GROOTE, GEERT (Gerardus Magnus). - Dutch mystic, born at Deventer (province of Overijsel) in 1340, died there on 20 Aug. 1384. He began his studies in his native city; at the age of 15 he went to the University of Paris, where he was promoted magister artium in 1358. He continued his studies for about another ten years at Paris, Prague and Orléans. Among the many sciences he studied, including physics, moral philosophy, astrology and theology, his taste inclined him particularly to law, both civil and canon. G. was praised as a man of "most keen intellect, as it were another Augustine."
Probably in 1374 (according to the Jesuit J. van Ginkel, in 1370) the decisive event of his life occurred: his conversion from a rather relaxed and worldly life to an interior and ascetical life, under the influence of the Carthusian Henry Egher Kalkar. He spent some months at the Charterhouse of Munnikhuizen near Arnhem and then devoted himself entirely to the service of God. A man of energy, notable for his austerity and firmness, he used his property and the income from his canonries for the work of his life: the propagation of the devotio moderna, a Catholic reform movement which took shape in the foundations of which G. was, if not the organizer, certainly the spiritual father and great promoter. The Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life, and a little later the Canons Regular of Windesheim (q.v.), developed in parallel and dominated the whole spirituality of the 15th century. G., ordained deacon in 1377, preached in many cities of Holland against the prevailing abuses.
He wrote various treatises and letters in Latin and Dutch, including those against simony, against the "focarists" (priests living in concubinage), on Matrimony (which he judged with excessive severity), etc. His zeal brought him much trouble, mainly from religious of the Mendicant Orders, who criticized his foundations because they lived in community without religious vows (except for the Congregation of Windesheim, which however arose later). G. had great esteem for Bl. G. Ruysbroeck, prior of Groenendael; he visited him and translated into Latin his masterpiece Die Cierheyt der Gheestelike Brulocht (De excellentia nuptiarum spiritualium). Towards the end of his brief life he was forbidden to preach on the pretext that this pastoral activity was reserved to priests. G. had intended to be ordained priest, but death prevented him. While an epidemic raged at Deventer, G. contracted the disease at the bedside of a sick disciple and died at the age of only 44.
According to some, G. composed (in Dutch [J. van Ginneken] or in Latin [F. Kern]) his spiritual diary which would contain in large part the essentials of the first three books of the De imitatione Christi. But this attribution is still controversial.
G. undoubtedly gave rise to a great movement of Catholic reform and spread the practice of interior life based on an eclectic spirituality which was chiefly concerned with the practical and ascetical side. He was therefore called the "Father of all the Devout."