FLORENTIUS, RADEWIJNS. – Dutch mystic, born in 1350 at Leerdam, died on 24 March 1400 at Deventer. Having completed his studies at the University of Prague in 1378, he returned to Holland. Together with G. Groote, he was one of the founders of the Devotio moderna, of the Fraterherren, also called Fratres vitae communis, and of the monastery of Windesheim.
For him, contemplation is the “royal way” that leads to the reform of men who, once their vices have been eradicated, become effective instruments of religious reform. His Tractatus devotus de extirpatione olitorum foreshadows the Spiritual Exercises of s. Ignazio.
BIBL.: I. G. R. Acquoy, Het Klooster van Windesheim en zijn invloed, 3 vols., Utrecht 1875–80; V. indices; R. Ritten, s. V. in LTNK, VIII, col. 606; T. Brandlima, Twee berijde Levens van Geert Groot, in Ons geestlijk Erf, 16 (1942), p. 27 ff. Stumpf Miroslav