John of Schoonhoven (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

''Jan van Schoonhoven'') (1356/7,

Schoonhoven Schoonhoven () is a city and was a former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Since 2015 it has been a part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, before it had been an independent municipality. The former mu ...

– January 22, 1432,

Groenendaal Groenendaal is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jacobus Groenendaal (1805–1860), South African politician * Reinier Groenendaal (born 1951), Dutch cyclo-cross cyclist *Richard Groenendaal Richard Marinus Anthonius Groenend ...

) was a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and writer. After a

philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

education at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

he entered the convent of the regular canons at Groenendaal near

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(circa 1377), where he met

John of Ruysbroeck John of Ruusbroec or Jan van Ruusbroec (; 1293/1294 – 2 December 1381), sometimes modernized Ruysbroeck, was an Augustinian canon and one of the most important of the medieval mystics of the Low Countries. Some of his main literary works incl ...

. In 1386 he became prior and master to the novices. After the accession Groenendaal to the Windesheimer congregation he wrote many sermons, some of which became the most well-known writings at the general chapter. Beside these and other sermons, spiritual writings and letters, he wrote the then celebrated ''Epistola responsalis super epistolam cancellarii''. Schoonhoven was one of the responsible for defending Ruysbroeck against critics, especially

Jean Gerson Jean Charlier de Gerson (13 December 1363 – 12 July 1429) was a French scholar, educator, reformer, and poet, Chancellor of the University of Paris, a guiding light of the conciliar movement and one of the most prominent theologians at the Cou ...

. His works, all written in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, reflect the influence of Ruysbroeck. However, his works focus more on practical ascese. He represents an important link in the evolution of spirituality from Ruysbroeck and

Geert Groote Gerard Groote (October 1340 – 20 August 1384), otherwise ''Gerrit'' or ''Gerhard Groet'', in Latin ''Gerardus Magnus'', was a Dutch Catholic deacon, who was a popular preacher and the founder of the Brethren of the Common Life. He was a key fi ...

until

Desiderius Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

Bibliography

*A. Ampe, `Les rédactions successives de l'apologie Schoonhovienne pour Ruusbroec contre Gerson', in ''

Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique ''Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique'' is a peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of ecclesiastical history. Independent third-party sources have described it as "The best international church-historical journal".James E. Bradley ...

'', 55 (1960). *A. Combes, `Essai sur la critique de Ruysbroeck par Gerson', in ''Epistola responsalis'', dl. 1 (1945–1959). *A. Gruijs, `Jean de Schoonhoven (1356–1432). Sa vie et son oeuvre', in ''Bulletin Du Cange (Arch. lat. medii aevi)'', 32 (1962) en 33 (1963). *A. Gruijs, `Jean de Schoonhoven', in ''Dictionnaire de spiritualité'', dl. 8 (1974). *E. Persoons & A. Gruijs, `Ioannis Theodirici de Schoonhovia', in ''Petri Trudonensis catalogus scriptorum windeshemensium'' (1968).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoonhoven, John 1350s births 1432 deaths Dutch male writers Christian writers People from Schoonhoven