The Chronicle of the Canons Regular of Mount St. AgnesThomas, à Kempis
Religion
The Chronicle of the Canons Regular of Mount St. Agnes
Thomas, à Kempis
Augustinian Canons
The Chronicle of Mount St. Agnes is the only work of Thomas a Kempis of
which no English translation has yet appeared, and even in its original
form the book is not readily accessible to readers, since the only text
is that published by Peter and John Beller of Antwerp in 1621. The
ordinary collections of the works of a Kempis do not contain the
Chronicle, although there is no doubt as to the authenticity of the book,
which is of considerable importance to students of the movement known as
"The New Devotion," and to those who are interested in the Brotherhood of
the Common Life. The last nine pages of the Latin text have been added
by an anonymous writer, and carry on the chronicle from the year 1471, in
which a Kempis died, to 1477, but since this portion of the book is
included in the first printed edition, and contains a notice of the
author written by a contemporary member of the community, I have included
the addition in the present translation of the Chronicle.
The Mother House of the Chapter to which the Monastery of Mount St. Agnes
belonged, was the Monastery at Windesheim, of which we have a full
account from the pen of John Buschius, a younger contemporary of a
Kempis. This work is too long to be included in the present volume,
although the Antwerp edition before mentioned puts the two Chronicles
together; Busch's "Chronicon Windesemense" will therefore appear
separately; but as the account of the foundation of the Mother House,
written by William Voern, or Vorniken, supplements the information given
by a Kempis, a translation of it is annexed to this book. The writer was
Prior of Mount St. Agnes before his promotion to the same office in the
Superior House, and it was under his rule that a Kempis spent the early
years of his priesthood, those years in which he composed the first part
at least of the great work with which his name is associated. William
Vorniken also tells in outline the story of the conversion of the Low
Countries to Christianity by Anglo-Saxon missionaries, and for all these
reasons it has been thought that his "letter" may be of interest to
English readers.
It will be seen that the spelling of proper names is both peculiar and
variable, but the principle observed in this translation has been to
adopt the spelling given in the text, except in cases where variation is
evidently the result of a printer's error, and in those instances in
which the writer _translated_ names, _e.g_., Hertzogenbosch appears in
the Chronicle as Buscoducis, and Gerard is called sometimes Groote,
Groot, or Groet, and sometimes Magnus.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account