Mechthild of Magdeburg

c.1212-c.1280. German mystic. From about the age of twenty-three, for the greater part of her life, she lived in Magdeburg as a Beguine, virtually as a hermit. She claimed to have visions and revelations, which she wrote down in a book of six parts with the help of a Dominican, Heinrich von Halle. Later she added a seventh part. Her work is known as Das fliessende Licht der Gottheit. During the last twelve years of her life she lived as a nun in Helfta. About 1345 her book was transferred into High German by Heinrich von Nördlingen. A Latin translation was made of the first six parts. Mechthild's strong individualism and her poetic qualities distinguish her from most mystics. She has been called a Minnesängerin of God's grace.