Marguerite Porete
Encyclopedia
Marguerite Porete was a French
mystic and the author of The Mirror of Simple Souls
, a work of Christian
spirituality dealing with the workings of Divine Love. She was burnt at the stake for heresy
in Paris
in 1310 after a lengthy trial, after refusing to remove her book from circulation or recant her views. The book is cited as one the primary texts of the medieval Heresy of the Free Spirit
.
movement, a group which was considered heretical because of their antinomian
views. The connection between Porete and the Free Spirits is somewhat tenuous, though, as further scholarship has determined that they were less closely related than some Church authorities believed.
Unlike other religious figures such as Meister Eckhart
, who were condemned and later rehabilitated by the Roman Catholic Church
, it is unlikely that Porete will be so favored. This is partly due to her relative obscurity. Until 1946, it was not even known that she was the writer of the Mirror, which had been published anonymously since her death.
and has no will other than His. The book was originally written in Old French
, but was translated into Latin
and other languages and circulated widely. Some of the language, as well as the format of a dialogue between characters such as Love, Virtue and the Soul, reflects a familiarity with the style of courtly love
which was popular at the time, and attests to Porete's high level of education and sophistication.
Although much of her book resembles a rational, Boethian argument between several parties it is actually subverting those expectations. Writing in beautifully elegant, flowing poetic prose and occasionally poetry, Marguerite ultimately says that the Soul must give up Reason, whose logical, conventional grasp of reality cannot fully comprehend God and the presence of Divine Love. The "Annihilated Soul" is one that has given up everything but God through Love. For Porete, when the Soul is truly full of God's Love it is united with God and thus in a state of union which causes it to transcend the contradictions of this world. In such a beatific state it cannot sin because it is wholly united with God's Will and thus incapable of acting in such a way - a phenomenon which the standard theology describes as the effect of Divine grace, which suppresses a person's sinful nature. In fact, one of the main targets of her book is to teach to readers or listeners how to get this simple state though devices, for instance images. It is in this vision of Man being united with God through Love, thus returning to its source, and the presence of God in everything that she connects in thought with the ideas of Eckhart
. Porete and Eckhart had acquaintances in common and there is much speculation as to whether they ever met or had access to each other's work.
In many ways Porete's vision is the highest expression of the words of John the Evangelist
in the New Testament
:
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love cometh of God. And every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. .. [and] he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (First Epistle of John
3: 7-16)
Words which Porete herself references in her own writing:
" I am God, says Love, for Love is God and God is Love, and this Soul is God by the condition of Love. I am God by divine nature and this Soul is God by the condition of Love. Thus this precious beloved of mine is taught and guided by me, without herself, for she is transformed into me, and such a perfect one, says Love, takes my nourishment." (The Mirror Of Simple Souls. Trans. Ellen Babinsky ISBN 0809134276)
Porete's vision of the Soul in ecstatic union with God, moving in a state of perpetual joy and peace, is a repetition of the Catholic doctrine of the Beatific Vision, albeit experienced in this life and not in the next. Where Porete ran into trouble with some authorities was in her description of the Soul in this state being above the worldy dialectic of conventional morality and the teachings and control of the earthly church. Porete argues that the Soul in such a sublime state is above the demands of ordinary virtue, not because virtue is not needed but because in its state of union with God virtue becomes automatic. As God can do no evil and cannot sin, the exalted/Annihilated soul, in perfect union with Him, no longer is capable of evil or sin. Although this concept is found in the catechism, certain Church authorities nevertheless claimed that it smacked of amorality.
Interestingly, two hundred years later St John of the Cross expressed an almost identical view of the nature of the Soul's union with God in his The Ascent Of Mount Carmel i.e. that once united with God the Soul's will becomes that of God's, but was not denounced as a heretic. Although the Mirror is now embraced as an important piece of Christian mysticism it is unlikely Porete will ever enjoy the renown or acceptance John now receives from the Catholic Church.
, and gained their approval.
Medieval manuals on "discretio spirituum" — the clerical judgement of mystical visions — called for the clergy to serve in an advisory role but nevertheless cautioned them about their own ultimate inability to make a definitive judgement on such matters (see late-medieval manuals such as Gerson's "De probatione spirituum" and "De distinctione verarum visionum a falsis"). Such manuals tell the clergy to provide learned guidance, not ultimate judgement, warning them that they might make a mistake and end up opposing the Divine Will. Seemingly ignoring such calls for caution, William of Paris
consulted with a total of twenty-one theologians who scoured The Mirror of Simple Souls
for evidence of heresy. Among those who condemned the book were the ecclesiastical textual scholar, Nicholas of Lyra
.
Three Bishops passed final judgement upon her.
Porete had been arrested with a Beghard, Guiard de Cressonessart, who was also put on trial for heresy. Guiard declared himself to be Porete's defender. After being held in prison in Paris for a year and a half, their trial began. Guiard, under tremendous pressure, eventually confessed and was found guilty. Porete, on the other hand, refused to recant her ideas, withdraw her book or cooperate with the authorities, refusing to take the oath required by the Inquisitor to proceed with the trial. Guiard, because he confessed, was imprisoned. Porete, because she did not, was found guilty and burnt at the stake as a relapsed heretic. The Inquisitor spoke of her as a 'pseudo-mulier' ('fake woman') and described the Mirror as 'filled with errors and heresies'. As she died, the crowd was moved to tears by the calmness of how she faced her end. A record of the trial was appended to the chronicle begun by William of Nangis.
After her death extracts from the book were used at the Council of Vienne
in 1312 to condemn the Free Spirit movement as heretical.
, the political machinations of the French king Philip the Fair, who was also busy suppressing the Knights Templar
, ecclesiastical fear at the spread of the anti-hierarchical Free Spirit Heresy have all been suggested, as has the popularity of Porete's book which gave her a profile other writers did not have. Even after her death the Mirror of Simple Souls
continued to be distributed across Europe, where it was translated into several languages, including English. In spite of its reputation as a heretical work it remained popular in Medieval times and in some ecclesiastical centres was embraced as an almost canonical piece of theology. Between Porete's death and the identification of her as the work's author in the last century, however, the Mirror was circulated as an anonymous work, Porete's name having been struck from it. Curiously, as an anonymous work it caused less controversy and in some instances was embraced as an acceptable part of Christian literature and thought (at one point it was thought that John of Ruysbroek had written it). This perhaps says something interesting about the complexities surrounding the nature of the book and the way it was received in its day. It is possible that Porete's femininity or the timing of the Mirrors publication at the height of the Free Spirit controversy lent weight to its persecution.
There were numerous female mystics during the Middle Ages
period who all (by definition) claimed direct mystical contact with God, some working from within the framework of the Church, some not; and yet most — such as Hildegard of Bingen
, Catherine of Siena
, Birgitta of Sweden, Julian of Norwich
, etc. — were not viewed as suspect. Nevertheless the leader of her trial, the Dominican Inquisitor William of Paris gathered together a formidable array of academics and lawyers to assess the case against Porete.
Since the publication of the original Old French version of the Mirror of Simple Souls in 1965 Porete's status as one of the greatest of Medieval Mystics has grown, placing her alongside Mechthild of Magdeburg
and Hadewijch
as one of the most visionary exponents of the Love Mysticism of Beguine spirituality.
In 2006 poet Anne Carson
wrote a poetic libretto entitled Decreation, the second part of which takes as its subject Marguerite Porete and her work, the Mirror of Simple Souls
as part of exploration of how women (Sappho
, Simone Weil
and Porete) "tell God".
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
mystic and the author of The Mirror of Simple Souls
The Mirror of Simple Souls
The Mirror of Simple Souls is an early 14th century work of Christian mysticism by Marguerite Porete dealing with the workings of Divine Love....
, a work of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
spirituality dealing with the workings of Divine Love. She was burnt at the stake for heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1310 after a lengthy trial, after refusing to remove her book from circulation or recant her views. The book is cited as one the primary texts of the medieval Heresy of the Free Spirit
Heresy of the Free Spirit
The Free Spirit heresy consisted of small groups of Christian heretics living mostly in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Their worship was not well organized and their doctrine was not well defined. Their beliefs were mostly spread in the form of...
.
Biography
Porete's life is recorded only in accounts of her trial for heresy, at which she was condemned to be burnt at the stake. Her biography is probably biased and certainly incomplete. She is associated with the Beguine movement, and was therefore able to travel fairly freely. Some also associated her with the Brethren of the Free SpiritBrethren of the Free Spirit
The Brothers, or Brethren of the Free Spirit, was a lay Christian movement which flourished in northern Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries. Antinomian and individualist in outlook, it came into conflict with the Catholic Church and was declared heretical by Pope Clement V at the Council of...
movement, a group which was considered heretical because of their antinomian
Antinomianism
Antinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....
views. The connection between Porete and the Free Spirits is somewhat tenuous, though, as further scholarship has determined that they were less closely related than some Church authorities believed.
Unlike other religious figures such as Meister Eckhart
Meister Eckhart
Eckhart von Hochheim O.P. , commonly known as Meister Eckhart, was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Gotha, in the Landgraviate of Thuringia in the Holy Roman Empire. Meister is German for "Master", referring to the academic title Magister in theologia he obtained in Paris...
, who were condemned and later rehabilitated by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, it is unlikely that Porete will be so favored. This is partly due to her relative obscurity. Until 1946, it was not even known that she was the writer of the Mirror, which had been published anonymously since her death.
The Mirror of Simple Souls
The title of Porete's book refers to the simple soul which is united with GodGod
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and has no will other than His. The book was originally written in Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
, but was translated into Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and other languages and circulated widely. Some of the language, as well as the format of a dialogue between characters such as Love, Virtue and the Soul, reflects a familiarity with the style of courtly love
Courtly love
Courtly love was a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the nobility. It was also generally not practiced between husband and wife....
which was popular at the time, and attests to Porete's high level of education and sophistication.
Although much of her book resembles a rational, Boethian argument between several parties it is actually subverting those expectations. Writing in beautifully elegant, flowing poetic prose and occasionally poetry, Marguerite ultimately says that the Soul must give up Reason, whose logical, conventional grasp of reality cannot fully comprehend God and the presence of Divine Love. The "Annihilated Soul" is one that has given up everything but God through Love. For Porete, when the Soul is truly full of God's Love it is united with God and thus in a state of union which causes it to transcend the contradictions of this world. In such a beatific state it cannot sin because it is wholly united with God's Will and thus incapable of acting in such a way - a phenomenon which the standard theology describes as the effect of Divine grace, which suppresses a person's sinful nature. In fact, one of the main targets of her book is to teach to readers or listeners how to get this simple state though devices, for instance images. It is in this vision of Man being united with God through Love, thus returning to its source, and the presence of God in everything that she connects in thought with the ideas of Eckhart
Eckhart
-People with the surname Eckhart:* Aaron Eckhart, an American film actor* Johann Georg von Eckhart, historian* Meister Eckhart, a German theologian and philosopher-Other:* Eckhart Tolle is a German-born writer and public speaker living in Canada....
. Porete and Eckhart had acquaintances in common and there is much speculation as to whether they ever met or had access to each other's work.
In many ways Porete's vision is the highest expression of the words of John the Evangelist
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...
in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
:
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love cometh of God. And every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. .. [and] he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (First Epistle of John
First Epistle of John
The First Epistle of John, often referred to as First John and written 1 John, is a book of the New Testament. This fourth catholic or "general" epistle is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two Epistles of John. This...
3: 7-16)
Words which Porete herself references in her own writing:
" I am God, says Love, for Love is God and God is Love, and this Soul is God by the condition of Love. I am God by divine nature and this Soul is God by the condition of Love. Thus this precious beloved of mine is taught and guided by me, without herself, for she is transformed into me, and such a perfect one, says Love, takes my nourishment." (The Mirror Of Simple Souls. Trans. Ellen Babinsky ISBN 0809134276)
Porete's vision of the Soul in ecstatic union with God, moving in a state of perpetual joy and peace, is a repetition of the Catholic doctrine of the Beatific Vision, albeit experienced in this life and not in the next. Where Porete ran into trouble with some authorities was in her description of the Soul in this state being above the worldy dialectic of conventional morality and the teachings and control of the earthly church. Porete argues that the Soul in such a sublime state is above the demands of ordinary virtue, not because virtue is not needed but because in its state of union with God virtue becomes automatic. As God can do no evil and cannot sin, the exalted/Annihilated soul, in perfect union with Him, no longer is capable of evil or sin. Although this concept is found in the catechism, certain Church authorities nevertheless claimed that it smacked of amorality.
Interestingly, two hundred years later St John of the Cross expressed an almost identical view of the nature of the Soul's union with God in his The Ascent Of Mount Carmel i.e. that once united with God the Soul's will becomes that of God's, but was not denounced as a heretic. Although the Mirror is now embraced as an important piece of Christian mysticism it is unlikely Porete will ever enjoy the renown or acceptance John now receives from the Catholic Church.
Trial
Porete had been officially warned by Church authorities that her work was heretical and had her books publicly burned by the Bishop of Cambrai at Valenciennes. One of the taboos Porete had broken was writing the book in Old French rather than in Latin and she was ordered not to circulate her ideas or the book again. Nevertheless she continued to do so and was eventually arrested by the local Inquisitor on grounds of heresy, in spite of claims in the book that she had consulted three church authorities about her writings, including the highly respected Master of Theology Godfrey of FontainesGodfrey of Fontaines
Godfrey of Fontaines , whose name in Latin was Godefridus de Fontibus, was a scholastic philosopher and theologian, designated by the title Doctor Venerandus. He made contributions to a diverse range of subjects ranging from moral philosophy to epistemology...
, and gained their approval.
Medieval manuals on "discretio spirituum" — the clerical judgement of mystical visions — called for the clergy to serve in an advisory role but nevertheless cautioned them about their own ultimate inability to make a definitive judgement on such matters (see late-medieval manuals such as Gerson's "De probatione spirituum" and "De distinctione verarum visionum a falsis"). Such manuals tell the clergy to provide learned guidance, not ultimate judgement, warning them that they might make a mistake and end up opposing the Divine Will. Seemingly ignoring such calls for caution, William of Paris
William of Paris (inquisitor)
William of Paris, the confessor of Philip IV of France, was made inquisitor of France in 1305, and began a campaign against the Templars in 1307...
consulted with a total of twenty-one theologians who scoured The Mirror of Simple Souls
The Mirror of Simple Souls
The Mirror of Simple Souls is an early 14th century work of Christian mysticism by Marguerite Porete dealing with the workings of Divine Love....
for evidence of heresy. Among those who condemned the book were the ecclesiastical textual scholar, Nicholas of Lyra
Nicholas of Lyra
Nicholas of Lyra , or Nicolaus Lyranus, a Franciscan teacher, was among the most influential practitioners of Biblical exegesis in the Middle Ages. He was a doctor at the Sorbonne by 1309 and ten years later was appointed the head of all Franciscans in France. His major work, Postillae perpetuae...
.
Three Bishops passed final judgement upon her.
Porete had been arrested with a Beghard, Guiard de Cressonessart, who was also put on trial for heresy. Guiard declared himself to be Porete's defender. After being held in prison in Paris for a year and a half, their trial began. Guiard, under tremendous pressure, eventually confessed and was found guilty. Porete, on the other hand, refused to recant her ideas, withdraw her book or cooperate with the authorities, refusing to take the oath required by the Inquisitor to proceed with the trial. Guiard, because he confessed, was imprisoned. Porete, because she did not, was found guilty and burnt at the stake as a relapsed heretic. The Inquisitor spoke of her as a 'pseudo-mulier' ('fake woman') and described the Mirror as 'filled with errors and heresies'. As she died, the crowd was moved to tears by the calmness of how she faced her end. A record of the trial was appended to the chronicle begun by William of Nangis.
After her death extracts from the book were used at the Council of Vienne
Council of Vienne
The Council of Vienne was the fifteenth Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church that met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne. Its principal act was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar on the instigation of Philip IV of France.-Background:...
in 1312 to condemn the Free Spirit movement as heretical.
Assessment
There is much speculation as to why Porete became such a target and why so much effort was made to put her on trial (the amount of consultants gathered to draw up the case against her was unprecedented). Growing hostility to the Beguine movement among Franciscans and DominicansDominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
, the political machinations of the French king Philip the Fair, who was also busy suppressing the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, ecclesiastical fear at the spread of the anti-hierarchical Free Spirit Heresy have all been suggested, as has the popularity of Porete's book which gave her a profile other writers did not have. Even after her death the Mirror of Simple Souls
The Mirror of Simple Souls
The Mirror of Simple Souls is an early 14th century work of Christian mysticism by Marguerite Porete dealing with the workings of Divine Love....
continued to be distributed across Europe, where it was translated into several languages, including English. In spite of its reputation as a heretical work it remained popular in Medieval times and in some ecclesiastical centres was embraced as an almost canonical piece of theology. Between Porete's death and the identification of her as the work's author in the last century, however, the Mirror was circulated as an anonymous work, Porete's name having been struck from it. Curiously, as an anonymous work it caused less controversy and in some instances was embraced as an acceptable part of Christian literature and thought (at one point it was thought that John of Ruysbroek had written it). This perhaps says something interesting about the complexities surrounding the nature of the book and the way it was received in its day. It is possible that Porete's femininity or the timing of the Mirrors publication at the height of the Free Spirit controversy lent weight to its persecution.
There were numerous female mystics during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
period who all (by definition) claimed direct mystical contact with God, some working from within the framework of the Church, some not; and yet most — such as Hildegard of Bingen
Hildegard of Bingen
Blessed Hildegard of Bingen , also known as Saint Hildegard, and Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Elected a magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136, she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and...
, Catherine of Siena
Catherine of Siena
Saint Catherine of Siena, T.O.S.D, was a tertiary of the Dominican Order, and a Scholastic philosopher and theologian. She also worked to bring the papacy of Gregory XI back to Rome from its displacement in France, and to establish peace among the Italian city-states. She was proclaimed a Doctor...
, Birgitta of Sweden, Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich is regarded as one of the most important English mystics. She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches, but has never been canonized, or officially beatified, by the Catholic Church, probably because so little is known of her life aside from her writings, including the...
, etc. — were not viewed as suspect. Nevertheless the leader of her trial, the Dominican Inquisitor William of Paris gathered together a formidable array of academics and lawyers to assess the case against Porete.
Since the publication of the original Old French version of the Mirror of Simple Souls in 1965 Porete's status as one of the greatest of Medieval Mystics has grown, placing her alongside Mechthild of Magdeburg
Mechthild of Magdeburg
Mechthild of Magdeburg , a Beguine, was a medieval mystic, whose book Das fließende Licht der Gottheit described her visions of God....
and Hadewijch
Hadewijch
Hadewijch was a 13th century poet and mystic, probably living in the Duchy of Brabant.Most of her extant writings, none of which survived the Middle Ages as an autograph, are in a Brabantian form of Middle Dutch...
as one of the most visionary exponents of the Love Mysticism of Beguine spirituality.
In 2006 poet Anne Carson
Anne Carson
Anne Carson is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator and professor of Classics. Carson lived in Montreal for several years and taught at McGill University, the University of Michigan, and at Princeton University from 1980-1987....
wrote a poetic libretto entitled Decreation, the second part of which takes as its subject Marguerite Porete and her work, the Mirror of Simple Souls
The Mirror of Simple Souls
The Mirror of Simple Souls is an early 14th century work of Christian mysticism by Marguerite Porete dealing with the workings of Divine Love....
as part of exploration of how women (Sappho
Sappho
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
, Simone Weil
Simone Weil
Simone Weil , was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist.-Biography:Weil was born in Paris to Alsatian agnostic Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. She grew up in comfortable circumstances, and her father was a doctor. Her only sibling was...
and Porete) "tell God".
See also
- Anne CarsonAnne CarsonAnne Carson is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator and professor of Classics. Carson lived in Montreal for several years and taught at McGill University, the University of Michigan, and at Princeton University from 1980-1987....
- AntinomianismAntinomianismAntinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....
- Beguines, BeghardsBeghardsBeghards and Beguines were Roman Catholic lay religious communities active in the 13th and 14th centuries, living in a loose semi-monastic community but without formal vows...
- Brethren of the Free SpiritBrethren of the Free SpiritThe Brothers, or Brethren of the Free Spirit, was a lay Christian movement which flourished in northern Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries. Antinomian and individualist in outlook, it came into conflict with the Catholic Church and was declared heretical by Pope Clement V at the Council of...
- Christian mysticismChristian mysticismChristian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions...
- First Epistle of JohnFirst Epistle of JohnThe First Epistle of John, often referred to as First John and written 1 John, is a book of the New Testament. This fourth catholic or "general" epistle is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two Epistles of John. This...
- HadewijchHadewijchHadewijch was a 13th century poet and mystic, probably living in the Duchy of Brabant.Most of her extant writings, none of which survived the Middle Ages as an autograph, are in a Brabantian form of Middle Dutch...
, Hildegard von Bingen, Julian of NorwichJulian of NorwichJulian of Norwich is regarded as one of the most important English mystics. She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches, but has never been canonized, or officially beatified, by the Catholic Church, probably because so little is known of her life aside from her writings, including the...
, Margery KempeMargery KempeMargery Kempe is known for dictating The Book of Margery Kempe, a work considered by some to be the first autobiography in the English language. This book chronicles, to some extent, her extensive pilgrimages to various holy sites in Europe and Asia, as well as her mystical conversations with God... - Heresy of the Free SpiritHeresy of the Free SpiritThe Free Spirit heresy consisted of small groups of Christian heretics living mostly in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Their worship was not well organized and their doctrine was not well defined. Their beliefs were mostly spread in the form of...
- Meister EckhartMeister EckhartEckhart von Hochheim O.P. , commonly known as Meister Eckhart, was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Gotha, in the Landgraviate of Thuringia in the Holy Roman Empire. Meister is German for "Master", referring to the academic title Magister in theologia he obtained in Paris...
- The Mirror Of Simple SoulsThe Mirror of Simple SoulsThe Mirror of Simple Souls is an early 14th century work of Christian mysticism by Marguerite Porete dealing with the workings of Divine Love....
- SapphoSapphoSappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
- Simone WeilSimone WeilSimone Weil , was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist.-Biography:Weil was born in Paris to Alsatian agnostic Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. She grew up in comfortable circumstances, and her father was a doctor. Her only sibling was...
- Sister Catherine TreatiseSister Catherine TreatiseThe Sister Catherine Treatise is a work of Medieval Christian mysticism seen as representative of the Heresy of the Free Spirit of the thirteenth and fourteenth Centuries in Europe...