VEGHE, fb'g6 (TEN LOE), JOHANNES: Brother of the Common Life; b. at Münster in the first half of the fifteenth century; d. there Sept. 24, 1504. He received his early education in his native citywhether from the Brethren of the Common Life is uncertain, but he entered their house in Münster in 1451. Later he studied at the university of Co)ogres. Macharius Welinck, rector of the Münster brother-house, sent him to Rostock to organize the brethren in that city, where they had a settlement from 1462. Veghe is mentioned as rector pro tempore in Rostock under date of Jan. 13, 1470, but was back in Münster in Sept,, 1471, and in 1475 he became sixth rector of the Münster house. Under his rule the Münster community prospered, and the union with the affiliated houses in other cities was regulated and strengthened. In 1481, finding the duties of his position with the many journeys made necessary by visitations and colloquies too arduous for his strength, Yeghe resigned and was made confessor and rector of the sister-house at Niesink near Münster. Münster in Veghe'a time was a center of humanism not only for Westphalia, but for all Germany. Under the scholarly bishops, Henry of Schwarzburg (1454-94) and Conrad of Rietberg (1497-1502), and under the efforts of Provost Rudolf of Langen (b. 1438; d. 1518) in behalf of education it became the home of a number of noteworthy men all permeated with the spirit and learning of the Renaissance. Veghe occupied a prominent position in this circle and the references to him in their writings show the esteem in which he was held. His uprightness and comprehensive learning are especially praised (cf. Franz Jostes, Johannes Veghe, pp. xxvi.-xxvii., Halle, 1883). The numerous citations in his sermons testify to the extent and breadth of his study, covering the classics, Church Fathers, and mystics.
Veghe's writings, which have been the subject of painstaking study in recent years, include two religious poems (published by B. Holscher in his Niederdeutsche geistliche Lieder, pp. 132-133, Berlin, 1854, and by Joates, ut sup., p. 392) and a collection of twenty-four sermons (published by Jostea, ut sup.) made by the sisters in Niesink, before whom they were delivered apparently in the year 1492. These last are rather long, and do not follow the scholastic model of a theme developed artistically; instead they are free addresses springing spontaneously from religious experience, with earnest exhortation intermixed. This was indeed the chosen manner of the Brethren of the Common Life, whence they preferred to call their discourses "collations" rather than "sermons." Veghe takes his subject usually from the Gospel for the day and proceeds in a style which is popular without overstepping the bounds of good taste. He makes skilful use of Bible stories, introduces incidents from saints' lives less often, and deals sparingly in other stories and anecdote. He draws illustrations from familiar things of nature and experience, his comparisons are apt and striking, and at times he displays a genial humor. The Church he regards from the point of view introduced among the Brethren by Gerhard Groote and families from the Imitatio. Christi of Thomas b, Kempis. Veghe's sermons are truly Scriptural; yet the Roman doctrine of the Church is very evident in their contents. He speaks of the merit of one's own works in the current fashion; concerning indulgences he says that no indulgence can be won for departed souls; but fault which is counted for righteousness is nowhere emphasized. If indulgences are futile, still mercy, which is the greatest and most meritorious of works, with prayer, penitence, alms, and the mass can help the miserable souls in purgatory. Without the grace of God man can not be saved; but the grace of God is insufficient without man's individual accomplishment. For other writings by Veghe (the " Vineyard of the Soul," " Consolation of Mary," " Spiritual
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Bibliography: To the literature named in the teat add H. Triloff, Die Traktate and Predigten Veghes, Halle, 1904.
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