See also:

• NICHOLAS
• NICHOLAS (1841– )
• NICHOLAS (or NICLAES), HENRY (or HENDRIK) (c. 1501-C. 158o)
• NICHOLAS, SIR EDWARD (1593-1669)
• NICHOLAS, ST

NICHOLAS OF See also:

• BASEL (Fr. Bale)
• BASEL (Fr. Belle, but Basle is a wholly erroneous form; Ital. Basilea)
• BASEL, CONFESSION OF
• BASEL, COUNCIL OF

BASEL (d. 1397)  , a prominent member of the Beghard community, who travelled widely as a missionary and propagated the teachings of his See also:

• SECT

sect . Though vigorously sought after by the See also:

• INQUISITION, THE (Lat. inquisitio, an inquiry)

Inquisition he eluded its agents for many years until in 1391 he was seized in See also:

• VIENNA (Ger. Wien; Lat. Vindobona)
• VIENNA, CONGRESS OF (1814-1815)

Vienna, and burned at the stake as a heretic, together with two of his followers, See also:

• JOHN
• JOHN (1167–1216)
• JOHN (1290-c. 1320)
• JOHN (1296-1346)
• JOHN (1371–1419)
• JOHN (1468-1532)
• JOHN (1801-1873)
• JOHN (Heb. llni')
• JOHN (ZAPOLYA) (1487-1540)
• JOHN, 4TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (c. 1695-1762)
• JOHN, DON (1545-1578)
• JOHN, DON (1629–1679)
• JOHN, GOSPEL OF ST
• JOHN, or HAYS (1513–1571)
• JOHN, THE APOSTLE
• JOHN, THE EPISTLES OF

John and See also:

• JAMES
• JAMES (Gr. 'IlrKw,l3or, the Heb. Ya`akob or Jacob)
• JAMES (JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD STUART) (1688-1766)
• JAMES, 2ND EARL OF DOUGLAS AND MAR(c. 1358–1388)
• JAMES, DAVID (1839-1893)
• JAMES, EPISTLE OF
• JAMES, GEORGE PAYNE RAINSFOP
• JAMES, HENRY (1843— )
• JAMES, JOHN ANGELL (1785-1859)
• JAMES, THOMAS (c. 1573–1629)
• JAMES, WILLIAM (1842–1910)
• JAMES, WILLIAM (d. 1827)

James . A considerable See also:

• LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read)

legend has attached itself to See also:

• NICHOLAS
• NICHOLAS (1841– )
• NICHOLAS (or NICLAES), HENRY (or HENDRIK) (c. 1501-C. 158o)
• NICHOLAS, SIR EDWARD (1593-1669)
• NICHOLAS, ST

Nicholas through the persistent but mistaken See also:

• IDENTIFICATION (Lat. idem, the same)

identification of him with the mysterious " Friend of See also:

• GOD

God from the Oberland," the " See also:

• DOUBLE
• DOUBLE (from the Mid. Eng. duble, the form which gives the present pronunciation, through the Old Er. duble, from Lat. duplus, twice as much)

double" of Rulman Merswin, the See also:

• STRASSBURG, or STRASBURG (French Strasbourg)

Strassburg banker who was one of the leaders of the 14th-See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German mystics known as the See also:

• FRIENDS, SOCIETY
• FRIENDS, SOCIETY OF

Friends of God . In Merswin's See also:

• STORY, JOHN (c. 1510-1571)
• STORY, JOSEPH (1779-1845)
• STORY, ROBERT HERBERT (1835-1907)
• STORY, WILLIAM WETMORE (1819—1895)

Story of the First Four Years of a New See also:

• LIFE

Life, he writes: " Of all the wonderful See also:

• WORKS

works which God had wrought in me I was not allowed to tell a single word to anybody until the See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time when it should please God to reveal to a See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man in the Oberland to come to me . When he came to me God gave me the See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power to tell him everything." The identity and See also:

• PERSONALITY (from Lat. persona, originally an actor's mask, from personare,1 to sound through)

personality of this " Friend of God," who bulks so largely in the See also:

• GREAT

great collection of mystical literature, and is everywhere treated as a See also:

• HALF

half supernatural See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, is one of the most difficult problems in the See also:

• HISTORY

history of See also:

• MYSTICISM (from Or. µuety, to shut the eyes; µuorrts, one initiated into the mysteries)

mysticism . The tradition, dating from the 15th century and supported by the weighty authority of the Strassburg historian Karl See also:

• SCHMIDT, H
• SCHMIDT, HEINRICH JULIAN (1818-1886)
• SCHMIDT, KARL VON (1817-1875)
• SCHMIDT, WILHELM ADOLF (1812-1887)

Schmidt (Nicolaus von See also:

• BASEL (Fr. Bale)
• BASEL (Fr. Belle, but Basle is a wholly erroneous form; Ital. Basilea)
• BASEL, CONFESSION OF
• BASEL, COUNCIL OF

Basel, Vienna, 1866), identified him with Nicholas, but is now discredited by all scholars . A . Jundt (See also:

• LES

Les Amis de Dieu, 1879) shared Preger's view that the Friend was a great unknown who lived in or near Chur (See also:

• COIRE (Ger. Chur or Cur, Ital. Coira, Lat. Curia Raetorum, Romonsch Cuera)

Coire) in See also:

• SWITZERLAND

Switzerland . But since Denifle's researches (see especially Der Gottesfreund See also:

• IM(K2+a2+h2—2 ah cos 0)

im Oberlande and Nikolaus von Basel, 187o) the belief has gained ground that the " Friend " is not a See also:

• HISTORICAL

historical personage at all . Apart from the collection of literature ascribed to him and Merswin there is no historical See also:

• EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of his existence . The accounts of his life say that about 1343 he was forbidden to reveal his identity to anyone See also:

• SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save Rulman Merswin . And as all the writings See also:

• BEAR
• BEAR, BLACK
• BEAR, BROWN
• BEAR, GRIZZLY
• BEAR, ISABELLINE
• BEAR, WHITE

bear the marks of a single authorship it has been assumed, especially by Denifle, that " the Friend of God " is a See also:

• LITERARY

literary creation of Merswin and that the whole collection of literature is the See also:

• WORK

work of Merswin (and his school), tendency-literature designed to set forth the ideals of the See also:

• MOVEMENT

movement to which he had given his life .

Thus " the great unknown" from the Oberland is the ideal character, " who illustrates how God does his work for the See also:

• WORLD

world and for the See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

church through a divinely trained and spiritually illuminated layman," just as See also:

• WILLIAM
• WILLIAM (1143-1214)
• WILLIAM (1227-1256)
• WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
• WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
• WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
• WILLIAM, 13TH

William See also:

• LANGLAND, WILLIAM (c. 1332–c. 1400)

Langland in See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England about the same time See also:

• DREW
• DREW, SAMUEL (1765-1833)

drew the figure of Piers Plowman . To See also:

• RESCUE (in Middle Eng. rescous, from O. Fr. recousse, Low Lat. rescussa, from reexcussa,reexcutere, to shake off again, re, again, ex, off, quatere, to shake)

rescue Merswin from the See also:

• CHARGE
• CHARGE (through the Fr. from the Late Lat. carricare, to load in a carrus or wagon; cf. " cargo ")

charge of deceit involved in this theory, Jundt puts forward the See also:

• SUGGESTION

suggestion, more ingenious than convincing, that Merswin was a " double personality," who in his See also:

• PRIMARY

primary See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state wrote the books ascribed to him, and in his secondary state became " the Friend of God from the Oberland," See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

writing the other See also:

• TREATISES

treatises . A third See also:

• HYPOTHESIS (from Gr. inrorcOivat, to put under; cf. Lat. suppositio, from sub-ponere)

hypothesis is that advanced by Karl Rieder (Der Gottesfreund von Oberland, See also:

• INNSBRUCK

Innsbruck, 1905), who thinks that not even Merswin himself wrote any of the literature, but that his secretary and See also:

• ASSOCIATE (Lat. associates, from ad, to, and sociare to join)

associate Nicholas of Lowen, See also:

• HEAD (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head of the See also:

• HOUSE
• HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in Gothic it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

House of St John at Grunenworth, the See also:

• RETREAT (O. Fr. retrete, mod. retraite, from Lat. retrahere, to draw back)

retreat founded by Merswin for the circle, worked over all the writings which emanated from different members of the See also:

• GROUP

group but See also:

• BORE

bore no author's names, and to glorify the founder of the house attached Merswin's name to some of them and out of his See also:

• IMAGINATION

imagination created " the Friend of God from the Oberland," whom he named as the writer of the others . As his See also:

• DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design took shape he See also:

• EXPANDED

expanded the supernatural See also:

• ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element and made the narratives autobiographical . There is much in this contention that is See also:

• SOUND
• SOUND, THE (Danish Oresund)

sound, but Rieder seems to go unnecessarily far in denying altogether that Merswin wrote any of the mystical books . The conclusion remains that the literature must be treated as tendency-writing and not as genuine See also:

• BIOGRAPHY (from the Gr. (3ios, life, and yp&4 , writing)

biography and history . See besides the works cited, See also:

• RUFUS, GAIUS VALGIUS
• RUFUS, LUCIUS VARIUS (c 74—14 B.c.)

Rufus M . See also:

• JONES
• JONES, ALFRED GILPIN (1824-1906)
• JONES, EBENEZER (182o-186o)
• JONES, ERNEST CHARLES (1819-1869)
• JONES, HENRY (1831-1899)
• JONES, HENRY ARTHUR (1851- )
• JONES, INIGO (1573-1651)
• JONES, JOHN (c. 1800-1882)
• JONES, MICHAEL (d. 1649)
• JONES, OWEN (1741-1814)
• JONES, OWEN (1809-1874)
• JONES, RICHARD (179o-1855)
• JONES, SIR ALFRED LEWIS (1845-1909)
• JONES, SIR WILLIAM (1746-1794)
• JONES, THOMAS RUPERT (1819– )
• JONES, WILLIAM (1726-1800)

Jones, Studies in Mystical See also:

• RELIGION
• RELIGION, FOLKLORE, CUSTOM

Religion, ch. xiii . (See also:

• LONDON

London, 1909) . (A J .