Abstract

The fourteenth century, anonymous Latin commentary on the vernacular poem the Granum Sinapis functions as a lens for the development, appropriation, and adaptation of Meister Eckhart's mysticism The poem and its commentary help illuminate the mystical tradition from late antiquity throughout the Middle Ages and up to post-Eckhartian mysticism In this work, I engage in a "deep reading" of Meister Eckhart , both by going back to the Neoplatonic roots of his thought and by tracing his thought forward. Utilizing the Latin commentary on the Granum Sinapis, I attempt to probe the complex lineage out of which the Dominican Master and the Latin commentary arise. Even though the Eckhartian poem and its Latin commentary are the ultimate focus of the dissertation, a considerable part of this work unpacks Eckhart's mysticism by teasing out some of the important mystical strands that helped shape his radical mysticism I therefore concentrate on Eckhartian influences, principally Proclus, Dionysius the Areopagite, the Liber de Causis, and Thomas Gallus. I then undertake a detailed analysis of Eckhart's system to reveal the profound impact of these influences as well as Eckhart's original retrieval and reconfiguration of their concepts. ;In redressing previous interpretations that perceive a dichotomy between speculative and affective mysticism, this dissertation argues that the Latin commentary was unique because it sought to integrate the affective mystical strand of thinkers like Gallus with the more radically speculative strand of Proclus and Eckhart. This synthetic harmonization demonstrates that the condemned tenets of Eckhart's mysticism could be legitimized and protected by more "orthodox" forms of mysticism. The compilation of mainly orthodox authors rooted in both the speculative and affective traditions in the Latin commentary served as "patrons" of the possibly offensive and subversive Eckhartian mysticism contained in the vernacular poem. These unwitting guardians would ensure the survival and dissemination of Eckhartian mysticism after Eckhart's death and condemnation. Thus, Eckhartian mysticism could continue to be a central and fruitful voice in the succeeding mystical traditions