God-sphere in German mysticism of the Late Middle Ages

Abstract

The article deals with the phenomenon of mystical experiences inspired by pictorial images and literary texts within the framework of female mysticism in Germany at the end of the 13th — first half of the 14th centuries. The article consists of a preface and two parts. The preface briefly discusses the influence of local speech practices and particular image systems, developed and existing in everyday monastic life, on the content of ecstatic contemplations described by medieval charismatics. In part one, this influence is demonstrated through the example of one of the nocturnal ecstasies of Margaret Ebner, a nun of the Dominican convent of Maria-Medingen on the Danube (1330s-1340s). In part two, we consider the Beguine Mechthild of Magdeburg’s (last third of the 13th century) vision of God in the form of a sphere: it was by, inspired by the anonymous “Book of the XXIV Philosophers” (second half of the 12th century), very popular among German mystics and philosophers of the late Middle Ages. At the end of the article, the author raises the question of how the specificity and status of the literary and pictorial image, which had become a fact of mystical experience, was changing. At the same time, the new spiritual practice of self-determination, opposed by charismatics to traditional church piety, is briefly touched upon.