the mystical theology of valentin weigel - DataSpace at Princeton ...
the mystical theology of valentin weigel - DataSpace at Princeton ... the mystical theology of valentin weigel - DataSpace at Princeton ...
Church: “deßhalb seiner ler ein teyl auch in etlichen stücken und articklen verworffen ist, und noch von einfeltigen menschen gewarsamlich gelesen werden sol.” 184 This representation of Eckhart’s trial diminishes and hedges the significance of the heresy charge, emphasizing that it was only a part (“ein teyl”) of his teaching, “in etlichen stucken” that was rejected. The editor never refers to Eckhart as a heretic, or to Eckhart’s teaching as heretical, even when relating that his teachings were rejected by the Church. It is unclear whether the editor is aware that Eckhart had been scrutinized for heretical teachings and is trying to minimize this for the reader, or whether in fact his knowledge on the subject is simply a bit hazy. Taken on its own, Petri’s edition does not allow us to decide whether the former or the latter is the case, and we will need to consider other Eckhart readers in order to triangulate Petri’s view. However, in the second half of this chapter, we will see that, unlike Eckhart’s readers in the immediate aftermath of his papal condemnation, his sixteenth century readers did not consider Eckhart’s ideas particularly heretical, scandalous or dangerous, unlike Eckhart’s readers in the immediate aftermath of his papal condemnation. Understanding what sixteenth century readers might have thought about Eckhart requires a small detour into the reception of Tauler in the sixteenth century, because, as I have demonstrated with the Basel Tauler edition, early modern readers would have found Eckhart chiefly because they were looking for sermons by Tauler. What would sixteenth century readers have been looking for, or what might they have expected to find, when they opened a volume with Tauler’s name on it, and who were these Tauler readers? In this section, I focus on what the material history of the books themselves can tell us about Tauler’s early modern reception, confirming the story that the Basel Tauler edition tells, 184 BT, CCXLII va. 70
of a respectable though not fanatical interest in Tauler from religious people both loyal to the Roman pope and sympathetic to Luther’s reform movement. I will then turn to the readers’ responses to the content of Tauler’s work at the end of this section. There was still a significant interest in Tauler in the sixteenth century when the Basel Tauler edition was produced, meaning that making a first printed edition of Tauler in 1498 was only a small risk for the printer and publisher (Konrad Kachelofen from Leipzig and Johannes Rynmann from Augsburg). 185 Tauler’s popularity at the time can be deduced from the number of surviving Tauler manuscripts, of which more than half were produced after 1450 (71 of the surviving 132). 186 Moreover, Tauler manuscripts were quite well distributed over the entire German-speaking region by the fifteenth century. The printed edition would even have appeared as a familiar format to those who already knew Tauler’s work, since it was already circulated in manuscript form as large collections of sermons. Unlike for Eckhart, as I described above, the manuscript the printer used to prepare the printed edition of Tauler’s sermons is still in existence, and contains the very same sermons in the same order and even includes what is now known as the Meisterbuch, a biography of Tauler that is now known to have been written by Rulman Merswin and attributed to Tauler; 187 only small changes were made to produce the printed version. 188 As for the success of the first printed edition, although there are no records of the number of copies, the book was popular enough to merit a second edition ten years later. A gap of a decade between printings was not unusual, meaning that the Augsburg edition 185 Otto, 23. 186 Otto notes that this could be attributed the normal vagaries of transmission, or to the fact that the fifteenth century saw a growth in manuscript production overall. Otto, 21. 187 Otto, 24. 188 Otto, 28. 71
- Page 23 and 24: Dionysius and Eckhart (for differen
- Page 25 and 26: movement, but also profound shifts
- Page 27 and 28: schools, as well as universities wh
- Page 29 and 30: allowed them to cooperate effective
- Page 31 and 32: made clear, would result in dismiss
- Page 33 and 34: and in these external dealings, the
- Page 35 and 36: same laws of physics, but while the
- Page 37 and 38: Tertullian’s De Fuga in Persecuti
- Page 39 and 40: as a martyr. Moreover, Holy Scriptu
- Page 41 and 42: Alternatively, the so-called four-f
- Page 43 and 44: tzeyger und unterrichter ist ynn di
- Page 45 and 46: fellow Lutherans in studying books
- Page 47 and 48: provoked into action unnecessarily,
- Page 49 and 50: masses for the dead (for instance)
- Page 51 and 52: traditional proof texts about the o
- Page 53 and 54: positive understandings of indiffer
- Page 55 and 56: insofar as their imperfection is ra
- Page 57 and 58: Of these forms of indifference, I f
- Page 59 and 60: to Dionysius’ authority. Two grou
- Page 61 and 62: PART I • VALENTIN WEIGEL AND MEIS
- Page 63 and 64: investigating his early modern read
- Page 65 and 66: was a devilish heretic to others (
- Page 67 and 68: his neglect of Eckhart. 158 For ins
- Page 69 and 70: “unheilvolle Kompliziertheit”).
- Page 71 and 72: and Jerome (wearing what looks like
- Page 73: title page, as mentioned above, des
- Page 77 and 78: himself, but rather cultivated part
- Page 79 and 80: church that Luther, Melanchthon and
- Page 81 and 82: kan”), and specifically the role
- Page 83 and 84: soul become convinced that nothing
- Page 85 and 86: that salvation can be attained thro
- Page 87 and 88: more importantly, a theology that a
- Page 89 and 90: Mit Recht der Meister genannt: Mode
- Page 91 and 92: These role-reversal dialogues were
- Page 93 and 94: As this chapter has shown, Eckhart
- Page 95 and 96: philosophers from Hegel and Schopen
- Page 97 and 98: CHAPTER 2 • GELASSENE GELASSENHEI
- Page 99 and 100: the relationship between Tauler and
- Page 101 and 102: e “as it was when it was not.”
- Page 103 and 104: Eckhart agree that spiritual povert
- Page 105 and 106: one-of-a-kind thing, or the best ki
- Page 107 and 108: einvaltig stille), an uncreated lig
- Page 109 and 110: e as free of willing and desiring a
- Page 111 and 112: nestling inside the soul, but rathe
- Page 113 and 114: Gelassenheit, das ist, das er nicht
- Page 115 and 116: (necessarily inferior) knowledge pr
- Page 117 and 118: context is that he picks up on Eckh
- Page 119 and 120: he begins to steer the discussion a
- Page 121 and 122: further proof for Weigel’s theory
- Page 123 and 124: understood that the mind cannot pos
Church: “deßhalb seiner ler ein teyl auch in etlichen stücken und articklen verworffen ist,<br />
und noch von einfeltigen menschen gewarsamlich gelesen werden sol.” 184 This<br />
represent<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>of</strong> Eckhart’s trial diminishes and hedges <strong>the</strong> significance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> heresy<br />
charge, emphasizing th<strong>at</strong> it was only a part (“ein teyl”) <strong>of</strong> his teaching, “in etlichen<br />
stucken” th<strong>at</strong> was rejected. The editor never refers to Eckhart as a heretic, or to Eckhart’s<br />
teaching as heretical, even when rel<strong>at</strong>ing th<strong>at</strong> his teachings were rejected by <strong>the</strong> Church.<br />
It is unclear whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> editor is aware th<strong>at</strong> Eckhart had been scrutinized for heretical<br />
teachings and is trying to minimize this for <strong>the</strong> reader, or whe<strong>the</strong>r in fact his knowledge<br />
on <strong>the</strong> subject is simply a bit hazy. Taken on its own, Petri’s edition does not allow us to<br />
decide whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> former or <strong>the</strong> l<strong>at</strong>ter is <strong>the</strong> case, and we will need to consider o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
Eckhart readers in order to triangul<strong>at</strong>e Petri’s view. However, in <strong>the</strong> second half <strong>of</strong> this<br />
chapter, we will see th<strong>at</strong>, unlike Eckhart’s readers in <strong>the</strong> immedi<strong>at</strong>e afterm<strong>at</strong>h <strong>of</strong> his papal<br />
condemn<strong>at</strong>ion, his sixteenth century readers did not consider Eckhart’s ideas particularly<br />
heretical, scandalous or dangerous, unlike Eckhart’s readers in <strong>the</strong> immedi<strong>at</strong>e afterm<strong>at</strong>h<br />
<strong>of</strong> his papal condemn<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />
Understanding wh<strong>at</strong> sixteenth century readers might have thought about Eckhart<br />
requires a small detour into <strong>the</strong> reception <strong>of</strong> Tauler in <strong>the</strong> sixteenth century, because, as I<br />
have demonstr<strong>at</strong>ed with <strong>the</strong> Basel Tauler edition, early modern readers would have found<br />
Eckhart chiefly because <strong>the</strong>y were looking for sermons by Tauler. Wh<strong>at</strong> would sixteenth<br />
century readers have been looking for, or wh<strong>at</strong> might <strong>the</strong>y have expected to find, when<br />
<strong>the</strong>y opened a volume with Tauler’s name on it, and who were <strong>the</strong>se Tauler readers? In<br />
this section, I focus on wh<strong>at</strong> <strong>the</strong> m<strong>at</strong>erial history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> books <strong>the</strong>mselves can tell us about<br />
Tauler’s early modern reception, confirming <strong>the</strong> story th<strong>at</strong> <strong>the</strong> Basel Tauler edition tells,<br />
184 BT, CCXLII va.<br />
70
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