ABSTRACT

When and where Hendrik Herp was born is unknown.1 His name probably refers to his birthplace, for which there are three candidates: Erp near ’sHertogenbosch in Brabant, Erpe between Brussels and Ghent, and Erp near Cologne. A certain Heinricus Erppe, a cleric of the Diocese of Cambrai, was enrolled at the university of Leuven in 1426, but it is not certain whether this is the same person. Consequently, “our” Hendrik Herp makes his first appearance in history in the year 1445 as the rector of Sint-Hieronymusdaal, a congregation of brethren of the Modern Devotion in Delft in Holland. In this year, Herp accepted the invitation to found a similar congregation in Gouda and took on the obligation of delivering a collatio for the laity every Sunday. This decision led to a conflict with most of his brethren and eventually with the leader of the movement, Dirc van Herxen (1381-1457), and Herp was forced to take the rectorship of the Gouda congregation. In Gouda, Herp may have met the Franciscan observant Friar Johannes Brugman († 1473), who lends his name to the Dutch expression “preach like Brugman” for ardent speaking. In 1450, Herp travelled to Rome and joined the observant Franciscans. After his return to the Low Countries, he was appointed to leading positions in Mechlin (guardian) and Antwerp. He founded the convent of Boetendaal near Brussels (1467-1471) and in 1470, Herp was elected Provincial Vicar (vicarius provincialis) of the Cologne observant province. In 1473 he returned to Mechlin as guardian, where he died in 1477.