Original sentence: Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa had been their pupil and so became their stanch protector and benefactor.Groote determined to change all this.He was also the patron of Rudolph Agricola (Rudolf de Boer), who in his youth at Zwolle had studied under Thomas à Kempis; and through this connection the Brethren of the Common Life, through Cusa and Agricola, influenced Erasmus and other adepts in the New Learning.The Confraternity of the Common Life were in many ways similar to the Beghard and Beguine communities which had flourished two centuries earlier and were by then declining.The religious orders were not impressed, as the Brethren were neither monks nor friars, but they were protected by Popes Eugene IV, Pius II, and Sixtus IV.They worked consistently in the scriptorium and afterwards at the printing press they were able to publish their spiritual writings widely
Edited sentence: Groote determined to change all this, and his disciples accomplished much.He was likewise the patron of Rudolph Agricola (Rudolf de Boer), who in his youth at Zwolle had studied under Thomas à Kempis; and so the Brethren of the Common Life, through Cusa and Agricola, influenced Erasmus and other adepts in the New Learning.The Confraternity of the Common Life resembled in several respects the Beghard and Beguine communities which had flourished two centuries earlier and were by then in decay.The great Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa had been their pupil and became their stanch protector and benefactor.The religious orders looked askance at these Brethren, who were neither monks nor friars, but the Brethren found protectors in Popes Eugene IV, Pius II, and Sixtus IV.Through their unflagging toil in the scriptorium and afterwards at the printing press they were able to multiply their spiritual writings and to publish them widely