author
à Kempis Thomas
1380–1471
A late medieval monk and spiritual writer, he is best known as the probable author of The Imitation of Christ, a devotional classic that shaped Christian reading for centuries. His life was marked by quiet discipline, prayer, and a lasting influence that far outlived his monastery.
4 Audiobooks
The Imitation of Christ
by à Kempis Thomas
The Chronicle of the Canons Regular of Mount St. Agnes
by à Kempis Thomas
About the author
Born around 1380 in Kempen, near Cologne, Thomas à Kempis spent most of his life in the Low Countries. As a teenager he went to Deventer for schooling connected with the Brethren of the Common Life, a movement that emphasized personal devotion, humility, and practical Christian living.
He later joined the community at Mount Saint Agnes near Zwolle and lived there as an Augustinian canon regular. Alongside religious duties, he copied manuscripts and wrote devotional works in a plain, direct style meant to guide ordinary believers toward an inward, disciplined faith.
He is most closely associated with The Imitation of Christ, one of the best-known devotional books in Christian history, though sources often describe him as its probable author rather than its certain one. Thomas à Kempis died in 1471, and his reputation has endured because his writing speaks simply about humility, self-examination, and the effort to live a life centered on Christ.