STANDONCK, JOHANNES van. - Preacher and ascetic reformer, b. at Malines in 1453, d. 2 Feb. 1504. Very poor, he pursued his first studies at Malines, then at Gouda (Holland) with the Brethren of the Common Life, at Louvain, and finally at Paris, where he completed his philosophical and theological studies. From 1484 he was attached to the Sorbonne.
As a professor and preacher, he won the friendship of many influential persons and, freed from material concerns, became one of the most celebrated masters of the University. Of an exceedingly austere life, he practised immense charity. To remedy the decline of morals among the people and of discipline among the clergy, he undertook a radical reform, proposing to Charles VIII (1493) a series of vigorous measures against abuses.
His influence as a reformer extended to the Benedictines, Regular Canons, Franciscans, Dominicans, and Crocigers. S. renewed and endowed the Collège de Montaigu in Paris; he attached to it a “house of the poor” in order to prepare the children of the people for the priesthood. Having fallen from the King’s favour, he used his exile to found four colleges in the Low Countries. Restored to the King’s favour, he continued his work of foundations and reforms until his death.