life, the loving person is elevated above him- or herself
and introduced into the most intimate life of God, the
love of the Father, Son and Spirit in one divine being.
Ruusbroec strongly emphasizes the point that, at each
level, the higher life does not neglect, let alone reject,
the lower life. A person who has discovered the interior
life should not despise the active life. And, one who has
been introduced into the contemplative life should not
disdain God nor active service to his neighbor. Just as
the interior life does not replace the need for an active
life, but inspires and purifi es it, the contemplative life
enhances and elevates both.
Whereas the Espousals is famous for its all-encom-
passing view, Ruusbroec’s small treatise, The Sparkling
Stone, is a masterpiece of conciseness. It briefl y de-
scribes the three lives of the Espousals and then concen-
trates on the highest of the three, the contemplative life.
In 1343 Ruusbroec, together with John Hinckaert
and Frank of Coudenberg (d. 1386), another Canon of
St. Gudula, left Brussels to live a contemplative life
in Groenendaal (Green Valley), a site in the Wood of
Soignes about ten kilometers south of Brussels. To cope
with the juridical problems, resulting from their living
together as a religious community without belonging
to an established order or following a recognized rule,
the group, which had meanwhile increased, became a
provostry of canons regular of St. Augustine. Ruusbroec
was the fi rst prior of the newly founded monastery.
In Groenendaal he continued his work as a writer.
There, he fi nished his largest work, Van den geeste-
liken tabernakel (The Spiritual Tabernacle). As the
number of the manuscripts still preserved indicates,
this treatise must have been very popular in its time.
For the modern reader, access is diffi cult because the
Tabernacle is a continuous allegory on some passages
from the biblical books, Exodus and Leviticus, which
describe the construction of the tabernacle and give
ritual prescriptions during Israel’s stay in the desert.
The link between material image and spiritual reality
may seem somewhat farfetched today, but the way in
which Ruusbroec masters the complex whole of image
and reality is astonishing.
In Groenendaal Ruusbroec not only wrote books, but
also met people who came to him with their questions
about a life of prayer. Among the most famous was Geert
Grote (1340–1384), the founder of the religious move-
ment, the Modern Devotion. Very rarely, Ruusbroec left
Groenendaal to visit those who were not allowed to leave
their monasteries. At an advanced age, he traveled on
foot to a monastery of Carthusians to help them with
some diffi culties concerning his description of the high-
est stages of mystical life. This visit gave rise to one of
his last works, Boecsken der verclaringhe (Little Book
of Enlightenment). By means of another tripartition,
enecheit met middel (unity with intermediary), sonder
middel (without intermediary), and sonder differencie
(without difference), he tries to explain to his friends
that—though the distinction between Creator and crea-
ture is eternal—there is a moment in mystical life when
nothing of the opposition between the beloved “you”
and the loving “I” is left.
In 1381 Ruusbroec died in Groenendaal at the age of
eighty-eight, but his works have survived him. During
his lifetime, some were translated from the Brabantine
Middle Dutch into High German for the Gottesfreunde
(Friends of God) in Strasbourg and Basle, and into Latin.
About the middle of the sixteenth century his Opera Om-
nia (entire works) were translated into Latin by a Carthu-
sian in Cologne, Laurentius Surius (1523–1578). This
was the basis for many later translations into modern
languages, including German and Spanish. Ruusbroec’s
infl uence is evident in the fi rst generations of the Mod-
ern Devotion: the canons regular of the Windesheim
Chapter, Gerlach Peters (d. 1411), Hendrik Mande (d.
1431), and Thomas à Kempis (1379/1380–1471). An-
other member of the Modern Devotion, Hendrik Herp
(d. 1477), was so deeply infl uenced by Ruusbroec that
he earned the name of “Herold of Ruusbroec.” Through
him, Ruusbroec’s infl uence reached France through
Benedict of Canneld (1562–1610) and John of Saint
Samson (1571–1636). Born in England, Benedict passed
much of his life in France, where he became a Capuchin.
There, he introduced Ruusbroec to mystical circles, for
example, to one Madame Acarie (1566–1618). John,
blind from his early youth, joined the Carmelites and
became one of the most outstanding mystical writers
of his order.
See also Thomas à KempisFurther Reading
Dupré, Louis. The Common Life: The Origins of Trinitarian
Mysticism and its Development by Jan van Ruusbroec. New
York: Crossroad, 1984.
Mommaers, Paul and Norbert de Paepe, ed. Jan van Ruusbroec:
the sources, content and sequels of his mysticism. Mediaevalia
Lovaniensia ser. 1. Studia 12. Leuven: Leuven University
Press, 1984.
Underhill, Evelyn. Ruysbroeck. London: Bell, 1915.
van Ruusbroec, Jan. Werken. Naar het standaardhandschrift van
Groenendaal uitgegeven door het Ruusbroec-genootschap
te Antwerpen. 4 vols. Mechelen/Amsterdam: Kompas,
1932–1934; 2nd ed. Tielt: Lannoo, 1944–1948.
——. Opera Omnia. Studiën en tekstuitgaven van Ons Geestelijk
Erf, XX. Leiden: Brill; Tielt: Lannoo; Turn-hour: Brepols,
1981ff. [Middle Dutch text, English and Latin trans.; Dutch
and Latin introd.; 10 vols. planned, 4 published].
——. The Spiritual Espousals and Other Works, Trans. James A.
Wiseman. New York/Mahwah/Toronto: Paulist, 1985.
Wiseman, James A. “Minne in Die gheestelike brulocht of
Jan van Ruusbroec.” S.T.D. Thesis. Catholic University of
America, 1979.
Guido O. E. J. De BaereJAN VAN RUUSBROEC