Famous Dutch Spiritual & Religious Leaders

Born as an illegitimate child of a priest from Rotterdam, Desiderius Erasmus later grew up to be a significant figure of the northern Renaissance. He is remembered for his research on free will and for being the first to edit the New Testament, replacing traditional elements with new-age humanism.

Saint Boniface was an Anglo-Saxon missionary who played an important role in converting the Germanic pagans to Christianity. Considered a unifier of Europe, Boniface is widely regarded as a national figure by German Catholics. Today, Saint Boniface is recognized as the Patron Saint of Devon.

Sixteenth-century pope Adrian VI remains the only Dutch to have been a pope and was the last non-Italian pope till John Paul II’s election after over 400 years. He wished to reform the Church but wasn’t able to do much, as he was strongly opposed by many, including Italian cardinals.

Initially a baker in Harlem, Jan Matthys later rose up to become a prominent leader of the Münster Rebellion. As an Anabaptist leader, he met opposition to conversion with strict resistance. His war against Franz von Waldeck resulted in him being killed and his head stuck on a pike.

Cornelius Jansen was the Dutch Catholic bishop of Ypres best remembered as the father of an early modern theological movement called Jansenism, which was declared a heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. Jansenism was used as a major political force in France up until the French Revolution.

Geert Groote was a Dutch Catholic deacon best remembered for founding the Brethren of the Common Life. Groote also played an important role in the Devotio Moderna movement, which promoted genuine pious practices like obedience, humility, and simplicity of life. 

Andreas Peter Cornelius Sol was a Dutch prelate of the Catholic Church. He lived for 100 years and was counted among the oldest Catholic bishops. Andreas Peter Cornelius Sol served as the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Amboina from 1965 until his retirement in 1994.

David Joris was a prominent Anabaptist leader who played an important role in Anabaptism's consolidation period after the fall of Münster. Prior to his association with Anabaptism, David Joris worked as a glass painter and painted the windows for the church at Enkhuizen in Netherlands.

Dutch Roman Catholic theologian Florens Radewyns is remembered as a co-founder of the religious community Brethren of the Common Life. He was initially a vicar of Deventer and later became recognized as a learned man, well-versed in the Scriptures and the sacred sciences. His skull is preserved in the Catholic Church of Deventer.

Sister Louise Van der Schrieck was a Roman Catholic leader best remembered for founding several educational institutions across the American Midwest. Born in the Netherlands, Sister Louise Van der Schrieck was among the eight sisters who agreed to immigrate to the USA to establish the order of the Church.