In the year of the Lord 1402, on the Vigil of the Nativity of Christ, was invested Brother Gerard, son of Tydeman, who was born in Wesep, a town in Holland:  he wrote divers works for the use of the monastery and for sale.  In the year of the Lord 1403, on the day of St. Pontianus the Martyr, was invested Conrad, a Convert; he was a tailor and was born in the Countship of Marck.

In the year of the Lord 1405, on the Festival of the Four Crowned Martyrs, Brother Alardus, a priest, and John Benevolt of Groninghen were alike invested:  Alardus was forty-six years old and a Frisian by nation; he had been Curate at Pilsum, which was his native place, and was a good and devout man.

In the year of the Lord 1406, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, which fell in that year on the day before the Feast of St. Barnabas, two brothers that were Clerks, and one that was a Convert, were invested.  These were Thomas Hemerken of the city of Kempen in the diocese of Cologne, and own brother to John of Kempen the first Prior.  The father of these was called John and their mother Gertrude.  The other Clerk was called Oetbert Wilde of Zwolle, whose father’s name was Henry and his mother’s Margaret.  The Convert was Arnold Droem of Utrecht who brought great wealth to the monastery and was in charge of the Refectory.

CHAPTER XI.

Of the death of Brother Wolfard, Priest in the Monastery of Mount St. Agnes.

In the year of the Lord 1401, on the Feast of the Holy Martyrs John and Paul, Brother Wolfard, son of Matthias, died in the monastery pertaining to our order, which is called the House of the Blessed Virgin in the Wood, and lieth near Northorn.  He came from Medenblic, a town in Holland, and was one of the four first Brothers of our House.  He was a man of great stature and grave deportment, eloquent in discourse, and his hoary head was comely to look upon.  He took part in the labours of the younger Brothers, and would perform lowly tasks, such as washing the trenchers, digging the ground, carrying stones, or collecting wood.  It was his wont to come early into the choir, to be alert in watching, enduring in fasting, careful in celebrating the Mass, and devout in prayer.  Once he was asked by a Religious what he had eaten during Advent, and whether he had had eggs from time to time; and he made answer:  “Blessed be God, throughout Advent I have seldom taken eggs or fish, but I have eaten pulse only and have kept the fast in great contentment.”

So when by the ordinance of God the end of his life was at hand, and the time when his good deeds should receive a better crown, he made a most edifying end after the manner and order following: