THOMAS
661
THOMAS
itig broken out, Paul V sent Dominic to Ferdinand II,
who was i)repariiig to engage in wliat was hoped would
prove a decisive hattle. With a erueitix in liis hand
and a picture of the Madonna, which had hern shame-
fully mutilated l)y the heretics, sus])ench'd from his
neck, he moved among the combatants, animating the
Catholics to light for their Faifli and to gain the vic-
tory he promised would be theirs. The Battle of
Prague proved indeed a signal success (8 Nov., 1620).
Dominic continued his journey through Vienna, Lor-
raine, Cologne, Brussels, (where he assisted Archduke
Albert on his deathbed), Pans, and Marseilles, being
everywhere hailed as a hero. Back in Home towards
the end of 1021 he assisted the pope in the establish-
ment of Propaganda, towards which end he had col-
lected considerable funds during his apostolic journey;
he was nominated a member of the Congregation.
Urban VIII sent him to Vienna to bring about a set-
tlement of the differences between the Court of Au.s-
tria and the House of Mantua, but he was taken ill
and died, surrounded by the imperial family. His
body, partly incorrupt, now rests in the Carmelite
church at Unter Doebling near Vienna. His biog-
raphers relate numberless miracles alleged to have
been WTOught by him during life (for which he was
called the Thaumaturgus of his time), and after his
death, but until the conclusion of the process of beati-
fication it is im])ossilile to speak of these. He wrote,
be.sides .some works which remained in MS.: "Senten-
ti;e spirituales' (on mystical theology), translated
into French (Paris, 1623), German, and Flemish;
"Argumenta psalmorum" (Rome, 1623); "De pro-
tectione B. Virginis" (French translation, Paris,
1645); "Concordia spiritualis" (Spanish tran.slation,
Brussels, 1G26).
Besides the extensive notices contained in Philippcs a SS. Trin'ITate, Decor. Carmeli, in the Reforma de los Descahos, and the Hist, generalis Congregationis S. ElitT-, see Berthold-Ionace DE Ste Anse. Vie de. la Mhre Anne de Jesus (Mechlin, 1.SS2), II, 344-386, concerning Thomas jl Jesu. Philippus a S.S. Trini- TATE, Vila Ven. P. Dominici (Lyons, 1659), also in French, and Maria Gabriela, Lehen dcs ehrw. Dominikus (Innsbruck. 1902).
Benedict Zimmerm.\n.
Thomas a Kempis, author of the "Imitation of Christ", b. at Kerapen in the Diocese of Cologne, in 1.379 or 1380; d. 2.5 July, 1471. His parents, John and (icrtrude Haemerken, were of the artisan class; it is said that Gertrude kept the village school, and most probably the father worked in metals, a common calling in Kempen, whence peihajjs the surname Haemerken, or Haemerlein, Latinized Mnlhiilus (a little hammer). We have certain infoniiatiun of only two children, .John, the senior by about fourteen years, and Thomas. Thom;i,s was only thirteen wlien he set out for the .schools of l)ev<'nter, in Holland. His brother had preceded him thither by ten or twelve years, and doubtless Thomas expected to finfl him still there. On his arrival, how(>ver, he learned that he had gone two years since with five other Brothers of the Common Life to lay the foundations of a n(?w congregation of Canon.<5 Regular at Windesheim, about twenty miles from Deventer, where he then went and was lovingly received by his brother who provided him with a letter of introduction to the superior of the Brothers of Common I^ife at Deventer, Florentius Hiidewyn. Radewyn gave a warm welcome to the young brother of John Haemerken of Kempen, placed him for the time being in the house and under the maternal care of "a certain noble and devout lady", presented him to the rector of the schools, and paid his first fees, though the master returned the money when he learned whence it came. These par- ticulars we have from the pen of Thomas him.self in the biographies, written in his old age, of Gerard Groote, Florentius Hadewyn, and their followers (see "The Founders of the New Devotion", Ixindon, 190.')). For se\-en years he remained at Deventer, numbered from the first among th<' disciples of Radewyn, and
for a good portion of the time living in his house under
his immediate care. It is impossible to exaggerate
the influence of those years in the formation of his
char.icter. The "new devotion", of which Deventer
was then the focus and centre, was a revival in the
Low Covuitries in the fourteenth century of the fer-
vour of the primitive Christians at Jerusalem and
Antioch in the first. It owed its inception to the
fer\id preaching of the Deacon Gerard Groote, its
further organization to the prudence and generous
de\'t)tedness of Florentius Radewyn. Its associates
were called the "Devout Brothers and Sisters", also
the "Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life".
They took no vows, but lived a life of poverty,
chastit}', and obedience, as far as was compatible with
their state, some
in their own homes
and others, espe-
cially clerics, in
community. They
were forbidden to
beg, but all were
expected to earn
their living by the
labour of their
hands; for the
clerics this meant
chiefly the tran-
scribing of books
and the instruc-
tion of the young.
All earnings were
placed in a com-
mon fund at the
disposal of the su-
perior; the one
ambition of all
was to emulate
the life and vir-
tues of the first
Christians, especially in the love of God and the
neighbour, in simplicity, humility, devotion. Fur-
thermore, partly to provide the Devout Brothers and
Sisters with effective protectors and experienced
guides, partly to afford an easy transit to the religious
state proper for those of their number who should
desire it, Gerard Groote conceived the idea of estab-
lishing a branch of the canonical order, which should
always maintain the closest relations with the mem-
bers of the new ilevotion. This scheme was carried
into effect after his untimely death, at the early age
of forty-three, by the foundation of thi- congregation
of Windesheim, as it was afterwards called from the
tract of land where the first priory W!is established
(1386). These details are givi^n as helpful to a better
understanding of the life and character of a Kempis,
a typical and ex<Mnplary Brother, and for seventy-two
years he was one of the most distinguished of the
Canons Regular.
At Deventer Thomas proved an apt [lupil, already noted for his neatness and skill in transcribing manu- scripts. This w;vs a life-long labour of love with him; in addition to his own compositions he copied numer- ous treatises from the Fathers, especially St. Bernard, a Mi.ssal for the u.se of his community, and the whole Bible in four large volumes still extant. AftiT com- pleting his humanities at Deventer, in the autumn of i;j99, with the commendation of his superior, Floren- tius Radewyn, Thomas sought admi.ssion among the Canons Regular of Wimleshcim at Mount St. Agnes, near Zwolle, of whi(Oi monastery his brother John waa then prior. The house had been established only the previous year, and as yet there were no claustral buildings, no garden, no benefactors, no funds. Dur- ing his term of office, which last('(l nine years, John a Kempis built the priory and commenced the church. In these circumstances we find the explanation of the
Thomas a Kempis
the Getruidcnberg Portrait
