All men commend patience, although few are willing to practice it. – Thomas ‘a Kempis
Thomas à Kempis
Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380 – 1471) lived in the midst of the crisis of the late medieval period. Although there had been relative stability and population growth in the High Middle Ages (1000-1299), the Late Middle Ages (1300-1500) began with the challenge of “The Great Famine” (1315-1317). The Great Famine led to crime, disease, and millions dead including children abandoned by parents and elderly letting themselves die of starvation. “The Black Death” (1348-1350) resulted to the loss of 75 – 200 million people, about a third of the European population. There were mass burials of plague victims. It took 150 years for Europe’s population to recover.
With blame having to placed somewhere, Roman Catholicism lost its strong authority due to being unable to end the crises. In some places, Jewish communities were attributed with the epidemic. In 1349, Jewish communities in Cologne were exterminated. [Read more…] about Christian Devotional Classics: The Imitation of Christ