Thomas à Kempis

Thomas à Kempis, CRSA (c. 1380 – 25 July 1471)[1] was a German-Dutch canon
Thomas à Kempis, CRSA
regular of the late medieval period and the author of The Imitation of Christ, one of
the most popular and best known Christian books on devotion. His name means
Thomas "of Kempen", his hometown, and in German he is known as Thomas von
Kempen (in Dutch, Thomas van Kempen).

He was a member of the Modern Devotion, a spiritual movement during the late
medieval period, and a follower of Geert Groote and Florens Radewyns, the
founders of the Brethren of the Common Life.[2]

Contents
Life
Works Born 1380
Quotations Kempen, Prince-
Archbishopric of
Veneration
Cologne, Holy
Notes
Roman Empire
References
Died 25 July 1471
External links
Zwolle, Bishopric of
Utrecht, Holy Roman
Empire
Life
Other names Thomas von
Thomas was born in Kempen in the Rhineland.[3] His surname at birth was Kempen
Hemerken, literally "hammerkin" (little hammer). His father Johann was a Thomas Hemerken
[3]
blacksmith and his mother Gertrud was a schoolmistress.
Occupation Canon regular,
In 1392, Thomas followed his brother, Johann, to Deventer in the Netherlands in author, scribe
order to attend the noted Latin school there. While attending this school, Thomas Known for The Imitation of
encountered the Brethren of the Common Life, followers of Gerard Groote's Modern Christ
[3]
Devotion. He attended school in Deventer from 1392 to 1399.

After leaving school, Thomas went to the nearby town of Zwolle to visit his brother again, after Johann had become the prior of the
Monastery of Mount St Agnes there. This community was one of the canons regular of the Congregation of Windesheim, founded by
disciples of Groote in order to provide a way of life more in keeping with the norms of monastic life of the period. Thomas himself
entered Mount St Agnes in 1406. He was not ordained a priest, however, until almost a decade later. He became a prolific copyist and
writer. Thomas received Holy Orders in 1413[4] and was made sub-prior of the monastery in 1429.

His first tenure of office as subprior was interrupted by the exile of the community from Agnetenberg (1429). A dispute had arisen in
connection with an appointment to the vacant See of Utrecht. Pope Martin V rejected the nomination of Bishop-elect Rudolf van
Diepholt, and imposed an interdict. The Canons remained in exile in observance of the interdict until the question was settled (1432).
During this time, Thomas was sent to Arnhem to care for his ailing brother. He remained there until his brother died November,
1432.[4]
Otherwise, Thomas spent his time between devotional exercises, composition, and
copying. He copied the Bible no fewer than four times,[4] one of the copies being
preserved at Darmstadt, Germany in five volumes. In its teachings he was widely read
and his works abound in Biblical quotations, especially from theNew Testament.

As subprior he was charged with instructing novices, and in that capacity wrote four
booklets between 1420 and 1427, later collected and named after the title of the first
chapter of the first booklet: The Imitation of Christ. Thomas More said it was one of the
three books everybody ought to own.[5]

Thomas died near Zwolle in 1471.

Works
Thomas à Kempis wrote the biographies of New Devotion members—Gerard Groote, Monument on Mount Saint Agnes
Floris Radewijns, Jan van de Gronde, and Jan Brinckerinck.[6] His important works in Zwolle "Here lived Thomas van
include a series of sermons to the novices of St Augustine Monastery, including Prayers Kempen in the service of the Lord
and Meditations on the Life of Christ, Meditations on the Incarnation of Christ, Of True and wrote On the Imitation of
Christ, 1406–1471"
Compunction of Heart, Soliloquy of the Soul, Garden of Roses, Valley of Lilies, and a
Life[7] of St Lidwina of Schiedam. Kempis's 1441 autograph manuscript of The
Imitation of Christ is available in the Bibliothèque Royale in Brussels (catalog : MS
5455-61).[6]

Quotations
The following quotes are attributed to him:
The reliquary with the relics of
"Without the Way, there is no going, Thomas à Kempis
Without the Truth, there is no knowing,
Without the Life, there is no living."

"If thou wilt receive profit, read with humility, simplicity, and
faith, and seek not at any time the fame of being learned."

"At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we

have read, but what we have done." — The Imitation of
Christ, Book I, ch. 3

"For man proposes, but God disposes" — The Imitation of

Christ, Book I, ch. 19 Thomas à Kempis on Mount Saint
Agnes – (1569)
"If, however, you seek Jesus in all things, you will surely
find Him. " — The Imitation of Christ, Book II, ch. 7

"In angello cum libello" (with slight variations), "In a little corner with a little book"

— Shortened form of a motto often ascribed to, or associated with, Thomas a Kempis.
The complete saying as reported by an early biographer is a mixture of Latin and
Dutch and runs as follows: "In omnibus requiem quaesivi, sed non inveni, nisi in
hoexkens ende boexkens", "I have sought everywhere for peace, but I have found it
not save in nooks and in books."[8]

Veneration
A monument was dedicated to his memory in the presence of the archbishop of
Utrecht in St Michael's Church, Zwolle, on November 11, 1897. In 1964, this church
closed causing his shrine to be moved to a new St Michael's Church outside the
centre of Zwolle. In 2005, this church had also closed and his shrine was moved to
the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Hemelopneming kerk (Assumption of Mary church) in
the centre of Zwolle.[9]

Notes
1. Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der
Nederlanden, 87, p. 137.
2. Van Engen, John, Sisters and Brothers of theCommon Life: The
Devotio Moderna and the World of the Later Middle Ages, (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008).
3. Kempis (2004). On the Passion of Christ according to the four
evangelists (https://books.google.com/books?id=1Z-UcOVsLhYC&lpg=P
A11&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false). Ignatius Press,. pp. 9–12. Opera spirituale, 1568.
4. Scully, 1912.
5. "Thomas á Kempis", Christian History, August 8, 2008 (http://www.christi
anitytoday.com/ch/131christians/innertravelers/kempis.html)
6. William C. Creasy (2007). "Introduction".The Imitation of Christ. Mercer University Press. pp. xix–xx.
7. "Vita Lidewigis" (https://archive.org/details/schiedamvirgin00kempuoft)
. Archive.org. 2001-03-10. Retrieved
2012-03-14.
8. See F.A. Wright & T.A. Sinclair, A history of later Latin literature(1931), p. 361 ([1] (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=qlQVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA361&dq=%22there+we+have+the+man+under%22&hl=nl&ei=- mTmTc-8H8LpOeKr-MEJ&
sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22there%20we%20have%20th
e%20man%20under%22&f=false)). Franciscus Tolensis, Vita Thomae a Kempis, 12: "Ostenditur adhuc ejus effigies,
sed admodum deformata poenèque obliterata, cum hoc insigni symbolo, In omnibus requiem quaesivi, sed non
inveni, nisi in hoexkens ende boexkens: Hoc est, in abditis recessibus & libellulis." Thomae
( a Kempis opera omnia,
ed. Henricus Sommalius, 1759 edition, I, p. 29 [2] ( (https://books.google.com/books?id=V5U7AAAAcAAJ&pg=P A29
&lpg=PA29&dq=%22+cum+hoc+insigni+symbolo%22&source=bl&ots=hY1r-HHb_-&sig=OarlUkpV4b3sy-TQeLKii3V
4Izk&hl=nl&ei=zw7mTf_pG8bpOeiViccJ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onep
age&q=%22%20cum%20hoc%20insigni%20symbolo%22&f=false) ))
9. http://www.peperbus-zwolle.nl/olvbasiliekzwolle/kempis.html

References
This article incorporates Public Domain material from theNew Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,
Vol. VI: Innocents — Liudger, Schaff, Philip.
Thomas à Kempis (2007),The Imitation of Christ, Filiquarian, ISBN 1-59986-979-9
Thomas à Kempis (2005),The Imitation of Christ: A Spiritual Commentary and Reader's Guide , Ave Maria Press,
ISBN 0-87061-234-4
Thomas à Kempis (1989), William C. Creasy , ed., The Imitation of Christ, Mercer University Press, ISBN 0-86554-
339-9
Thomas à Kempis (1955), Harold C. Gardner , S.J., ed., The Imitation of Christ, Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-375-70018-7
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Thomas à Kempis". Encyclopædia Britannica. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University
Press.
Scully, Vincent Joseph Henry (1912). "Thomas a Kempis". In Herbermann, Charles.Catholic Encyclopedia. 14.
New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links
Read Imitation of Christ online
 Quotes from Thomas à Kempis
Works by Thomas à Kempisat Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Thomas à Kempisat Internet Archive
Works by Thomas à Kempisat LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Imitation of Christ in PDF
Devotio Moderna

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