Geert Groote's Brethren of the Common Life
1384
The Dutch lay preacher from Deventer, dying of plague after years of itinerant preaching, left behind a community of laymen and laywomen living in voluntary poverty without monastic vows. The Brethren would educate Erasmus, copy books, and pioneer a quiet, interior 'modern devotion' that prefigured the Reformation's emphasis on personal faith over institutional ritual.
In context
Also in 1384 (4 other events on record)
- John Wycliffe dies a free man · Europe · Religion
- Zhao Mengfu's painting tradition dominates Yuan-Ming transition · East Asia · Culture
- Jadwiga crowned king of Poland · Europe · Politics
- Bruges emerges as northern Europe's financial center · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Religion
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources