Gnotosolitos parvus

Arnold Gheyloven (c. 1375/1420) was born in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). He studied liberal arts in Vienna, and canon law in Bologna and Padua. Around 1407 he joined the regular canons of the Windesheim monastery at Groenendaal near Brussels. He composed c. 30 works, among which the Gnotosolitos parvus ('Small Know Yourself'), which text has been preserved in one single manuscript (Liège, Bibliothèque du Grand Séminaire 6 F 18). Gheyloven wrote this text for students, preparing themselves for the priesthood in a paedagogium at Louvain or with the Brethren of the Common Life in Deventer. This Summa of moral theology, canon law, and spirituality shows what these young men had to learn with regard to faith and morals, the sacraments and the works of charity. Acting as confessors, they were supposed to pass on these moral senses to their penitents, in the century before the Reformation.

Arnoldus Gheyloven (Arnoldus Theoderici de Hollandia de Rotterdam) — Gnotosolitos parvus (e codice Seminarii Leodiensis 6 F 18 editus) — ed. A.G. Weiler