Jesus
Jesus referred to as Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus Christ, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity, is described as the most influential person in history. Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. All modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed although the quest for the historical Jesus has produced little agreement on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how the Jesus portrayed in the Bible reflects the historical Jesus. Jesus was a Galilean Jew, baptized by John the Baptist and began his own ministry, he preached orally and was referred to as "rabbi". Jesus debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God, engaged in healings, taught in parables and gathered followers, he was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities, turned over to the Roman government, crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect. After his death, his followers believed he rose from the dead, the community they formed became the early Church.
The birth of Jesus is celebrated annually on December 25th as Christmas. His crucifixion is honored on his resurrection on Easter; the used calendar era "AD", from the Latin anno Domini, the equivalent alternative "CE", are based on the approximate birthdate of Jesus. Christian doctrines include the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin named Mary, performed miracles, founded the Christian Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement for sin, rose from the dead, ascended into Heaven, from where he will return. Most Christians believe; the Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection, an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology. The great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of the Trinity. A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or as non-scriptural. Jesus figures in non-Christian religions and new religious movements.
In Islam, Jesus is considered one of the Messiah. Muslims believe Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin, but was not the son of God; the Quran states. Most Muslims do not believe that he was crucified, but that he was physically raised into Heaven by God. In contrast, Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill Messianic prophecies, was neither divine nor resurrected. A typical Jew in Jesus' time had only one name, sometimes followed by the phrase "son of <father's name>", or the individual's hometown. Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth". Jesus' neighbors in Nazareth refer to him as "the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon", "the carpenter's son", or "Joseph's son". In John, the disciple Philip refers to him as "Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth"; the name Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, a transliteration of the Greek Ἰησοῦς. The Greek form is a rendering of the Hebrew ישוע, a variant of the earlier name יהושע, or in English, "Joshua", meaning "Yah saves".
This was the name of Moses' successor and of a Jewish high priest. The name Yeshua appears to have been in use in Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus; the 1st-century works of historian Flavius Josephus, who wrote in Koine Greek, the same language as that of the New Testament, refer to at least twenty different people with the name Jesus. The etymology of Jesus' name in the context of the New Testament is given as "Yahweh is salvation". Since early Christianity, Christians have referred to Jesus as "Jesus Christ"; the word Christ was a office, not a given name. It derives from the Greek Χριστός, a translation of the Hebrew mashiakh meaning "anointed", is transliterated into English as "Messiah". In biblical Judaism, sacred oil was used to anoint certain exceptionally holy people and objects as part of their religious investiture. Christians of the time designated Jesus as "the Christ" because they believed him to be the Messiah, whose arrival is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament.
In postbiblical usage, Christ became viewed as a name—one part of "Jesus Christ". The term "Christian" has been in use since the 1st century; the four canonical gospels are the foremost sources for the message of Jesus. However, other parts of the New Testament include references to key episodes in his life, such as the Last Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23. Acts of the Apostles refers to the early ministry of its anticipation by John the Baptist. Acts 1:1 -- 11 says more about the Ascension of Jesus. In the undisputed Pauline letters, which were written earlier than the gospels, the words or instructions of Jesus are cited several times; some early Christian groups had separate descriptions of the life and teachings of Jesus that are not included in the New Testament. These include the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel
John of Ruusbroec
The Blessed John van Ruysbroeck was one of the Flemish mystics. Some of his main literary works include The Kingdom of the Divine Lovers, The Twelve Beguines, The Spiritual Espousals, A Mirror of Eternal Blessedness, The Little Book of Enlightenment, The Sparkling Stone; some of his letters survive, as well as several short sayings. He wrote in the Dutch vernacular, the language of the common people of the Low Countries, rather than in Latin, the language of the Church liturgy and official texts, in order to reach a wider audience. John had a devout mother. John's surname, Van Ruusbroec, is not a surname in the modern sense but a toponym that refers to his native hamlet. At the age of eleven he left his mother, departing without leave or warning, to place himself under the guidance and tuition of his uncle, Jan Hinckaert, a canon regular of St. Gudule's, Brussels. Hinckaert was living according to his Apostolic views with Frank van Coudenberg; this uncle provided for Ruysbroeck's education with a view to the priesthood.
In due course, John was presented with a prebend in St. Gudule's church, ordained in 1318, his mother had followed him to Brussels, entered a Béguinage there, died shortly before his ordination. From 1318 until 1343 Ruysbroeck served as a parish priest at St Gudula, he continued to lead, together with his uncle Hinckaert and Van Coudenberg, a life of extreme austerity and retirement. At that time the Brethren of the Free Spirit were causing controversy in the Netherlands and one of them, a woman named Heilwige Bloemardinne, was active in Brussels, propagating her beliefs chiefly by means of popular pamphlets. Ruysbroeck responded with pamphlets written in the native tongue. Nothing of these treatises remains; the controversy had a permanent effect on Ruysbroeck: his writings bear constant reference and indirect, to the heretical views expressed in these times, he always wrote in the country's native language, chiefly with a view to counteracting these writings which he viewed as heretical. The desire for a more retired life, also the persecution which followed Ruysbroeck's attack on Bloemardinne, induced Ruysbroeck, Jan Hinckaert and Vrank van Coudenberg to leave Brussels in 1343 for the hermitage of Groenendaal, in the neighbouring Sonian Forest, made over to them by John III, Duke of Brabant.
The ruins of the monastery are still present in the forest of Soignes. But here so many disciples joined the little company that it was found expedient to organize into a duly-authorized religious body; the hermitage was erected into a community of canons regular on 13 March 1349, it became the motherhouse of a congregation, which bore its name of Groenendaal. Francis van Coudenberg was appointed first provost, Blessed John Ruysbroeck prior. Hinckaert refrained from making the canonical profession lest the discipline of the house should suffer from the exemptions required by the infirmities of his old age; this period, from his religious profession to his death, was the most active and fruitful of Ruysbroeck's career. During this time, his fame as a man of God, as a sublime contemplative and a skilled director of souls, spread beyond the bounds of Flanders and Brabant to Holland and France, he had relations with the nearby Carthusian house at Herne, with several communities of Poor Clare Franciscans.
We know that he had connections with the Friends of God in Strasbourg, that in about 1378 he was visited by Geert Groote, the founder of the devotio moderna. It is possible, though disputed. John died at Groenendaal, aged 82, on 2 December 1381. In total, Ruysbroeck wrote seven epistles, two hymns and a prayer. All were written in Middle Dutch. Around 1340, Ruysbroeck wrote The Spiritual Espousals; the 36 surviving Dutch manuscripts, as well as translations into Latin and Middle High German, are evidence of the book’s popularity. Some of the text was translated into Middle English as The Chastising of God's Children. Around the same time, he wrote a short treatise, The Sparkling Stone, translated into Middle English. Ruysbroeck’s most famous writings were composed during his time in Groenendaal, his longest and most popular work, The Spiritual Tabernacle was begun in Brussels but finished at Groenendaal early on in his time there. Two brief works, The Christian Faith and a treatise on The Four Temptations date from around the time of Ruysbroeck’s arrival in Groenendaal.
His works include four writings to Margareta van Meerbeke, a Franciscan nun of Brussels. These are The Seven Enclosures, the first of his seven surviving letters, The Seven Rungs, A Mirror of Eternal Blessedness. Around 1363 the Carthusians at Herne dispatched a deputation to Groenendaal presenting Ruysbroeck with questions on his first book, The Realm of Lovers. Ruysbroeck went to Herne to clarify his teaching, afterwards put this in writing in his work The Little Book of Enlightenment. Of Ruysbroeck's works, the treatise The Seven Steps of the Ladder of Spiritual Love is the one, most-readily available. Of the various treatises preserved, the best-k
Zwolle
Zwolle is a city and municipality in the northeastern Netherlands serving as Overijssel's capital. With a population of 125,806, it is the second-largest municipality of the province after Enschede. Archaeological findings indicate that the area surrounding Zwolle has been inhabited for a long time. A woodhenge, found in the Zwolle-Zuid suburb in 1993 was dated to the Bronze Age period. During the Roman era, the area was inhabited by Salian Franks; the modern city was founded around 800 CE by Frisian troops of Charlemagne. The name Zwolle is derived from the word Suolle, which means "hill"; this refers to an incline in the landscape between the four rivers surrounding the city, IJssel, Vecht, Aa and Zwarte Water. The hill was the only piece of land that would remain dry during the frequent floodings of the rivers. Zwolle was established on that incline. A document mentions the existence of a parish church dedicated to St Michael; that church, the Grote or Sint Michaëlskerk, was renovated in the first half of the 15th century and exists to this day.
The church contains a richly carved pulpit, the work of Adam Straes van Weilborch, some good carving and an exquisite organ. On August 31, 1230, the bishop of Utrecht granted Zwolle city rights. Zwolle became a member of the Hanseatic league in 1294, in 1361 joined the war between the Hanseatic League and Valdemar IV of Denmark. In the 1370 Treaty of Stralsund that ended the war, Zwolle was awarded a vitte, a trade colony, in Scania part of Denmark. Zwolle's golden age came in the 15th century. Between 1402 and 1450, the city's Gross Regional Product multiplied by about six. In July 1324 and October 1361, regional noblemen set fire to Zwolle. In the 1324 fire, only nine buildings escaped the flames. Zwolle was with Deventer, one of the centers of the Brethren of the Common Life, a monastic movement. 5 km from Zwolle, on a slight eminence called the Agnietenberg, once stood the Augustinian convent in which Thomas à Kempis spent the greatest part of his life and died. At least as early as 1911, Zwolle had a considerable trade by river, a large fish market, the most important cattle market in the Netherlands after Rotterdam.
The more important industries comprised cotton manufactures, iron works, boat-building and bleaching, rope-making, salt-making. In World War II, Zwolle was single-handedly liberated from the Germans by French Canadian soldier Léo Major, he was made an honorary citizen of Zwolle in 2005 and a street is named for him. In 2004, Zwolle's De Librije restaurant was honored with 3 stars by Michelin Guide. Citizens of Zwolle are colloquially known as Blauwvingers; this dates back to 1682. The authorities were strapped for cash and saw no option but to sell the church bells to neighbouring city Kampen. To make sure that Kampen would not make too much profit from the deal, the local authorities asked a high price for the church bells. Kampen accepted, yet after the arrival of the bells it became clear, they were too damaged to be played. In revenge, Kampen paid in copper coins of four duiten. Zwolle distrusted Kampen and wanted to be sure they paid the entire price. After the rigorous counting of this vast amount of money, their fingers had turned blue from the copper.
Besides the Grote or Sint Michaëlskerk, there are several other historic monuments in Zwolle. The Roman Catholic Onze Lieve Vrouwe ten Hemelopneming-basilica dates back to 1399; the church tower, called Peperbus, is one of the tallest and most famous church towers in the Netherlands. The modernized town hall was built in 1448. Mention should be made of the Sassenpoort, the city walls, the Mosterdmakerstoren, a guild-house, the former provincial government offices, a Dominican monastery, on the Melkmarkt, two museums. Museum de Fundatie, the fine art museum of the province of Overijssel, is hosted in the former Justice Hall on Blijmarkt Square. In the western part of the city, west of the railway station, there is a quarter of Art Nouveau buildings, concentrated on Koningin Wilhelminastraat, Prinses Julianastraat, Prins Hendrikstraat; these three-store living houses were built in 1900s by various Dutch architects. Eleven of the buildings are protected by the Dutch government; the Broerenkerk church was part of the Dominican monastery founded in 1465.
The monastery was closed in 1580 and the monks were expelled. From 1640 until 1982 the church was used for Protestant services. After a restoration in 1983-1988 it has been used for cultural events and it is now a bookstore. See People from Zwolle Arts, culture and the mediaHein Boele, Dutch voice of Elmo Jonnie Boer, chef with three Michelin stars Gerard ter Borch, painter Tooske Breugem, television host actress Herman Brood, painter/rock star Eef Brouwers and former head of the Netherlands Government Information Service A. den Doolaard, author Rhijnvis Feith, author Bennie den Haan, actor Marnix Kappers, actor Master I. A. M. of Zwolle, engraver To
Delft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both Rotterdam -- the Randstad. Delft is a popular tourist attraction in the country, it is home to Delft University of Technology, regarded as center of technological research and development in the Netherlands, Delft Blue pottery and the reigning House of Orange-Nassau. Delft played a influential role in the Dutch Golden Age. Delft has a special place in the history of microbiology. In terms of science and technology, thanks to the pioneering contributions of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Martinus Beijerinck, Delft can be considered to be the true birthplace of microbiology, with its several sub-disciplines such as bacteriology and virology; the city of Delft came into being beside a canal, the'Delf', which comes from the word delven, meaning delving or digging, led to the name Delft. It started around the 11th century as a landlord court.
From a rural village in the early Middle Ages, Delft developed into a city, that in the 13th century received its charter.. The town's association with the House of Orange started when William of Orange, nicknamed William the Silent, took up residence in 1572. At the time he was the leader of growing national Dutch resistance against Spanish occupation, known as the Eighty Years' War. By Delft was one of the leading cities of Holland and it was equipped with the necessary city walls to serve as a headquarters. An attack by Spanish forces in October of that year was repelled. After the Act of Abjuration was proclaimed in 1581, Delft became the de facto capital of the newly independent Netherlands, as the seat of the Prince of Orange; when William was shot dead in 1584 by Balthazar Gerards in the hall of the Prinsenhof, the family's traditional burial place in Breda was still in the hands of the Spanish. Therefore, he was buried in the Delft Nieuwe Kerk, starting a tradition for the House of Orange that has continued to the present day.
The Delft Explosion known in history as the Delft Thunderclap, occurred on 12 October 1654 when a gunpowder store exploded, destroying much of the city. Over a hundred people were killed and thousands were wounded. About 30 tonnes of gunpowder were stored in barrels in a magazine in a former Clarissen convent in the Doelenkwartier district. Cornelis Soetens, the keeper of the magazine, opened the store to check a sample of the powder and a huge explosion followed. Luckily, many citizens were away, visiting a fair in The Hague. Today, the explosion is remembered for killing Rembrandt's most promising pupil, Carel Fabritius, destroying all his works. Delft artist Egbert van der Poel painted several pictures of Delft showing the devastation; the city centre retains a large number of monumental buildings, while in many streets there are canals of which the banks are connected by typical bridges, altogether making this city a notable tourist destination. Historical buildings and other sights of interest include: Oude Kerk.
Buried here: Piet Hein, Johannes Vermeer, Anthony van Leeuwenhoek. Nieuwe Kerk, constructed between 1381 and 1496, it contains the Dutch royal family's burial vault which, between funerals, is sealed with a 5,000 kg cover stone. A statue of Hugo Grotius created by Franciscus Leonardus Stracké in 1886, located on the Markt near the Nieuwe Kerk; the Prinsenhof, now a museum. City Hall on the Markt; the Oostpoort, built around 1400. This is the only remaining gate of the old city walls; the Gemeenlandshuis Delfland, or Huyterhuis, built in 1505, which has housed the Delfland regional water authority since 1645. The Vermeer Centre in the re-built Guild house of St. Luke; the historical "Waag" building. Windmill De Roos, a tower mill built c.1760. Restored to working order in 2013. Another windmill that stood in Delft, Het Fortuyn, was dismantled in 1917 and re-erected at the Netherlands Open Air Museum, Gelderland in 1920. Delft is well known for the Delft pottery ceramic products which were styled on the imported Chinese porcelain of the 17th century.
The city had an early start in this area. It can still be seen at the pottery factories De Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles and De Delftse Pauw; the painter Johannes Vermeer was born in Delft. Vermeer used Delft streets and home interiors as the background in his paintings. Several other famous painters lived and worked in Delft at that time, such as Pieter de Hoogh, Carel Fabritius, Nicolaes Maes, Gerard Houckgeest and Hendrick Cornelisz. Van Vliet, they were all members of the Delft School. The Delft School is known for its images of domestic life, views of households, church interiors, courtyards and the streets of Delft; the painters produced pictures showing historic events, portraits for patrons and the court as well as decorative pieces of art. Delft supports creative arts companies. From 2001 the Bacinol, a building, disused since 1951, began to house small companies in the creative arts sector. However, demolition of the building started in December 2009, making way for the construction of the new railway tunnel in Delft.
The occupants of the building, as well as the name'Bacinol', moved to another building in the city. The name Bacinol relates to Dutch penicillin research during WWII. Delft Univers
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, values, reason and language. Such questions are posed as problems to be studied or resolved; the term was coined by Pythagoras. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument, systematic presentation. Classic philosophical questions include: Is it possible to know anything and to prove it? What is most real? Philosophers pose more practical and concrete questions such as: Is there a best way to live? Is it better to be just or unjust? Do humans have free will? "philosophy" encompassed any body of knowledge. From the time of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to the 19th century, "natural philosophy" encompassed astronomy and physics. For example, Newton's 1687 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy became classified as a book of physics. In the 19th century, the growth of modern research universities led academic philosophy and other disciplines to professionalize and specialize.
In the modern era, some investigations that were traditionally part of philosophy became separate academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology and economics. Other investigations related to art, politics, or other pursuits remained part of philosophy. For example, is beauty objective or subjective? Are there many scientific methods or just one? Is political utopia a hopeful dream or hopeless fantasy? Major sub-fields of academic philosophy include metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy and philosophy of science. Traditionally, the term "philosophy" referred to any body of knowledge. In this sense, philosophy is related to religion, natural science and politics. Newton's 1687 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy is classified in the 2000s as a book of physics. In the first part of the first book of his Academics, Cicero introduced the division of philosophy into logic and ethics. Metaphysical philosophy was the study of existence, God, logic and other abstract objects; this division has changed.
Natural philosophy has split into the various natural sciences astronomy, chemistry and cosmology. Moral philosophy still includes value theory. Metaphysical philosophy has birthed formal sciences such as logic and philosophy of science, but still includes epistemology and others. Many philosophical debates that began in ancient times are still debated today. Colin McGinn and others claim. Chalmers and others, by contrast, see progress in philosophy similar to that in science, while Talbot Brewer argued that "progress" is the wrong standard by which to judge philosophical activity. In one general sense, philosophy is associated with wisdom, intellectual culture and a search for knowledge. In that sense, all cultures and literate societies ask philosophical questions such as "how are we to live" and "what is the nature of reality". A broad and impartial conception of philosophy finds a reasoned inquiry into such matters as reality and life in all world civilizations. Western philosophy is the philosophical tradition of the Western world and dates to Pre-Socratic thinkers who were active in Ancient Greece in the 6th century BCE such as Thales and Pythagoras who practiced a "love of wisdom" and were termed physiologoi.
Socrates was a influential philosopher, who insisted that he possessed no wisdom but was a pursuer of wisdom. Western philosophy can be divided into three eras: Ancient, Medieval philosophy, Modern philosophy; the Ancient era was dominated by Greek philosophical schools which arose out of the various pupils of Socrates, such as Plato, who founded the Platonic Academy and his student Aristotle, founding the Peripatetic school, who were both influential in Western tradition. Other traditions include Cynicism, Greek Skepticism and Epicureanism. Important topics covered by the Greeks included metaphysics, the nature of the well-lived life, the possibility of knowledge and the nature of reason. With the rise of the Roman empire, Greek philosophy was increasingly discussed in Latin by Romans such as Cicero and Seneca. Medieval philosophy is the period following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and was dominated by the ris
Haarlem
Haarlem is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland and is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe. Haarlem had a population of 159,556 in 2017, it is a 15-minute train ride from Amsterdam, many residents commute to the country's capital for work. Haarlem was granted city status or stadsrechten in 1245, although the first city walls were not built until 1270; the modern city encompasses the former municipality of Schoten as well as parts that belonged to Bloemendaal and Heemstede. Apart from the city, the municipality of Haarlem includes the western part of the village of Spaarndam. Newer sections of Spaarndam lie within the neighbouring municipality of Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude; the city is located on the river Spaarne, giving it its nickname'Spaarnestad'. It is situated about 20 km west near the coastal dunes. Haarlem has been the historical centre of the tulip bulb-growing district for centuries and bears its other nickname'Bloemenstad' for this reason.
Haarlem has a rich history dating back to pre-medieval times, as it lies on a thin strip of land above sea level known as the strandwal, which connects Leiden to Alkmaar. The people on this narrow strip of land struggled against the waters of the North Sea from the west, the waters of the IJ and the Haarlem Lake from the east. Haarlem became wealthy with toll revenues that it collected from ships and travellers moving on this busy North-South route. However, as shipping became important economically, the city of Amsterdam became the main Dutch city of North Holland during the Dutch Golden Age; the town of Halfweg became a suburb, Haarlem became a quiet bedroom community, for this reason Haarlem still has many of its central medieval buildings intact. Nowadays many of them are on the Dutch Heritage register known as Rijksmonuments; the list of Rijksmonuments in Haarlem gives an overview of these per neighbourhood, with the majority in the old city centre. The oldest mentioning of Haarlem dates from the 10th century.
The name comes from "Haarlo-heim". This name is composed of three elements: lo and heim. There is not much dispute about the meaning of heim. Haar, has several meanings, one of them corresponding with the location of Haarlem on a sand dune:'elevated place'; the name Haarlem or Haarloheim would therefore mean'home on a forested dune'. There was a stream called "De Beek", dug from the peat grounds west of the river Spaarne as a drainage canal. Over the centuries the Beek was turned into an underground canal, as the city grew larger and the space was needed for construction. Over time it began to silt up and in the 19th century it was filled in; the location of the village was a good one: by the river Spaarne, by a major road going south to north. By the 12th century it was a fortified town, Haarlem became the residence of the Counts of Holland. In 1219 the knights of Haarlem were laurelled by Count Willem I, because they had conquered the Egyptian port of Damietta in the fifth crusade. Haarlem received the right to cross in its coat of arms.
On 23 November 1245 Count Willem II granted Haarlem city rights. This implied a number of privileges, among which the right for the sheriff and magistrates to administer justice, instead of the Count; this allowed for a quicker and more efficient judiciary system, more suited to the needs of the growing city. After a siege from the surrounding area of Kennemerland in 1270 a defensive wall was built around the city. Most this was an earthen wall, with wooden gates; the city started out between Spaarne, Ridderstraat and Naussaustraat. In the 14th century the city expanded, the Burgwalbuurt and the area around the Oudegracht became part of the city; the old defenses proved not to be sufficiently strong for the expanded city, at the end of the 14th century a 16½-metre high wall was built, complete with a 15-metre wide canal circling the city. In 1304 the Flemish threatened the city. All the city's buildings were made of wood, fire was a great risk. In 1328 nearly the whole city burnt down; the Sint-Bavokerk was damaged, rebuilding it would take more than 150 years.
Again on 12 June 1347 there was a fire in the city. A third large fire, in 1351, destroyed many buildings including the Count's castle and the city hall; the Count did not need a castle in Haarlem because his castle in Den Haag had taken over all functions. The Count donated the ground to the city and a new city hall was built there; the shape of the old city was square—this was inspired by the shape of ancient Jerusalem. After every fire the city was rebuilt an indication of the wealth of the city in those years; the Black Death came to the city in 1381. According to an estimate by a priest from Leiden the disease killed 5,000 people, about half the population at that time. In the 14th century Haarlem was a major city, it was the second largest city in historical Holland after Dordrecht and before Delft, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. In 1429 the city gained the right to collect tolls, including ships passing the city on the Spaarne river. At the end of the Middle Ages Haarlem was a flourishing city with a large textile industry and beer breweries.
Around 1428 the city was put under siege by the army of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut
Thomas à Kempis
Thomas à Kempis, CRSA, was a German-Dutch canon regular of the late medieval period and the author of The Imitation of Christ, one of the most popular and best known Christian devotional books. His name means Thomas "of Kempen", his home town, in German he is known as Thomas von Kempen, he was a member of the Modern Devotion, a spiritual movement during the late medieval period, a follower of Geert Groote and Florens Radewyns, the founders of the Brethren of the Common Life. Thomas was born in Kempen in the Rhineland, his surname at birth was Hemerken, meaning "little hammer". His father, was a blacksmith and his mother, was a schoolmistress. In 1392, Thomas followed his brother, Johann, to Deventer in the Netherlands in order to attend the noted Latin school there. While attending this school, Thomas encountered the Brethren of the Common Life, followers of Gerard Groote's Modern Devotion, he attended school in Deventer from 1392 to 1399. After leaving school, Thomas went to the nearby city 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, until a decade later. He became a prolific writer. Thomas received Holy Orders in 1413 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. 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, imposed an interdict; the Canons remained in exile in observance of the interdict. During this time, Thomas was sent to Arnhem to care for his ailing brother, he remained there until his brother died in November, 1432. Otherwise, Thomas spent his time between devotional exercises in copying manuscripts, he copied the Bible no fewer than four times, one of the copies being preserved at Darmstadt, Germany, in five volumes.
In its teachings he was read and his works abound with biblical quotations from the New Testament. As subprior he was charged with instructing novices, in that capacity wrote four booklets between 1420 and 1427 collected and named after the title of the first chapter of the first booklet: The Imitation of Christ. Thomas More said. Thomas died near Zwolle in 1471. Thomas à Kempis wrote the biographies of New Devotion members—Gerard Groote, Floris Radewijns, Jan van de Gronde, Jan Brinckerinck, his important works include a series of sermons to the novices of St. Augustine Monastery, including Prayers and Meditations on the Life of Christ, Meditations on the Incarnation of Christ, Of True Compunction of Heart, Soliloquy of the Soul, Garden of Roses, Valley of Lilies, a Life of St. Lidwina of Schiedam. Kempis's 1441 autograph manuscript of The Imitation of Christ is available in the Bibliothèque Royale in Brussels; the following quotes are attributed to him: "Without the Way, there is no going, Without the Truth, there is no knowing, Without the Life, there is no living.""If thou wilt receive profit, read with humility and faith, 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"If, you seek Jesus in all things, you will find Him. " — The Imitation of Christ, Book II, ch. 7"In angello cum libello", "In a little corner with a little book" — Shortened form of a motto 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." 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 closed and his shrine was moved to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Hemelopneming kerk in the centre of Zwolle.
This article incorporates Public Domain material from the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. VI: Innocents — Liudger, Philip. Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Filiquarian, ISBN 1-59986-979-9 Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ: A Spiritual Commentary and Reader's Guide, Ave Maria Press, ISBN 0-87061-234-4 Thomas à Kempis, William C. Creasy, ed; the Imitation of Christ, Mercer University Press, ISBN 0-86554-339-9 Thomas à Kempis, Harold C. Gardner, S. J. ed. The Imitation of Christ, Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-375-70018-7 Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. "Thomas à Kempis". Encyclopædia Britannica. 26. Cambridge University Press. Scully, Vincent Joseph Henry. "Thomas a Kempis". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Read Imitation of Christ online Quotes from Thomas à Kempis Works by Thomas à Kempis at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Thomas à Kempis at Internet Archive Works by Thomas à Kempis at LibriVox
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This work in turn cites:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
