Thomas à Kempis (redirected from Hämerkin)

Thomas à Kempis (kĕm`pĭs), b. 1379 or 1380, d. 1471, German monk, traditional author of The Imitation of Christ, b. Kempen, Germany. He was schooled at Deventer, in the Netherlands, the center of the Brothers of the Common Life founded by Gerard Groote. He joined the Augustinian canons (1399) and was ordained a priest (c.1413). His convent was Mt. St. Agnes, near Zwolle, in the Netherlands. Thomas worked principally at copying and writing. A number of his treatises on the monastic life and little devotional essays have been translated into English. The great devotional work The Imitation of Christ (c.1427) has traditionally been ascribed to him, although some scholars have contested his authorship. See Imitation of Christ, The.

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Thomas à Kempis

 orig. Thomas Hemerken

(born 1379/80, Kempen, near Düsseldorf, Rhineland—died Aug. 8, 1471, Agnietenberg, near Zwolle, Bishopric of Utrecht) Christian theologian and probable author of The Imitation of Christ. He went to Deventer, Neth., c. 1392 and joined the Brethren of the Common Life, a community devoted to the care and education of the poor. In 1387 he entered the Augustinian monastery of canons regular at Agnietenberg. He was ordained a priest in 1413 and devoted himself to copying manuscripts and directing novices. He is credited with writing The Imitation of Christ, the most influential devotional work in Christian literature after the Bible. Noted for its simple language and style, it emphasizes spiritual over materialistic life and affirms the rewards of a life centred on Christ. The Imitation and his other treatises and sermons are the best representation of the devotio moderna, a new form of religious devotion that arose at the end of the 14th century.