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Concept
Mechthild of Magdeburg
Summary
Mechthild (or Mechtild, Matilda, Matelda) of Magdeburg (c. 1207 – c. 1282/1294), a Beguine, was a Christian medieval mystic, whose book Das fließende Licht der Gottheit (The Flowing Light of Divinity) is a compendium of visions, prayers, dialogues and mystical accounts. She was the first mystic to write in German.
Definite biographical information about Mechthild is scarce; what is known of her life comes largely from scattered hints in her work. She was born into a noble Saxon family. She had her first vision of the Holy Spirit at the age of twelve. In 1230 she left her home and “renounced worldly honour and worldly riches” to become a Beguine at Magdeburg. There, like Hadewijch of Antwerp, she seems to have exercised a position of authority in a Beguine community. In Magdeburg she became acquainted with the Dominicans and became a Dominican tertiary. It seems clear that she read many of the Dominican writers. It was her Dominican confessor, Henry of Halle, who encouraged and helped Mechthild to compose The Flowing Light.
Her criticism of church dignitaries and her claims to theological insight aroused so much opposition that some called for the burning of her writings. With advancing age, she was not only isolated and the object of extensive criticism, but she also became blind. Around 1272, she joined the Cistercian nunnery at Helfta, near Eisleben, which offered her protection and support in the final years of her life. Here, she finished writing down the contents of the many divine revelations she says she experienced. It is unclear whether she actually formally joined the Cistercian community or whether she simply resided there and participated in the religious services without taking Cistercian monastic vows. The nuns of Helfta were highly educated and important works of mysticism survive from Mechthild's younger contemporaries, St Mechthild of Hackeborn and St Gertrude the Great.
It is unclear when Mechthild died. 1282 is a commonly cited date, but some scholars believe she lived into the 1290s.
Official source
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