attended school in Deventer from 1392 to 1399. After leaving school, Thomas went to the nearby city of
Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...
to visit his brother again, after Johann had become the
prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...
of the Monastery of Mount St. Agnes there. This community was one of the
Canons Regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...
of the Congregation of Windesheim, founded by disciples of Groote in order to provide a way of life more in keeping with the norms of monastic life of the period. Thomas himself entered Mount St. Agnes in 1406. He was not ordained a priest, however, until almost a decade later. He became a prolific copyist and writer. Thomas received
Holy Orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...
in 1413 and was made sub-prior of the monastery in 1429. His first tenure of office as subprior was interrupted by the exile of the community from Agnetenberg in 1429. A dispute had arisen in connection with an appointment to the vacant See of Utrecht.
Pope Martin V Pope Martin V (; ; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. His election effectively ended the We ...
rejected the nomination of Bishop-elect Rudolf van Diepholt, and imposed an interdict. The Canons remained in exile in observance of the interdict until the question was settled in 1432. During this time, Thomas was sent to Arnhem to care for his ailing brother, where he remained until his brother died in November 1432. Otherwise, Thomas spent his time between devotional exercises in writing and in copying manuscripts. He copied the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
no fewer than four times, one of the copies being preserved at
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, Germany, in five volumes. In its teachings he was widely read and his works abound with biblical quotations, especially from the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
. As subprior he was charged with instructing novices, and in that capacity wrote four booklets between 1418 and 1427, later collected and named after the title of the first chapter of the first booklet: ''The Imitation of Christ''.
Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...
said it was one of the three books everybody ought to own. Thirteen translations of ''The Imitation of Christ'' and three paraphrases in English seem to have been published between 1500 and 1700. Thomas died near Zwolle in 1471. There is a legend that he was denied canonization some 200 years after his death by the Catholic Church due to the presence of scratch marks on the interior of his coffin lid, which supposedly disqualifies him from sainthood as it would mean he did not peacefully embrace death. However, there is scant evidence to support that he was buried alive or the idea that the Church would have denied him sainthood if they did discover he died in this manner.


Works

Kempis's 1441 autograph manuscript of '' The Imitation of Christ'' is available in the Bibliothèque Royale in Brussels (shelfmark: MS 5455-61). He also wrote the biographies of New Devotion members—Gerard Groote, Floris Radewijns, Jan van de Gronde, and Jan Brinckerinck. His important works include a series of sermons to the novices of St. Augustine Monastery, including '' Prayers and Meditations on the Life of Christ'', ''Meditations on the Incarnation of Christ'', ''Of True Compunction of Heart'', ''Soliloquy of the Soul'', ''Garden of Roses'', ''Valley of Lilies'', and a ''Life'' of St. Lidwina of Schiedam. * * * *


Quotations

The following quotes are attributed to him:


Veneration

A monument was dedicated to his memory in the presence of the archbishop of Utrecht in St Michael's Church,
Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...
, on 11 November 1897. In 1964, this church closed, causing his shrine to be moved to a new St Michael's Church outside the centre of Zwolle. In 2005, this church also closed and his shrine was moved to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Hemelopneming kerk (
Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...
church) in the centre of Zwolle.


Notes


References


Sources

*This article incorporates Public Domain material from the ''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. VI: Innocents — Liudger, Schaff, Philip.'' * * * * * *


Further reading

*


External links

* ** * * *
Read ''Imitation of Christ'' online

Quotes from Thomas à Kempis


* Thomas à Kempis College, Zwolle, Netherlands; at Wikipedia (NL) {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas a Kempis 1380 births 1471 deaths 15th-century biographers 15th-century Christian mystics 15th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests 15th-century German Roman Catholic priests 15th-century writers in Latin Augustinian canons Burials in Overijssel Christian hagiographers Devotio Moderna Dutch biographers Dutch male writers German biographers German expatriates in the Netherlands German male biographers German Roman Catholic writers Medieval Christian devotional writers Medieval European scribes German scribes People from the Electorate of Cologne People from Zwolle Pre-Reformation Anglican saints Roman Catholic mystics