in 1215, and without taking vows. The simplicity and devotion of the Devotio Moderna, though, seems to have lessened the force of many of these criticisms. It was especially prominent in cities in the Low Countries during the 14th and 15th centuries. Alongside its immediate impact, however, it was the writings of authors associated with the movement (who were most commonly based in the monasteries associated with Windesheim), that gave the Devotio Moderna its wider European influence at the time, and its great subsequent influence. Decline In the wake of the Protestant Reformation, the institutions of the Devotio Moderna declined rapidly. In Protestant territories, both the brother houses and the monasteries were dissolved. Most of the houses of the Brethren, including the founding homes of Deventer and Zwolle, had disappeared by 1600. In Roman Catholic areas, some of the brother houses and houses of the Windesheim Congregation survived until they fell victim to the secularisations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The most important members of the Windesheim Congregation in Germany, St. Marienwolde in Frenswegen, held out until 1809 when the state officially dissolved it. The last canon, Gerhard Tobbe, left Frenswegen in 1815. The Imitation of Christ The Imitation of Christ (c. 1418), often attributed to Thomas à Kempis (d. 1471), a Brother of the Common Life, outlines the concepts of Modern Devotion, based on personal connection to God and the active showing of love towards Him (e.g., in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar or during mass). It influenced a number of Saints such as Thérèse of Lisieux and Ignatius of Loyola. By the late 15th century the advent of the printing press increased the reach of the movement; The Imitation of Christ was printed in several languages by the end of the century. Techniques for prayer The spiritual life of the Devotio Moderna followers was marked by focus on inner devotions and frequent short periods of meditation, especially before each new activity. The writings of the Devotio Moderna followers such as Gerard of Zutphen and Jan Mombaer, as well as Groote introduced the tradition of "methodical prayer" which arranged exercises day by day and week by week. Groote's On four Kinds of Matter for Meditation included mental imagery, as well as methodical approaches as an element of meditation. Centuries earlier, Hugh of Saint Victor and Guigo II had produced structured methods for Christian meditation, but their approaches