The roots of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands reach far back into pre-reformation history. The taproot was the robust piety of a small minority of the population which is best seen in a reforming movement of the fourteenth century whose members came to be known as the "Brethren of the Common Life." Founded by Gerhard Groote (1340-1384), this society taught the necessity of true repentance, the imitation of Christ, simple living, and the obedience of faith. Its members shared their possessions, preached and taught in the language of the people, and stressed the importance of education. Old schools, some of them with a history running back to the age of Charlemagne and now in a state of decay, were restored and young men flocked to them. Thus at Deventer, the movement's center, at Zwolle, Kampen, Groningen, Utrecht, Amersfoort, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, Leiden, Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Delft there were centers of learning and spiritual renewal which greatly benefitted the environment and so won the affection of the populace that many homes were opened to students for free food and lodging. The most famous of these students was Gerard Gerardsz, known later as Desiderius Erasmus (1467- 1536), who started his training at Deventer when he was eleven years old. With such models as Groote, Wessel Gansfort, Zerbolt, Agricola, and Thomas a Kempis before them, these students illumined the otherwise dark night through which the Netherlands was passing before the dawn of the Reformation.