Eckhart, Meister (mīs`tər ĕk`härt) (Johannes Eckhardt), c.1260–c.1328, German mystical theologian, b. Hochheim, near Gotha. He studied and taught in the chief Dominican schools, notably at Paris, Strasbourg, and Cologne, and held a series of offices in his order. Eckhart communicated in various ways his burning sense of God's nearness to humanity. Exhorting the Dominicans, he wrote scholarly tracts, addressed the Book of Divine Comfort to the queen of Hungary, and preached everywhere to the humble and ignorant, urging them all to seek the divine spark. His evangelical activities among the undisciplined were deemed suspect, and his election (1309) to be provincial of the German province was not confirmed. Toward the end of his life he was wrongly accused of connection with the Beghards Beghards , religious associations of men in Europe, organized similarly to the Beguines. They resembled a Franciscan group, with whom they were later often confused.
..... Click the link for more information. and charged with heresy. He was upheld by his order, but the charge was pressed. Eckhart appealed to Rome. He died between 1327, when his appeal was denied, and 1329, when John XXII issued a bull condemning 17 of Eckhart's propositions as heretical. His disciples tried vainly to have this decree set aside. From Eckhart's influence there sprang up a popular mystical movement in 14th-century Germany, which included among its leaders Tauler Tauler, Johannes , c.1300–1361, German mystic. He was a Dominican. He met Meister Eckhart, either at Strasbourg or in Cologne, where he went to study, and he was one of Eckhart's disciples. He also knew Heinrich Suso.
..... Click the link for more information. , Suso Suso, Heinrich , c.1295–1366, German mystic, a Dominican friar, also known as Henry Suso. While studying at Cologne he came under the influence of Meister Eckhart, whose writings he defended against charges of heresy.
..... Click the link for more information. , and various Dominicans. These were all intellectual as well as practical preachers and did not show the tendency to separate holiness and learning that characterized the mystics of the popular school of Gerard Groote Groote, Gerard or Geert , 1340–84, Dutch Roman Catholic reformer. He studied at Paris and elsewhere and because of his learning in theology, philosophy, jurisprudence, and medicine, he was appointed
..... Click the link for more information. . Eckhart was perhaps the first writer of speculative prose in German, and from that time German, not Latin, was the language of popular tracts.

Bibliography

See R. B. Blakney, Meister Eckhart: A Modern Translation (1941); J. M. Clark and J. V. Skinner, ed., Meister Eckhart: Selected Treatises and Sermons (1958); studies by J. Ancelet-Hustache (tr. 1957) and J. M. Clark (1957).

Eckhart, Meister

orig. Johannes

(born c. 1260?, Hochheim?, Thuringia—died 1327/28?, Avignon) German theologian and mystic. A Dominican from age 15, he studied theology at Cologne and Paris and became a popular preacher and teacher. In his mid 30s he served as vicar of Thuringia. His mystical writings examined the relationship between God and humanity; he pictured the soul achieving complete union with God and posited something (Godhead) beyond God. He took up a professorship in Cologne in his 60th year; shortly thereafter he was charged with heresy on several points in his works. He died before he could rebut a second charge.

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