The Flemish mystic Jan van Ruysbroeck (1293-1381) was the most important spiritual writer and mystic in the Low Countries in the 14th century.

Jan van Ruysbroeck was born in the village of Ruysbroeck a few miles from Brussels. For his education and religious training he was sent to Brussels at the age of 11 to live with his uncle, John Hinckaert, a priest and canon of the Cathedral of St. Gudule. There he also came under the spiritual influence of another canon, Francis van Coudenberg, who was a friend of his uncle, and these two men had a strong effect on the young man's career and religious development.

Ruysbroeck's personal inclinations as well as his environment eventually persuaded him to adopt the religious life, and in 1317 he was ordained to the priesthood. For more than a quarter century he lived in the area of St. Gudule in Brussels and...