The Friends of God (German: Gottesfreunde; or gotesvriunde) was a medieval

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight ...

group of both ecclesiastical and lay persons within the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

(though it nearly became a separate sect) and a center of German

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

. It was founded between 1339 and 1343 during the

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy (; ) was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon (at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire, now part of France) rather than in Rome (now the capital of ...

of the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, the Schism of 1378, or the Great Schism (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 20 September 1378 to 11 November 1417, in which bishops residing ...

, a time of great turmoil for the Catholic Church. The Friends of God were originally centered in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and were also fairly important in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. Some late-nineteenth century writers made large claims for the movement, seeing it both as influential in fourteenth-century mysticism and as a precursor of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. Modern studies of the movement have emphasised the derivative and often second-rate character of its mystical literature, and its limited impact on medieval literature in Germany. Some of the movement's ideas still prefigured the

Protestant reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

Name

The name "Friends of God" may have been influenced by various sources. A number of biblical passages use the term (e.g. Judges 8:22, James 2:23, Exodus 33:11, Psalm 138:17, Wisdom 7:27, Luke 12:4, and John 15:15). The concept of friendship with God had also been applied by various medieval authors, and particularly among

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart (), Master Eckhart or Eckehart, claimed original name Johannes Eckhart,

and his followers.

History

The movement grew out of the preaching and teaching of

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart (), Master Eckhart or Eckehart, claimed original name Johannes Eckhart,

, and especially his Dominican spiritual heirs, the preacher John Tauler and the writer

Henry Suso Henry Suso, OP (also called Amandus, a name adopted in his writings, and Heinrich Seuse or Heinrich von Berg in German; 21 March 1295 – 25 January 1366) was a German Dominican friar and the most popular vernacular writer of the fourteenth c ...

. An influence on the Friends of God, although remaining in the background, was the secular priest Henry of Nördlingen, from the Bavarian Oberland, who met Tauler and Suso in Basel in 1339. Henry had a great deal of interaction with other Bavarian and German mystics and introduced the Friends of God to ''The Flowing Light of the Deity'' by Mechthild of Magdeburg. The group achieved a nascent institutional form in 1367 when wealthy layman Rulman Merswin purchased and restored a derelict monastery in Strasbourg known as the ''grünenwörth'' ('Green Isle'). Grünenwörth served as a refuge for study for the Friends of God and as a “school of prophets” which produced a number of mystical texts. Jones, Rufus M., ''Studies in Mystical Religion'', Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, no date pp. 247–252 (originally published London: Macmillan, 1909) Merswin is suspected of being the anonymous author The Friend of God from the Oberland. The Friends of God, as led by Tauler and Suso, sought a mystical path in line with established Catholic doctrine, following Thomas Aquinas. Rulman Merswin, under the guidance of The Friend of God from the Oberland, wanted to purify the Church. This stress on reform brought The Friends of God into conflict with the Church and not long after Merswin’s death in 1382, they were condemned.Walsh, Reginald. "Friends of God." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 December 2017 After Merswin's death, some sources claim that Nicholas of Basel became the leader. He was eventually

burned at the stake Death by burning is an list of execution methods, execution, murder, or suicide method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a puni ...

with two of his followers for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

around 1395. The relationship of Nicholas of Basel to the Friends of God is unclear as he was condemned as a

Beghard The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christianity, Christian laity, lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in monasticism, semi-monastic ...

.Leff, Gordon. ''Heresy in the Later Middle Ages: The Relation of Heterodoxy to Dissent, c. 1250 – c. 1450'', Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1967 (reprinted by Sandpiper Book, 1999), p. 383 Another prominent member, Martin of Mainz, a follower of Nicholas of Basel, was also burned for heresy in 1393.

Beliefs

Many leaders of the group were executed for heresy because they criticized the corruption of

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

: they believed that there would soon be judgment from God on the church. The group was a democratic lay movement, and they held holiness, love, piety and devotion as important. The movement was a mysticist movement and they held great importance in rescuing other peoples' souls.

Texts

A number of mystical texts are associated with The Friends of God, most notably the Theologia Germanica and the Book of the Nine Rocks. Many of the works were attributed to The Friend of God from the Oberland, although probably written by Rulman Merswin himself.

References

Works cited

External links

"The Friends of God" (Schaff - CCEL)
{{Proto-Protestantism Christian mysticism History of mystic traditions Former Christian denominations Christian communities 14th-century Catholicism Christian mystics