DEVOTIO MODERNA

religious movement within Roman Catholicism from the end of the 14th to the 16th century stressing meditation and the inner life, attaching little importance to ritual and external works, and downgrading the highly speculative spirituality of the 13th and 14th centuries. Devotio moderna (Latin: modern devotion) originated in the Netherlands and spread to Germany, northern France, Spain, and possibly Italy. Gerhard Groote, father of the movement, founded the Brethren of the Common Life; after his death, disciples established a house of Augustinian Canons at Windesheim (near Zwolle, Holland). These two communitiesthe former living in the world, the latter monasticbecame the principal exponents of devotio moderna. The Imitation of Christ, traditionally attributed to Thomas Kempis, is a classic expression of the movement.