Johannes Tauler

Born in Strasbourg circa 1300; died there June 16,1361. German thinker, mystic, and preacher.

A member of the Dominican order, Tauler was a pupil of Meister Eckart. Tauler imparted a popular character to the ideas of the German mystics of the Middle Ages, paying particular attention to moral activity and pressing social problems. He contrasted the practical ideal of a community of “friends of God” with the formalism of feudal and clerical institutions. Tauler’s interpretation of the New Testament’s description of the “passive” and “active” man influenced M. Luther, while his teachings on man’s call to action in the struggle for ethical ideals were reinterpreted by T. Munzer.