The power of books and the practice of mysticism in the fourteenth century: Heinrich of Nordlingen and Margaret Ebner on Mechthild's Flowing Light of the Godhead

Church History, March, 2007 by Patricia Zimmerman Beckman

We must remember the inverse side to the positive, powerful valence of word and act in Christianity. Female mystical authors were not always authoritative for their readings, performances, and writings. If medieval women such as Margaret Porete, 1310, could be burned at the stake for the producing and distributing of her works, then clearly the act of mystical writing and the distribution of the works were not broadly authoritative. (12) I am interested in teasing out the various locations and performances of women's mystical works to try to hear how and when they were (and continue to be) authoritative. (13) The triad of Mechthild, Heinrich, and Margaret can help forward our analysis.

II. MECHTHILD, HEINRICH, AND MARGARET--THE POWER OF BOOKS IN THE PRACTICE OF MYSTICISM

When we examine the interaction of these three figures and their works, we should apply what N. Z. Davis says regarding printed books in the early modern period, for it applies to manuscripts in the medieval. She argues that we should (1) "supplement thematic analysis of texts with evidence about audiences that can provide context for the meaning and uses of books," and (2) "consider a printed book [or manuscript] not merely as a source for ideas and images, but as a carrier of relationships" [emphasis mine]. (14) What relationships, then, do our three sources carry? They carry a relationship that

* centers on the mystical experiences, teachings, and style of Mechthild of Magdeburg

* prioritizes experiential doctrine--that is the lived expressions of the ontological claims

* reveres Mechthild's treatise as a sacramental object that can produce holiness through its performance and rhetoric. Indeed, it can evoke mystical encounters with God, in its readers, listeners, and performers.

Several clues embedded within the manuscripts speak to us of this performative, experiential nature of the works. Here I will look briefly at three locations: (1) Mechthild's book itself, (2) Margaret's use of a Christ-child doll as it parallels her use of Mechthild's book, (3) Heinrich's use of Mechthild's Flowing Light in his letters to Margaret.

When Heinrich recommended that Margaret and her sisters place the book of Mechthild's mystical experience (15) on the altar and prescribed an elaborate series of prayers before even beginning to read, he was mapping the book as an object of ritual devotion and vessel of divine grace. Already within her book, however, Mechthild herself had inscribed this kind of authority when she has God name the book "the flowing light of my Godhead into all hearts." (16) When she is warned against writing the book, lest it be burned, she conveys God's response: "For someone to take this book out of my hand, that one must be mightier than I. The book is threefold and portrays me alone. ... It flows continuously into your soul from my divine mouth.... So have no doubts about yourself!" (17) This is the ultimate imprimatur. Divine authority inscribes itself into her very book.

Mechthild responds to such immediate authorization, "Ah, Lord, if I were a learned religious man, and if you had performed this unique great miracle using him, you would receive everlasting honor for it. But how is one supposed to believe that you have built a golden house on filthy ooze?" (18) Mechthild understands the implications of the dialogue. Here we see her artful rhetoric sculpting an authoritative pronouncement for her book's mystical claims. By including this negotiating, including God's words among hers, she is replicating the authorizing principles familiar within Christian teaching. In fact, her method (along with other women mystics of her time) leads one scholar to label her as one of four "evangelists" of her time. (19) Literarily, while God acknowledges her humility, God also dismantles any authorizing program restricted by the learned-unlearned dichotomy by saying, "One finds many a professor learned in scripture who actually is a fool in my eyes; ... it strengthens Holy Christianity that the unlearned mouth, aided by my Holy Spirit, teaches the learned tongue." (20) Such a carefully crafted dialogue exposes the authentication strategy within Mechthild s rhetoric itself. (21)