GROOTE, GEERT (Gerardus Magnus). — Dutch mystic, born at Deventer (province of Overijssel) in 1340, died there on 20 August 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 (1358) to magister artium. He continued his studies for approximately another 10 years in Paris, Prague, and Orléans. Among the many sciences he studied, including physics, moral philosophy, astrology, and theology, his inclination was chiefly toward law, both Roman and canon law. G. was praised as a man « ingenio acerrimus velut alter Augustinus ». Probably in 1374 (according to the Jesuit J. van Ginneken, in 1370) there occurred the decisive event of his life: his conversion from a rather relaxed and worldly life to the interior and ascetic life, under the influence of the Carthusian Enrico Egher Kalkar. He spent several months at the charterhouse of Murnikhuizen near Arnhem, and then devoted himself entirely to the service of God. An energetic man of considerable austerity and firmness, he employed his possessions and the revenues from his canonries for the work of his life: the propagation of the devotio moderna, a movement of Catholic reform that found expression in the foundations of which G., if not the organizer, was certainly the spiritual father and great promoter. The Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life, and somewhat Windesheim (v.), developed in parallel and dominated the whole spirituality of the fifteenth century. G., ordained a deacon in 1377, preached in many cities of Holland against the abuses then rampant.
He wrote various treatises and letters in Latin and Dutch, including those against simony, against the « focarists » (concubinage-practicing priests), and on Marriage (which he judged with excessive severity), among others. His zeal brought him much trouble, chiefly from members of the Mendicant Orders, who criticized his foundations because people lived there in common but without religious vows (with the exception of the Congregation of Windesheim, which arose later). G. had great esteem for the b. G. Ruysbroeck, prior of Groenendael; he went to visit him and translated his masterpiece Die Cierheyt der Gheestelike Bruloccht (De excellentia nuptiarum spiritualium) into Latin. Toward the end of his short life he was forbidden to preach, on the pretext that this pastoral activity was reserved for priests.
G. conceived the idea of having himself ordained a priest, but death forestalled him. While an epidemic was raging in Deventer, G. contracted the illness at the bedside of a sick disciple, and died at only 44 years of age.
According to some, G. composed (in Dutch [J. van Ginneken] or in Latin [F. Kern]) his spiritual diary, which would contain, for the most part, the substance of the first three books of the De imitatione Christi. But this attribution remains controversial.
G. undoubtedly gave rise to a major movement of Catholic reform, and propagated the practice of the interior life on the basis of an eclectic spirituality concerned above all with the practical and ascetic aspect. He was therefore called the «Father of all the devout».