Jean le Charlier de Gerson, mystic, called "doctor christianissimus".  Born in 1363, in the Ardennes, he studied in Paris, where he was made doctor of theology and became Chancellor of Notre Dame and the University. 

In 1397 he left Paris for Bruges, and while there wrote his treatise "On the Manner of Conducting oneself in a Time of Schism" (this was the period of the Great Schism, which began in 1378, when two rival candidates, Urban VI and Clement VII, disputed the papal throne).

Gerson returned to Paris, but was later forced away to Vienna, and finally to Lyons, where he spent the last 10 years of his life in seclusion, devoting himself to the practice of the spiritual life and pastoral work.  

He was deeply concerned with the reform of the Church, which he hoped to achieve through spiritual renewal.

His main mystical writings were "The Mountain of Contemplation", "Mystical Theology", "The Perfection of the Heart" and commentaries on the Magnificat and The Song of Songs.

He died in 1429.

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