Groote

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Groote, Geert, Gerard or Gerard the Great (1340–84), founder of the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life. Born of a wealthy family in Deventer, he studied theology and law at Paris. After a somewhat worldly life, he spent three years in a Carthusian monastery, and became attracted by the teachings of Ruysbroek. He became a powerful preacher, attacking abuses in the Church. In 1380, he and his friend, Florentius Radewijns, established a group for the development of personal piety. From this group, the Brethren developed; and in 1383, he wrote a Rule for a similar community of women. In effect, this was the creation of the Devotio Moderna, the ‘up-to-date devotion’ which brought the practice of the presence of God into the midst of everyday life.

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