Henry Suso c. 1295 – 1366
Henry Suso (c. 1295 – 1366) was a German philosopher of the Medieval era, associated with Medieval Philosophy and Christian Philosophy.
Heinrich Seuse, known in English as Henry Suso, was a German Dominican mystic, preacher, and spiritual director and one of the principal figures of the Rhineland mystical tradition along with Meister Eckhart and Johannes Tauler. After studies at Strasbourg under Eckhart, he combined courtly poetic style with rigorous mystical theology in his Little Book of Eternal Wisdom, Life of the Servant, and Little Book of Truth. He endured ecclesiastical suspicion for his loyalty to Eckhart's memory and was finally vindicated. His writings shaped late medieval and early modern devotional life across Latin Europe.
Heinrich Seuse, latinised as Suso, was born around 1295, probably at Constance, into a family that he later named after his pious mother rather than his merchant father. He entered the Dominican house at Constance at the age of thirteen, underwent a conversion experience around the age of eighteen, and was sent to study at Strasbourg and at the studium generale in Cologne, where he heard Meister Eckhart in his last years. Back at Constance he served as lector and, after the Strasbourg general chapter of 1330 censured him for his early Little Book of Truth, was transferred to Diessenhofen and finally to Ulm, where he died in 1366.
His vernacular writings are gathered in his own redaction as the Exemplar: the Vita or Life of the Servant, the Little Book of Eternal Wisdom, the Little Book of Truth, and a collection of letters; the Latin Horologium Sapientiae of around 1334 reworked the Wisdom book and became one of the most copied and most translated devotional books of the late Middle Ages.
Suso defended Eckhart's teaching against the bull In agro dominico of 1329 while softening it for a wider devotional audience, presented the Christian life as an imitation of the suffering Wisdom in the figure of Christ, and developed a Brautmystik in which the soul, as 'servant of eternal wisdom', is wedded to the Word. With Eckhart and Tauler he is one of the three great Rhineland mystics; Gregory XVI beatified him in 1831.
Key facts
- Nationality
- German
- Era
- Medieval
- Movements
- Medieval Philosophy, Christian Philosophy
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Henry Suso:
“Eternal Wisdom is the bride of every faithful soul.”
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Attributed to Henry Suso:
“Suffering rightly borne is the gold of the spiritual life.”
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Attributed to Henry Suso:
“Solitude is the workshop where God carves the inner man.”
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Attributed to Henry Suso:
“He who has lost himself for God has found everything.”
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Attributed to Henry Suso:
“Love is its own theology.”
Henry Suso by topic
Frequently asked about Henry Suso
- When did Henry Suso live?
- Henry Suso was born in c. 1295 and died in 1366.
- Where was Henry Suso from?
- Henry Suso was a German philosopher of the Medieval era.
- What philosophical movements is Henry Suso associated with?
- Henry Suso was associated with Medieval Philosophy and Christian Philosophy.
- What was Henry Suso known for?
- Heinrich Seuse, known in English as Henry Suso, was a German Dominican mystic, preacher, and spiritual director and one of the principal figures of the Rhineland mystical tradition along with Meister Eckhart and Johannes Tauler.
- How many quotes are attributed to Henry Suso?
- There are 13 attributed quotations from Henry Suso in the 1001Philosophers collection, organized by topic.