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Friends of God
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Friends of God

religious group
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Also known as: Gottesfreunde
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Article History
Quick Facts
German:
Gottesfreunde
Date:
c. 1301
Location:
Germany
Netherlands
Switzerland
Participants:
laity
Roman Catholicism
Key People:
Heinrich Suso
Johann Tauler
Areas Of Involvement:
mysticism
See all related content

Friends of God, medieval Christian fellowship that originated during the early part of the 14th century in Basel, Switz., and then spread to Germany and the Netherlands. Primarily a middle-class, democratic lay movement espousing a Christian life of love, piety, devotion, and holiness, the Friends of God presaged the 16th-century Reformation. Some of its leaders, attacking corruption in the Western church and expecting a subsequent intervention of God, were tried and executed for heresy.