There was a record, written after the fact, in such a place as Groenendael, in modern day Belgium, south of Brussels. There was a record of people meeting other people in houses founded for such a modern devotion. People such as Geert Grote who was considered a founder of these houses and meeting places (in the 1380's in Deventer), as well as the 'Flemish mystic' John of Ruusbroec. People like Pomerius who wrote down when and where and who, enabling us to know (at this far remove) just who and where and when. The house at Groenendael started in 1412 and the records of that had the effect, then, of stating the emergence of a 'modern devotion' that stretched over a generation and over 100 miles.
By this second generation from their founding, Van Engen tells us, there was another contemporary, Thomas a Kempis who wrote (~1420) as well about the growth and spread and practices of this 'modern devotion'. His is the name that is commonly attributed as the most known and influential of the modern devotion adherents. As much of his attributed and highly influential Imitation of Christ is a collection of sayings, rebukes and remonstrances, this form was one that grew (Ven Engen says 'incubated') in these houses of 'modern devotion'. A generation later, by 1460, a John Busch was remembered writing the history of the house of Windesheim and its leaders and practitioners. By the late 1490's, another chronicler was writing of the life of Henry Ryck in Euskirchen.
The simple name 'modern devotion' however, has caused centuries of consternation, various interpretations and particularizing explanations. Van Engen gives a quick and helpful overview. They did collect sayings like that of Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ, they did spread out over space and time, and they did pray a lot and study scripture and perform all sorts of community-minded charity works. But these activities and trends don't distinguish these houses as being much different or new as compared with canonical or medieval church and monastic practices. This is part of the problem in understanding who they were or 'what they stood for'. They clearly didn't see that what they were doing was new, but liked the idea of calling this method 'modern', since they did so very early on.
Van Engen explains that scholars are currently, mostly, in agreement that this modern devotion was, in some ways, somewhere between the traditional medieval monastic practices and those bourgeoning renaissance or reformation ideas.
"The relationship between this devotional movement and the later Reforms was, however, rarely a direct one. It would be far better to think in terms of common problems or issues, surfacing ever more obviously in the medieval Church from the late fourteenth century onward, to which each of these movements, and others as well, offered varying responses." [p. 10]
He goes on to conclude that their focus would remain on what was the best and holy life, and how to achieve that, and certainly, the place of education in a clerical and Christian life, and, worked toward allowing freer organization of volunteers with a common religious purpose. This may make them look like humanists, but for Van Engen, "... the brothers and sisters should be read for themselves and not with an eye on later developments." They were looking to sort out their problems and issues within the times of the late medieval Church and its European societal context.
"The aim of this book is to introduce the spirituality of the Modern Devout by translating several of their representative texts.... I make no claim to offer a new interpretive analysis.... Far too much has already been said about the Modern Devotion without sufficient knowledge of its basic texts...". [p.11]The introduction here, Van Engen simply states, is to provide historical description of the movement, give a summary of key terms and spiritual teachings, and 'specific introductions' to texts chosen in translation. A number of Van Engen's summaries for key terms, called the 'spiritual teachings' of the devotio moderna, are interesting in themselves. As are a number of the sayings and lives he has collected here.
But in conclusion, Van Engen posits that this group of modern devout didn't see themselves as new or different. Their contemporaries noticed them because of their freely associating groups of both lay and clerical, women and men, young and old in all sorts of activities, and, as well, for their 'ardent intensity' in religious devotion. This in itself was not objectionable, just almost out of place in the late medieval period. [p.34]
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from the introduction of John Van Engen: Devotio Moderna, Basic Writings ; Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist Press, New York, 1988
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