Thomas was born in
Kempen in the Rhineland. His surname at birth was Hemerken (or Hammerlein, Latinized as Malleolus). His father, Johann, was a blacksmith, and his mother, Gertrud, was a schoolmistress. In 1392, Thomas followed his brother, Johann, to
Deventer in the Netherlands in order to attend the noted Latin school there. While attending this school, Thomas encountered the
Brethren of the Common Life, followers of
Gerard Groote's
Modern Devotion. He attended school in Deventer from 1392 to 1399. His first tenure of office as subprior was interrupted by the exile of the community from Agnetenberg in 1429. A dispute had arisen in connection with an appointment to the vacant See of Utrecht.
Pope Martin V rejected the nomination of Bishop-elect
Rudolf van Diepholt, and imposed an interdict. The Canons remained in exile in observance of the interdict until the question was settled in 1432. During this time, Thomas was sent to Arnhem to care for his ailing brother, where he remained until his brother died in November 1432. Otherwise, Thomas spent his time between devotional exercises in writing and in copying manuscripts. He copied the
Bible no fewer than four times, one of the copies being preserved at
Darmstadt, Germany, in five volumes. In its teachings he was widely read and his works abound with biblical quotations, especially from the
New Testament. As subprior he was charged with instructing novices, and in that capacity wrote four booklets between 1418 and 1427, later collected and named after the title of the first chapter of the first booklet:
The Imitation of Christ.
Thomas More said it was one of the three books everybody ought to own. Thirteen translations of
The Imitation of Christ and three paraphrases in English seem to have been published between 1500 and 1700. Thomas died near Zwolle in 1471. There is a legend that he was denied canonization some 200 years after his death by the Catholic Church due to the presence of scratch marks on the interior of his coffin lid, which supposedly disqualifies him from sainthood as it would mean he did not peacefully embrace death. However, there is scant evidence to support that he was buried alive or the idea that the Church would have denied him sainthood if they did discover he died in this manner. ==Works==