Meister Eckhart

Meister Eckhart was born in the village of Tambach, in present-day Germany, in approximately 1260. He came from a noble family of landowners and studied at the University of Paris. As a young man, he joined the Dominican Order of Preachers and began working with pious lay groups such as Friends of God, eventually becoming a prominent religious figure. His writings on theology were widely read during his time and throughout the Middle Ages. Due to tensions with the Franciscan Order during the Avignon Papacy later in Eckhart’s life, Eckhart was tried as a heretic by Pope John XXII. However, he likely died before he received his verdict. Today, Eckhart is regarded as an important medieval philosopher, mystic, and theologian.