Devotio Moderna
Devotio Moderna, or Modern Devotion, was a movement for religious reform, calling for apostolic renewal through the rediscovery of genuine pious practices such as humility, obedience and simplicity of life. It began in the late fourteenth-century, largely through the work of Gerard Groote, and flourished in the Low Countries and Germany in the fifteenth century, but came to an end with the Protestant Reformation. It is most known today through its influence on Thomas à Kempis, the author of The Imitation of Christ, a book which proved highly influential for centuries.
Origins
The origins of the movement probably go back to the Congregation of Windesheim, though it has so far proved elusive to locate precise origin of the movement. Broadly, it may be seen to rise out of a widespread dissatisfaction with the state of the church (both in terms of the structure of the church and the personal lives of the clergy) in fourteenth-century Europe. Geert Groote (1340-1384) was among many in being highly dissatisfied with the state of the Church and what he perceived as the gradual loss of monastic traditions and the lack of moral values among the clergy, and he sought to rediscover genuine pious practices.