WINDESHEIM. - A Dutch locality near Zwolle (q.v.), where the Congregation of Augustinian Canons Regular known as the Congregation of Windesheim arose.
The great reform movement of the late 14th century, known as the Devotio moderna (q.v.), took institutional form in the organization of the Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life (q.v.) and in the Congregation of Augustinian Canons Regular of Windesheim. These three ascetic organizations trace their origin to the spiritual and reforming genius of Gerardus Groote (q.v.), but in different ways. Towards the end of his life, Groote intended to give a more organically canonical form to the groups of men and women who, inspired by his spirit, had formed in various places in Holland. His desire, if he had lived to see it, to subject them to the Rule of St Augustine did not materialize before his untimely death, while many “devout” individuals or groups had already attached themselves to some already established order or congregation. Floris Radewijns (q.v.), Groote’s faithful friend, around 1381 gathered in his house in Deventer a nucleus of “devout” people, recruited especially from the student youth of Deventer and elsewhere; under the guidance of Radewijns and Groote they devoted themselves to interior life and apostolate, while also copying and illuminating books. Among them were formed the future animators of the Congregation of Windesheim, including J. Vos (q.v.) of Heusden, J. Brinkerink, and later Thomas à Kempis. Around 1386 the “devout” Berthold ten Hove bequeathed a house in Windesheim; the premises were adapted to house a community, and Radewijns sent his best “devout” men to begin the regular religious life there. The Bishop of Utrecht, Floris van Wevelinkhoven, permitted them to make religious profession as Augustinian Canons Regular. At Radewijns’ wish, they underwent a kind of novitiate in the convent of the Order at Eemsteyn (near Dordrecht), which had been organized by a brother sent from Groenendaal (q.v.), Godfrey van Wevel, author of the Treatise on the Twelve Virtues long attributed to Ruusbroec. On 17 September 1387 the first solemn profession of the six initial “devout” men took place at Windesheim. Radewijns, present on the occasion, appointed J. Vos as first prior and entrusted him with full jurisdiction, while continuing to support the young foundation. The Congregation of Windesheim enjoyed an independent existence but maintained close relations with the Brothers of the Common Life, despite occasional tensions between the two tendencies.
The new institution soon spread to other places, first to Zwolle (q.v.), where in 1394 or 1395 the Chapter of the Congregation of Windesheim Canons was formed, to which 82 houses were affiliated by 1464. Under the inspiration of Groote as interpreted by Radewijns, the Congregation followed the Rule of St Augustine and developed its own spirituality, elaborated by its first priors (J. Vos, Dirk Herxen, etc.) and some other masters. It was marked by a somewhat rigorous asceticism with a monastic outlook. Around 1460 J. Brinkerink established, alongside the houses of Sisters of the Common Life (the first of which had been founded in 1382 by Groote himself), parallel female monasteries corresponding to the two branches of the “devout.” In 1460 the first monastery of Augustinian Canonesses Regular was founded at Diepeveen, under the obedience of the Chapter of Windesheim. This Congregation soon had various branches in Holland and Belgium.
Finally, several houses (both male and female) of Franciscan Tertiaries were established in which Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life associated under the Rule of St Francis, while maintaining a tenuous link with the Brothers who assumed their spiritual direction. By 1464 more than 100 Tertiary houses were dependent on the Brothers. In the second half of the 15th century, which saw a general decline in the Church and many orders making efforts at reform, religious from Windesheim were often invited to bring reform to other orders or congregations, even in France and Germany (q.V. STANDONCK, etc.). The Congregation of Windesheim, which had a wide network of branches in Germany and the Low Countries (including Groenendaal, Korsendonck, and St Martin’s at Louvain), maintained admirable fervor and zeal throughout this period, despite some deficiencies. Around 1500 a certain relaxation of religious life is noted, largely explained by general factors of disintegration: economic, social, political, moral, and religious distress. The Protestant “Reformation” deeply shook the Congregation of Windesheim, which as early as 1522 took energetic measures to contain the contagion. It lost its houses in the northern Netherlands and Germany to Protestantism. The courageous efforts of the General Chapters or of individuals such as J. Latomus in 1578 could not stem the decline, especially in the last quarter of the 16th century. Pope Gregory XIII’s decree of 1573 provided an important reform program, but lack of effective means of execution prevented it from restoring the order’s former vigor. Only in the 17th century did it regain momentum (through preaching, schools, etc.). The 18th century was a long agony for the once-glorious Congregation of Windesheim. It disappeared under the blows of the French Revolution, and its last house closed in 1802.