How Brother Henry of Deventer was chosen to be the fourth Prior of the
House of Mount St. Agnes.
In the year of the Lord 1448, on the 20th day of June (July), when the
three days' fast was ended, the Brothers came together to sing the Mass
of the Holy Spirit on the day before the Feast of St. Praxedes the
Virgin; but the Mass of the Blessed Virgin had been said in private
because it was the Sabbath. Then after the end of Mass, and when Sext
was done, the Brothers went forth from the choir to the Chapter House to
choose a new Prior; and the venerable Prior of Windesem, with the Prior
of Zwolle, was there present with them, for he had been called and
besought to hear the election. So, having held a short conference with
the Brothers, and the manner of election being read, the Prior of
Windesem exhorted the members of the Chapter to choose a fit person to be
Prior following the commandments of God and Canon Law. There were here
present twenty-one Brothers that were electors, and two who were far away
had written letters wherein they expressed their will. So the Brothers
that were electors went away a little space outside the doors of the
Chapter House, and the two Priors aforesaid came and stood by the altar
in the Chapter House, the door thereof being open, and with them were the
three elder Brothers. There they stood to hear the votes of each man
separately, for they could be seen by all, but none could hear what was
said. Then the votes of each being heard and counted, our Sub-Prior,
Brother Henry, son of William of Deventer, was chosen and nominated to be
Prior, having the votes of the more part recorded for him on the paper,
namely sixteen. Some there were beside that did not choose him, but of
these three Brothers did not vote at this time, and two chose the
Procurator, James Cluyt. Then one of the elder Brothers, on behalf of
himself and of the more part, besought the Prior of the Superior House to
confirm the election, who straightway appointed the next day to be the
last for any to oppose. And when none made opposition to the manner of
the election, nor said aught against the Brother who was chosen, the
Prior elect was called to consent to his election which had been made
according to the canons, so that it might be duly confirmed. And he
straightway prostrated himself in the midst of the Brothers protesting
that he was not sufficient, and he humbly besought to be relieved of this
burden, but when he could not gain his purpose, and dared not obstinately
to resist, he gave consent in an humble voice, being overcome by the
insistence of the Brothers and compelled by his obedience to his
superior: and he submitted himself to the ordinance of God for the sake
of observing brotherly love and the needful discipline of the cloister.
So when he had been confirmed by the Prior of Windesem he was led in to
the choir in the presence of all the Brothers, and placed in his stall,
and prayers were offered up. After which done all the members of the
Chapter straightway went into the House, and following the accustomed
manner all the professed Brothers took the vow of obedience to their
Father, the new Prior, and after them the Converts, and lastly the
Donates did the like. When this was done they spent the day with joy and
giving of thanks, and at last their Fathers, the Priors of the other
houses who had taken part in all that was done, said farewell to them,
and the Brothers left the garden and returned to their cells. When the
bell rang for Vespers they came together to the choir, and sang the
Vespers of St. Mary Magdalene with cheerful voices. After three days the
Brothers were called together to the Chapter House, and the Prior
proposed that in accordance with the statutes they should choose another
Sub-Prior, so on the Feast of St. James the Apostle, before the hour for
Vespers, Brother Thomas of Kempen was nominated and elected after a brief
scrutiny. He was one of the elders, being sixty-seven years of age, and
in past times had been appointed to this office, and albeit he knew
himself to be insufficient and would have made excuse, yet he did submit
him humbly to the assembled Brothers, for his obedience bade him so to
do; neither did he refuse to undergo toil on their behalf for the love of
Christ Jesus, but earnestly besought the prayers of his comrades and
Brothers, for he trusted rather in the grace of God than in himself.
In the same year, during the summer season, the crops were grievously
ravaged in divers places by the mice, which ate the corn while it was
still growing up and when it was in the blade. Our Lay Brothers,
therefore, dug ditches and put in the ground jars filled with water, and
such was the craft with which they did this that a vast number of the
mice were drowned in these jars, and they slew in divers places many
thousands. These creatures had caused great loss to us and our
neighbours by ravaging the wheat, the barley, the oats, and the peas, and
also the green crops in the fields that were for the fodder of the
cattle.
About the beginning of the month of September there was a notable
tempest, and a great flood of waters broke in upon us (for the sea had
burst his banks), and this did overflow our pasture land and destroyed
the grass and the fodder. By this same tempest many ships that had
adventured themselves upon the sea were overwhelmed with all their crews.
But herein again the good and merciful God did provide for us, for our
fishers took great store of fish by reason of this flood, and these did
suffice the Brothers and their guests for food during many days.
In the year of the Lord 1449, on the Feast of St. Bernard the Abbot, we
received the precious relics of certain Saints and Martyrs who were
companions of Gereon, Duke and Martyr, and of others that were companions
of the Eleven Thousand Holy Virgins of Cologne. These did the venerable
Abbot of St. Panthalion send to us from the many relics that are in that
monastery.
Likewise Egbert Tyveren, a Donate of our House, brought back to us from
Cologne, as true relics, certain small fragments that were given to us by
the Carthusians, and by the Regular Brothers of our own order in the
House of Corpus Domini. The Prior and the Brothers of our House being
gathered together in the choir before High Mass brought these relics into
the church, carrying the Standard of the Cross and lighted tapers in
their hands, and afterward the Prior placed them on the different altars,
having enclosed them in reliquaries in seemly wise in honour of the
Saints.
In the same year, on December the 16th, our Brother Godefried of Kempen
died in Brabant in the House of the Sisters of the Regular Order that is
called the Cloister of the Blessed Virgin, near Zevenborren. This
convent was afterward destroyed utterly by fire in the year 14--, and the
Sisters were removed to Brussels with great honour by the Duchess of
Burgundy.
In the year of the Lord 1450 many faithful servants of Christ went to
Rome to gain Indulgences, which our Lord, Pope Nicholas V, by advice of
the Cardinals, and moved himself by piety and mercy, had granted by a
Bull in the previous year. Then did many Christian folk that sojourned
on this holy pilgrimage return whole, but many died by the way, and many
in the city of Rome.
In the same year, in Holland, Utrecht, Amersfoort, Zwolle, Kampen,
Deventer, Zutphen and many other towns and hamlets, a bubonic plague
raged, and many devout persons and religious, as also many worldlings,
departed from this present life. In the same year the winter time was
very mild, with but little snow and thin ice, but the wind was cold. In
Lent, and at the beginning of March, our fishers took great abundance of
the fish called smelts, wherewith, during the Fast, our Brothers were
fed, and also many poor beggars at our gates.
In the same year the men of Zwolle builded a great and lofty bridge of
strong wooden timbers across the River Vecht, not far from our monastery,
to serve the necessities of their own folk and the convenience of men
that would come thither; the cost thereof was six hundred Rhenish
florins.
In the same year, on the Feast of St. John before the Latin Gate, Brother
Gerard of Deventer, whose surname was Bredenort, was invested.
In the same year, on the twenty-ninth day of August, died James Oem,
Rector of the Sisters at Bronope, near Kampen, who for nine years had
exercised a kindly rule over that House. After his death the Prior of
Windesem appointed Brother Dirk of Kleef to be Rector and Confessor of
this House. He had been formerly Prior of Mount St. Agnes, and was the
eldest of the Brothers of that monastery.
In the year 1451, on the Octave of Easter, which was the day before the
Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, died Dirk Poderen, a servant of
our House, a poor man and an aged, being about eighty years old: he had
lived with us for twenty years.
In the same year, on the Vigil of the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle,
and at the ninth hour, when Compline had been said, died Brother Gerard,
son of Wolter, a Convert who was sixty-eight years of age lacking two
months, and had lived the Religious Life for nearly forty years. The
Prior and the Brothers were present with him at his death: he was
faithful and earnest in good deeds and words, and he was buried on the
western side of the passage with the other Converts.
In the same year a new mill was builded, and finished with much labour
and cost, for the greater convenience of our House.
In the same year the House of the Regulars in Cologne which is called
"Corpus Christi," and standeth in the parish of St. Christopher the
Martyr, was received into our Chapter. At this time, namely, after the
Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, our Brother, Henry Cremer,
was sent to act as Sub-Prior of this House, and Brother Gerard of Kleef
went with him to be the Rector.
In the same year there was a grievous pestilence in Cologne, and as is
reported by many, twenty-five thousand persons are reckoned to have died
thereof.
In the year of the Lord 1451, our most Reverend Lord Nicholas de Chusa,
Cardinal with the title of St. Peter in Chains, who was Legate for the
land of Germany, came to the diocese of Utrecht, after that he had
visited the upper parts of Saxony and the cities and townships of
Westphalia. He came likewise to Windesem, where he was received with
honour by the Brothers, and held a conference with them, and by the
authority of the Apostolic See he granted Indulgences on the occasion of
the Jubilee to all that were subject to our General Chapter. When he was
asked whether one might go to Rome to gain Indulgences without special
license, he replied: "Our Lord the Pope himself hath said, 'Better is
obedience than Indulgences.'"
In the year of the Lord 1452, a great and grievous loss befel the city of
Amsterdam, a famed and populous city in Holland, for a fire broke forth
on the Feast Day of Urban, Pope and Martyr, and the wrath of God went
forth in particular against the congregations of religious persons, both
men and women; so great was the fire that the more part of the city
should seem to have been destroyed, and scarce a third part thereof was
saved. Fourteen monasteries are known to have burned almost to the
ground, and verily great misery was caused thereby in the sight of all
men, such as had not been heard of from very ancient times until that
day. Many virgins that had taken the veil, putting aside their maiden
modesty, wandered about the city lamenting and begging for hospitality,
whereby the hearts of many were moved to tears. Everything was buried,
from the great Church of St. Nicholas to the ancient Convent of the Nuns
of our Order inclusively, and in the other direction from the Church of
the Blessed Virgin Mary to our monastery exclusively, for God in His
mercy spared that House that it was unhurt.
In the same year, on the Feast of the Commemoration of St. Paul the
Apostle, and after Vespers, our beloved Brother Henry Cremer died at
Windesem; on the day following, being the Octave of St. John the Baptist,
his body was brought to our House, wherein, through the mercy of God, he
had lived for nearly thirty-three years in the Religious habit; this was
done that at his life's end he might not lie in a strange land afar from
our House, but might be buried according as he desired amongst our
Brothers. He was faithful in his labour, in the writing of books, and in
his attendance in the choir; and being zealous for discipline he kept a
watch over his mouth and loved his cell. Formerly he had been Prior in
Rickenberrich in Saxony for nearly eleven years, and afterward for a few
years abode in Diepenveen with two others his companions, but he was
instant in his petition to return to the Brotherhood, and obtained his
desire; after this he was sent to Cologne, but returning thence he died
at Windesem and was buried in our House.
In the year of the Lord 1453, a strange pestilence fell upon the men of
certain towns and the villages adjacent thereto. This plague befel after
the Feast of St. John the Baptist, and was notable by reason of the
benumbing of the throat and the pain it caused in the breast and side. At
this time many of our Brothers and the Lay folk of our Household who were
labouring hard in the fields--for it was harvest--were smitten so
grievously by the benumbing of their throats that they could scarce speak
or eat. There was a north wind that was very cold at night, but by day
turbulent and dry, and many were chilled thereby and fell sick. As a
remedy against this, some clothed themselves in stouter garments and
abstained from cold food and drink, and these grew well by reason of
their abstinence and care to keep themselves from too great cold, for God
had pity on them; but some that neglected these matters died after three
days, or even two, being weakened by the numbness.
When this disease first broke forth, our Brother Gerard ter Mollen, a
Convert, fell sick and received the Unction after Compline on the day of
the Translation of St. Martin the Bishop: in the night following, before
the hour for Matins, his sickness grew heavy on him and he died. He was
a faithful labourer, ever ready to toil for the common weal, and he was
in the sixtieth year of his age, having fulfilled thirty years and three
months in the Religious Life: he was buried in the western path at the
head of Gerard, son of Wolter.
In the same year, in the month of July, and on the Feast of the
Translation of Benedict the Abbot, died Dirk, son of Arnold, a young man
who was a Laic and Fellow Commoner, that came from Bericmede: he had
received the Sacrament of the Holy Unction, and died after High Mass had
begun.
In the same month, on the day following the Feast of St. Margaret the
Virgin, when Compline was done, and the Ave Maria had been said, died
Henry Diest, a Donate of our House: he was nearly forty-eight years of
age and had fulfilled thirty years in this House.
In the same month, on the day following the Feast of Alexius the
Confessor, Dirk Struve, a Laic and Fellow Commoner, died after Compline,
having received the Holy Rite of Extreme Unction. He had lived long in
the House, and on the day following when the first Mass had been said he
was laid in the burying ground of the Lay Brothers.
After him, and on the night before the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene,
before Matins, died Everard Ens of Campen, a good and faithful Laic and
Fellow Commoner, who had lived with us for fifteen years.
In the same year, in the month of August, on the night before the Feast
of St. Dominic the Confessor, and before Matins, died our most beloved
Brother Theodoric of Kleef. He was the third Prior of our House, and an
old man and full of days, for he was seventy-six years old, and had
fulfilled fifty-five years in the Religious Life. When the first
Brothers were invested here, he was the fourth to receive the Habit, and
from the very beginning of the monastery, before any of the Brothers had
received investiture, he with the Clerks and Lay folk in this place had
begun to serve the Lord in much poverty and toil. Moreover, it had
always been his desire that by the favour of the Lord he might end his
life in this same House with the Brothers, and be buried amongst them,
and so it came about, for he was laid in the eastern passage by the side
of our Brother, Henry Cremer, whom he had drawn to the Religious Life,
and whom he had loved with all his heart. Thus it came about that as
they had loved one another in life, so in death and in the grave they
were not divided.
In the same year and month, on the day following the Feast of Sixtus,
Pope and Martyr, and when noon was past, died Dirk, son of Wychmann of
Arnheim, who had lived here for two years.
In the same year, in the month of August, on the Feast of St. Lawrence
the Martyr, and in the morning after Prime, died Matthias, son of William
of Overcamp, a Donate of our House, who had been overseer of husbandry
for a great while. He often suffered pain from the stone, and at length
falling sick with a disease in the throat, and being bowed with age, he
fell on sleep in holy peace in the seventy-second year of his age, having
endured many labours; for when the monastery was founded he came hither
with his father, William, a tailor, of great age, and being then but ten
years old, he began that good course which was brought to this happy
issue. He was laid in the burying-ground of the Lay folk before the
entrance to the broad cloister. At this time of pestilence in our House
it befel that a certain Brother, while sitting in his cell, heard a sound
at the door thereof as of one knocking twice, but when he arose to open
the door he could not see or find any man there. And marvelling at the
matter he thought that perhaps some one might be like to die, and on the
next day the bell was tolled for the death of Dirk Struve, a Laic of our
household. So also before the death of Brother Theodoric of Kleef, once
the Prior of our House, the like thing happened two days before he fell
sick.
In the year 1454, on the morning of the fourteenth day of March and after
Prime, died Brother Gerard Hombolt, a Convert, in the fifty-fifth year of
his age. He had fulfilled thirty years in the Religious Life, and for a
great while was cellarer of the House, in which office he was faithful
and zealous for the common good, so far as our poverty in temporal wealth
and the number of persons to be served did allow. He was buried in the
western passage before the door of the church with the other Converts.
In the same year, on the sixteenth day of May, the venerable Father John
Lap died in the House of Elisabethdal, near Roremund, of which he was
Prior, but he had made his profession as a Brother of our House of Mount
St. Agnes. He was in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and being a lover
of discipline and of the Religious Life had fulfilled thirty years and
nearly two months therein.
In the same year, on the day before the Feast of the Exaltation of the
Holy Cross, and about the second hour after noon, died Dionysius
Valkenborch, a Donate of our House, being seventy-three years of age. He
had lived an humble and holy life with us for a great while, near to
fifty-five years; at first his tasks were to feed the swine and milk the
cows, but when he grew old he was made the gatekeeper, with another to
help him, and ending his temporal life in a good old age he left a fair
ensample to all.
In the same year, in the month of August, on the day following the Feast
of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, there was a heavy rain both
in the uplands and the lowlands, and much corn and seed perished thereby,
and we suffered great loss in our farm by the overflowing of many waters.
In the same year, on the Feast of Gallus the Confessor, and at about the
ninth hour, when Compline was ended, died Brother John Zandwijc of Renen,
a Priest of our House, being thirty-eight years old. He had suffered
long from the stone, and was patient and gentle, and he had fulfilled
sixteen years and near seven months in the Religious Life. On the day
before the Feast of St. Luke, when Mass was ended, he was buried by the
side of Theodoric of Kleef in the eastern passage of the cloister; here
he rests in peace, freed from the many toils and perils of this life, for
his desire was to be released and to be with Christ.
In the year 1455, on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, two Clerks
were invested, namely, Brother Henry, son of Bruno, and Theodoric, son of
Arnold Wanninck; both came from Deventer, and had honourable parents and
friends, and in the year following they made their profession together
upon the same day.
In the same year, on the Octave of the Feast of the Apostles Peter and
Paul, when Matins was ended, died our venerable Father, William
Voerniken, the fourth Prior of Windesem. He was buried in the choir by
the side of the venerable Prior John Huesden, for these two greatly loved
one another, wherefore after death they shared one tomb in the church. He
was eighty-two years of age, and had been the second Prior of the House
on Mount St. Agnes.
In the same year, on the 22nd of April, when Prime was done, died John
Mastebroick, a Laic and servant of our House, who was faithful in labour
and devout in prayer. He was about seventy years old, and had lived with
us for nearly forty-five years, and he departed to the Lord in holy
peace, desiring an eternal reward for his many labours. He was laid with
the servants in the burial-ground of the Lay folk and Donates of our
House.
In the same year, on the 9th of October, the day before the Feast of
Marcus, Pope and Confessor, when Compline was done, died Gerard, son of
Hermann, a Laic and servant of our House; he was a stonemason and a
faithful worker so far as his powers did allow, but he was often sick
with the complaint of the stone, from the tortures whereof he died,
though he bore the same with much patience; and he left all the goods he
had as a bequest to the monastery.
In the year of the Lord 1455, on the 17th day of November, within the
Octave of the Feast of St. Martin the Bishop, four altars in our church
were consecrated by Iodocus, who was Bishop Suffragan, Doctor in Sacred
Theology, and belonged to the order of Preachers. He had received a
general commission from the General Chapter of Utrecht, and he
consecrated the several altars after this wise. First the altar which is
on the north of the church, and in the upper part thereof, in honour of
St. Michael the Archangel and all the holy Angels: secondly, the altar
which standeth upon the same side, but in the lower part of the church,
in honour of the holy Confessors, Gregory, Ambrose, Jerome, Bernard,
Francis, and Lebuin. Thirdly, the altar which is in the midst of the
church, in honour of the holy Confessors, Martin the Bishop, Willibrord
the Bishop, Nicholas the Bishop, and Antony the Confessor. Fourthly, the
altar which standeth on the south side, toward the end of the church, in
honour of the Saints Anne, Elizabeth, Monica, mother of our holy Father
Augustine, and all holy widows.
Likewise he consecrated the Holy Cross that is over the door of the
choir, and certain images of Saints, namely, of St. Augustine the Bishop
and St. Agnes the Virgin: also two small figures, the first of St. Mary
Magdalene, the second of St. Agnes in the Coffer; also the image that is
over the altar of the Holy Cross that showeth the blessed Virgin Mary
holding the Crucified Lord, Who lieth on her breast: also the images of
St. James the Apostle, St. Katherine the Virgin, and St. Barbara, Virgin
and Martyr.
In the year of the Lord 1456, on the Feast of St. Antony the Confessor,
Brother Gerard, son of Dirk, who came from a place near Zwolle, was
invested as a Convert. He was a man well stricken in age, and had lived
with us in honest wise for thirty years, being a good husbandman; before
his investiture he had been an humble Donate, for we had many of that
degree amongst us.
In the same year, on the day following the Feast of St. James the
Apostle, died John Smyt, a Laic and servant of our House. He was drowned
in a deep pool that had been filled by the rain, and with him perished
four very good horses that were drawing a cart to fetch fodder. At that
time the weather was very rainy, so that many crops were destroyed
thereby. The Brothers therefore brought back this servant of God to the
House, and after Compline laid him in the burial-ground of the Laics.
Moreover, they celebrated Mass for him, and offered up prayers that he
might receive the reward of his labours. By God's providence, he and the
other Laics of our House had received Communion, as was the custom, on
St. James's day: and he himself had lived with us for one year, being
skilful and diligent in the smith's craft.
In all things blessed be God, Who scourgeth us, and also healeth our
stripes, for though we lost above an hundred florins by the drowning of
the horses, yet did the good Lord save us and our country from the army
of the Duke of Burgundy, who was laying siege to Deventer; for after the
Feast of St. Matthew peace and concord were restored between the Duke and
the cities and people of this land.
In the same year of the Lord 1456, on the Feast day of St. Lucia, Virgin
and Martyr, and in the morning when High Mass for her festival was
already begun, died that fervent lover of discipline, Brother William
Coman. He was born in Amsterdam, in Holland, and for a great while had
lived an humble life amongst our Brothers, and he was seventy-eight years
and four months old. On the Feast of St. Brixius, Bishop and Confessor,
he had fulfilled, by the help of God, fifty-five years in the Religious
Life, for this was the anniversary of his investiture, and on this day he
celebrated Mass for the last time, for he was sick from that day forward
until the Feast day of St. Lucia, whereon he ended his life with a happy
agony; and he was buried in the eastern passage by the side of our
Brother John Zantwijc.
This William Coman left many a good ensample of patience, poverty, and
abstinence, for the imitation of them that come after; and in the days of
the venerable Prior, William Vorniken (who was the second to hold that
office in our House) he was Procurator, and afterwards Sub-Prior. Then
for three years he was Prior of the House at Amersfoort, after which he
was Rector of the Sisters at Bronope near Kampen for fourteen years; but
at last, as age had come upon him, and his hearing failed by little and
little, he returned to our House and Brotherhood, where he died in holy
peace, and he was buried amongst the Brothers after the accustomed
manner.
In the same year died Gerard Smullinc, the first Rector and Prior of the
House at Ruremund, who, after that he was absolved from his office, went
to gain Indulgences at the Shrine of St. James at Compostella, in which
place he was buried.
The anniversary of his death and that of his parents is kept on the day
following the Feast of St. Elizabeth, because we know not surely the day
thereof.
In the year of the Lord 1457, on the day of St. Benedict the Abbot, and
at eleven o'clock at night, Theodoric Herxen, a venerable Father of pious
memory, and a priest of seemly life, died at Zwolle, being seventy-six
years old. He was the second Rector of the House of Clerks in Zwolle,
and ruled it for forty-seven years; also he was Confessor to many devout
Brothers and Sisters, and his whole life, from the time that he was of
full age, was spent in discipline of character and in virtue.