Johannes Tauler
Johannes Tauler was a significant Dominican theologian and mystic born around 1300 in Strasbourg, France. He rose to prominence during a tumultuous time in Europe marked by civil unrest and the bubonic plague, which heightened the spiritual anxiety of the populace. Tauler is closely associated with the mystical movement of the fourteenth century and is known for his role in disseminating the teachings of Meister Eckhart, a fellow Dominican whose works he safeguarded from church censors by presenting them as his own. His spiritual guidance encouraged followers to pursue personal spiritual growth, emphasizing the importance of detaching from worldly desires to make room for divine presence.
Tauler maintained correspondence with various mystics, including members of the Friends of God, a group engaged in spiritual contemplation and charity. He also supported the beguine communities, highlighting his dedication to social care and spiritual nurturing. His teachings were characterized by the concept of via purgative, which called for a profound renunciation of self-attachments. Many of his sermons were compiled and printed posthumously, showcasing his lasting influence on Christian mysticism. Tauler passed away in 1361 during a plague outbreak, leaving a legacy that would inspire subsequent generations of spiritual seekers.
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Johannes Tauler
Mystic Theologian
- Born: c. 1300
- Birthplace: Strasbourg, France
- Died: 1361
- Place of death: Strasbourg, France
Biography
As civil war and bubonic plague swept Europe in the fourteenth century, the Apocalypse must have seemed to be at hand. It was within this context that mystical experience and writing gained prominence and influence in late-medieval Germany. Political and papal power struggles resulted in many people being left without the spiritual guidance of the church, as citizens in areas that the church punished were, in practical terms, cut off from the church. Mystical sects, functioning outside the official recognition of the church, preached spiritual and physical suffering as necessary conditions of salvation. Such sects attracted many believers fearful of God’s wrath.
Dominican theologian Johannes Tauler became closely associated with mystical teachings of the fourteenth century. Dominican Meister Eckhart, considered a heretic in his time, owed the dissemination of his own writing to Tauler, who conveyed the sermons as his own, and thereby disguised Eckhart’s work from church censors. While Tauler was prominent in his time, he nevertheless must have counseled followers to focus on personal spiritual pursuits, since ostentatious evangelizing would have surely brought unwanted censure. Annotations by Martin Luther in his copies of Tauler’s reprinted sermons serve as evidence of Tauler’s influence.
Born about 1300 into a prosperous family in Strasbourg, France, Tauler attended a Dominican abbey and joined the Dominican Order when he was a teenager. His sister similarly studied at a Dominican convent in Strasburg. Tauler continued his studies in Cologne before he returned to Strasburg and its environs.
Connections to various mystics were found in correspondence between Tauler and the Friends of God, a group of mystics who lived in the Upper Rhine. Friends of God adherents with whom Tauler exchanged letters included the Margaretha Ebner, a nun, and priest Heinrich von Nördlingen. Tauler tended to the spiritual communities of the beguine orders, groups of laywomen devoted to charity and caregiving for the unfortunate.
The concept of via purgative formed the foundation of much of Tauler’s preachings. Tauler extolled followers to empty their souls in order that God’s spirit and will could fill the vacuum created by purging oneself of all inner attachments to self. He urged his followers to divorce themselves from all personal attachments to worldly things.
Many of Tauler’s writings were collected in Sermon des gross gelarten in Gnaden erlauchten Doctoris Johannis Thauleri Predigerr Ordens, printed in Leipzig in 1498. Other editions printed in Basel in 1522 and Cologne in 1543 included works by Eckhart. Tauler died during the 1361 outbreak of the plague. He died at the St. Nikolaus in Undis Convent in Strasbourg, his sister in attendance.