Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin did not suddenly appear for the first time in the 16th century. Although the Protestant Reformation was the most extensive and most successful reform movement the Catholic Church had to deal with, it was not the first time that Christians, both Catholic and non-Catholic, began calling on the Catholic church to reform. By the 14th century, a group called the Brethren of the Common Life had devoted itself to preaching and teaching a moderately reformist theology. Although still other reformers came before the Brethren of the Common Life and many more radical reformers came after, this group proved extremely influential to theologians and philosophers like Erasmus, Thomas A Kempis, and even Martin Luther himself.
Geert Groote was a Dutch scholar who lived many years in luxurious, secular teaching positions before abandoning them in favor of a poorer, more religious lifestyle. After many years of study and prayer, he devoted himself to preaching against what he saw as some of the excesses of the church. These included the practices of simony (the buying and selling of church office) and pluralism (the holding of multiple church offices at the same time) as well as greed. Thus, his preaching was directed at not only the laity, but the clergy as well.
His preaching moved so many people that he soon generated a considerable following. After his death to plague in 1384, one of his followers, Florence Radewyns, set up the monastery of Windesheim. This became the center of a religious order which came to be known as the Brethren of the Common Life. Soon, the Brethren of the Common Life had monasteries all over the Low Countries.
In many ways, the Brethren of the Common Life was similar to what had come before. It offered sanctuary for those who wanted to pursue a religious life in the seclusion of a monastery. Like traditional monasteries, residents spent much of their time in prayer and supplication. They also spent a great deal of their time copying the Bible and other books and in teaching local children. Indeed, the Brethren of the Common Life were responsible for greatly expanding the educational opportunities afforded to residents of the Low Countries.
In other ways, however, their teaching was radicle. The Brethren of the Common Life did not believe in either asking for alms or in requiring monastic vows. Thus, followers were free to come and go as they pleased, but they had to work to support themselves while living in the monastery. What property they had was divided and shared, just as the early Christian church of Acts had done. Most significantly, the Brethren placed an emphasis on the original Biblical sources. In an era in which tradition had become as important as scripture, this return to the sources set the Brethren apart from the rest of the Catholic Church. Because the Brethren of the Common Life emphasized scripture and an internal spirituality, they are often credited with creating the Modern Devotion. They advocated the need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ long before anyone had ever heard of Evangelical Christianity.
Despite their criticism of certain church practices, the Brethren were not persecuted by the Church. In fact, they were given recognition and protection by the Popes and Pope Adrian VI was himself a former member of the Brethren. Therefore, it should be unsurprising that the Brethren did not seek to break with the Catholic church and few of its students joined Protestant denominations after the Protestant Reformation.
The legacy of the Brethren of the Common Life has influenced both Protestant and Catholic theology. It also raises the question of how Lutherans would have reacted had they been embraced by the Catholic church the way the Brethren were. It is possible that the Lutherans may have remained loyal to the church and there would be no Protestant denominations today. At the very least, those denominations would have been founded by others much later. On the other hand, Catholicism itself would probably be quite different if it had accepted the demands for reform by the early Protestants.
