Thomas a Kempis

Thomas à Kempis , b. 1379 or 1380, d. 1471, German monk, traditional author of The Imitation of Christ, b. Kempen, Germany. He was schooled at Deventer, in the Netherlands, the center of the Brothers of the Common Life founded by Gerard Groote . He joined the Augustinian canons (1399) and was ordained a priest (c.1413). His convent was Mt. St. Agnes, near Zwolle, in the Netherlands. Thomas worked principally at copying and writing. A number of his treatises on the monastic life and little devotional essays have been translated into English. The great devotional work The Imitation of Christ (c.1427) has traditionally been ascribed to him, although some scholars have contested his authorship. See Imitation of Christ, The .

Thomas à Kempis (c.1380–1471), ascetical writer and probably the author of the ‘Imitation of Christ’. Thomas Hemerken was born at Kempen, near Krefeld, educated by the Brethren of the Common Life, and in 1399 entered the house of the Canons Regular at the Agnietenberg, near Zwolle (a daughter-house of Windesheim), taking the habit in 1406. All his writings are pervaded by a devotional spirit. Feast day in the American BCP (1979), 24 July.

Thomas àG Kempis (c.1380–1471). Christian ascetical writer. His teaching, which was deeply influenced by the devotio moderna (see GROOTE, GEERT), stresses the importance of an inward devotion of love and obedience to Christ, which finds classic expression in the Imitation of Christ, of which he is probably the author.