Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 2.djvu/376

 o^,, GERMANY. 60 of Amauri of Bene, in various dilutions, made a deep impression on the religious development of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. AU the leaders in the remarkable association known as the ' Friends of God" drew, directly or indirectly, their inspiration froni Master Eckart, and all, to a greater or less extent, reveal their affinity to the Brethren of the Free Spirit, although they succeeded in keep- ing technically within the limits of orthodoxy. John of Kysbroek, humane and gentle as he was, regarded the Brethren of the Free Spirit with such horror that he deemed them worthy of the stake. Yet, though he avoided their pantheism he taught, like them, the supreme end of existence in the absorption of the individual into the infinite substance of God ; moreover, he Perfect, inflamed by divine love, are dead to themselves and to the world, and are thus incapable of sin. It is no wonder that Gerson reo-arded as dangerous these doctrines, so nearly akin to those ot the Beghards, and though Kysbroek might hesitate to draw from them the conclusions inevitable to hardier thinkers, they were sufficient to render unsuccessful the attempt made, m 1624, to canonize him, in spite of the incontestable miracles wrought at his tomb His most distinguished disciple was Gerard Groot, who partially outgrew the metaphysical subtleties of his teacher and turned his energies to the more practical directions out of which sprang the Brethren of the Common Life. Groot was equaUy severe upon the corruption of the clergy and the errors of the her- etics When the introduction of the Inquisition mto Germany drove the Brethren of the Free Spirit to find new places of refuge, some of them came to Holland, where the prevalence of panthe- istic mysticism gave opportunity of spreading then- doctrines Groot's own views sufficiently resembled theirs to render their bolder speculations doubly offensive to him, and he sought to re- press them with especial zeal. The convent of Augustmian Her- Inits at Dordrecht had the reputation of being tain ed wih the heresy, and Groot was eager to detect and punish it. Bartholo- mew one of the Augustinians, was particularly suspected, and GroJt proposed to follow him secretly with a notary and take down his words. In this, or some other way, evidence was ob- tained ; there was no Inquisition in HoUand, and Groot procui^d his citation before Florent, Bishop of Utrecht, about the year l.,^0. The case was heard before the episcopal vicar ; Bartholomew de-