A Sixteenth-Century Mystical Renaissance in the Eastern Netherlands

BERNARD MCGINN A Sixteenth-Century Mystical Renaissance in the Eastern Netherlands It is only within the past decade that the existence of a sixteenth-century renaissance of mysticism in the Eastern Netherlands has begun to emerge as an important chapter in the history of Western spirituality.1 Considerable research has been devoted to the role of the Charterhouse of St. Barbara at Cologne in editing, translating, and publishing mystical texts, as well as the place of these Carthusians in the history of Catholic reform, but little had been written about the connection of the Carthusians with centers of mystical writing both by and for women in the Netherlands provinces of Brabant and Gelderland.2 What is now clear is that in the mid-sixteenth century the conversation between men and women that was a feature of much late medieval mysticism found a new home in the Low Countries, one in which the Carthusians at Cologne and the community of Augustinian canonesses at St. Agnes at Arnhem formed two important foci.3 As the historian Jean Dagens once put it, “La Chartreuse de Cologne n’est pas moins important pour l’histoire religieuse que la Fraternité obscure où Thomas a Kempis a médité les livres de l’Imitation.”4 This may seem exagger- ated, but when we look at the activities of the Cologne community in editing, translating, and printing late medieval theological and spiritual writings, it becomes less extreme. This publishing effort was part of a program of reform centered at Cologne, a distinctive German attempt at countering the split in ¶ Much of the material in this essay appeared in a slightly different form in Chapter 5, “A Mys- tical Renaissance in the Eastern Netherlands,” in Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, 1350-1550 (New York: Crossroad-Herder, 2012), 141-75. 1 The term “mystical renaissance” was used by Kees Schepers, “Introduction,” to Mystical Sermons, in Rik Van Nieuwenhove, Robert Faesen, and Helen Rolfson, eds., Late Medieval Mysticism of the Low Countries (New York: Paulist Press, 2008), 350. 2 On the Cologne Carthusians, see Gérald Chaix, Réforme et contre-réforme catholique. Recherche sur la chartreuse de Cologne au XVI siècle, 3 vols. (Salzburg: Universität Salzburg, 1981). Chaix considers the relation of the Carthusians to the religious women of the Netherlands in Vol. 1:202-07. Also see Jean Dagens, Bérulle et les origins de la restauration catholique (1575-1611) (Bruges: Desclée, 1952), 79-87; and Sigrun Haude, “The Silent Monks Speak Up: The Changing Role of the Carthusians in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries,” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 86 (1995): 124-39. 3 On the Convent of St. Agnes, Kees Schepers, “Het verborgen leven van de zusters Agnieten. Mystieke cultuur te Arnhem in de zestiende eeuw,” Ons Geestelijk Erf 79 (2009): 285-316, as well as the essays in Hans Kienhorst and Jan Kuys, eds., Verborgen Leven. Arnhemse Mystiek in de Zestiende Eeuw (Arnhem: Historisch Museum Arnhem: Stichting Nijmeegse Kunsthistorische Studies, 2011). 4 Dagens, Bérulle et les origins, 79, see also 85. Ons Geestelijk Erf 87(1-2), 28-49. doi: 10.2143/OGE.87.1.3200538 © Ons Geestelijk Erf. All rights reserved. A SiXteenth-Century Mystical Renaissance 29 Christendom prior to the conclusion of the Council of Trent in 1563, when the propagation of the official Roman response to the challenge of the Reformation cancelled out other options.5 The impact of these Carthusians was felt not only through their transmitting established mystical authors like Gertrude the Great, Mechthild of Hackeborn, Henry Suso, John Tauler, Jan van Ruusbroec, Denys the Carthusian, and Hendrik Herp, but also for their role in fostering contemporary mystics in the convents and beguinages of the Netherlands. The Cologne Charterhouse was distinguished by a succession of spiritual writers, translators, and editors perhaps unique in the history of Saint Bruno’s order. Peter Blommeveen (Petrus Blomevenna), also known as Peter of Leiden (1466-1536), was prior of the house from 1507-36, and a noted spiritual author.6 He was succeeded as prior by Gerard Kalkbrenner (1494-1566; prior 1536-66), also born in the Low Countries, who befriended and edited the beguine mystic Maria van Hout. Kalkbrenner continued Blommeveen’s edition of the works of Denys the Carthusian and encouraged translations by other members of the house.7 Among these other translators was the German John of Landsberg (1489-1539), who was born in Bavaria, studied theology at Cologne, and entered St. Barbara in 1509. He eventually left to become prior of the Charterhouse of Vogelsang.8 Another noteworthy figure was Dirk Loher (ca. 1490-1554), born near Eindhoven, who worked on the Denys the Carthusian edition and also produced the small version of The Evangelical Pearl in 1535 and the first edition of The Great Evangelical Pearl in 1537/39.9 The Hercules of the Carthusian translation program, however, was Laurentius Surius (ca. 1523-78).10 In a relatively brief time before he turned his attention to anti-Protestant polemics, Surius translated all of Ruusbroec, as well as numerous other mystical works, such as writings of Henry Suso and John Tauler. The Cologne Carthusians worked within a wider circle of clerics from the Dutch-German borderlands. Nicholas van Esch (1507-78), the chaplain of the beguine house at Diest, collaborated with the Carthusians in producing the editions of The Evangelical Pearl.11 Peter Canisius (1521-97), the leader 5 Chaix, Réforme et contre-réforme catholique, especially Vol. 1, Parts 3-4. 6 L. Verschueren, “Blomevenna (Pierre),” Dictionnaire de Spiritualité 1:1738-39. Blommeveen translated the works of his teacher Hendrik Herp, began the edition of the writings of Denys the Carthusian, and also wrote spiritual treatises, such as De bonitate divina. 7 On Kalkbrenner, Heinrich Rüthing, “Kalkbrenner (Chalcificis ou Hamontanus, Gérard),” Dictionnaire de Spiritualité 8:1653-57. 8 On Landsberg, Heribert Rossmann, “Lanspergius (Lansperge, Landsberg, Jean Juste),” Diction- naire de Spiritualité 9:230-38; and S. Autore, “Lansperge ou Landsberg,” Dictionnaire de théologie catholique 8:2606-09. Landsberg wrote polemical works against Luther, as well as a number of spiritual treatises. 9 Heinrich Rüthing, “Loher (Loerius; Dirk, Dietrich, Thierry),” Dictionnaire de Spiritualité 9:961-63. 10 For introductions, Augustine Devaux, “Surius (Sauer, Laurent),” Dictionnaire de Spiritualité 14:1325-29; and S. Autore, “Surius, Laurent,” Dictionnaire de théologie catholique 14:1325-29. 11 Albert Ampe, “Eschius (Esschius, van Esche, van Essche, van Es, Nicolas),” Dictionnaire de Spiritualité 4:1060-66. 30 Bernard McGinn of the early Jesuits in Germanic lands, was born at Nijmegen, studied at Cologne, and spent time with the Carthusians (1540-43) before joining the Society of Jesus.12 Though best known today as an educational reformer and controversialist, as well as being a Doctor of the Church, he is also believed to have edited Tauler’s sermons into German (1543).13 This Dutch-German commitment to translation and edition was based on the conviction that the mystical literature of the late Middle Ages could provide an antidote to the Reformers’ attack on traditional Catholicism. The major interest of the Cologne Carthusians was in the mystical literature of Northern Continental Europe of the fourteenth century, but the monks also encouraged contemporary mystics. The Augustinian convent of St. Agnes in Arnhem is an example of a female community that centered its life on striving for deeper contact with God and also left extensive records of the mystical devotion of its members. Its story extended over two centuries. Founded about 1420 under the inspiration of the devotio moderna, the community lived for some years under a Franciscan Rule, but by 1459 became Augustinian. The house had a distinguished history down to its dissolution in 1626.14 The nineteen surviving manuscripts from St. Agnes show that the nuns had access to a wide range of mystical literature, including Cassian, Bernard, Hadewijch, Mechthild of Hackeborn, Eckhart, Suso, Tauler, Ruusbroec, and Gerlach Peters.15 These codices include the only surviving manuscript witness to The Evangelical Pearl, showing that even if the text may not have been written at St. Agnes, it came from the same ambience and was of interest to the nuns. The major work that was certainly composed at St. Agnes is the sole manuscript of “The Arnhem Mystical Sermons,” a collection of one hundred and sixty-two sermons that shows similarity to The Evangelical Pearl, and even more to the other work of the anonymous author of The Pearl, the treatise entitled The Temple of Our Soul. The close ties of the St. Agnes sisters to the Carthusians, the distinctive form of mysticism found in the three works just mentioned, as well as the life and writings of the contemporary beguine Maria van Hout, allow us to speak of the second quarter of the sixteenth century as the time of a true mystical renaissance in the Eastern Netherlands. 12 On Peter Canisius, who was made a “Doctor of the Church” in 1925, see James Brodrick, Saint Peter Canisius, S. J. 1521-97 (Baltimore: Carroll Press, 1950). 13 Rob van de Schoor, a.o., argues against the attribution: “Canisius als Herausgeber. Die Aus- gaben von Tauler (1543), Kyrill (1546) und Leo dem Großen (1546),” Ons Geestelijk Erf 82 (2011), 161-186. 14 Schepers, “Het verborgen leven van de zusters Agnieten,” and the literature cited there. 15 For a brief account of the nineteen surviving manuscripts from St. Agnes, Schepers, “Het verborgen leven van de zusters Agnieten,” 309-12, and especially the two essays by Hans Kienhorst in Verborgen Leven, 89-120. The sisters had copies of the works of Cassian, Bernard of Clairvaux, Hadewijch, Gertrude of Helfta, Mechthild of Hackeborn, Eckhart, Suso, Tauler, the “Schwester Katrei” treatise, Ruusbroec (4 mss.), Jan van Schoonhoven, Hendrik Mande, Gerlach Peters, John of Kastl, the De imitatione Christi, and Hendrik Herp.

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