PETERS, GERLACH. - One of the most notable authors of the « Devotio moderna »; born at Deventer in 1378, he entered as a regular canon of St Augustine at Windesheim, where he died in 1411.
Apart from two letters in the “thiois” dialect dealing with the spiritual life, P. wrote two Latin treatises, the Brevilogium and the Solilogium ignitum (Latin ed. by J. Stange, Cologne 1849). The latter especially achieved great renown and was translated into various European languages. It expresses a spiritual doctrine which, upon a solid ascetical basis, rises to lofty mystical flight; in it one recognizes the disciple of Ruysbroeck, who nevertheless truly lived what he wrote. P. died in the odour of sanctity after enduring great physical sufferings.
BIBL.: Life in J. Busch, Chronicon Windeshemense, ed. K. Grube, Halle 1886, pp. 156-64; L. Reypens, Le sommet de la contemplation mystique chez G. P., in Revue d'ascétique et de mystique, 5 (1924), pp. 33-43. Bernardo Spaapen