Poor Eckhart?

Abstract

This paper explores Meister Eckhart’s conception of poverty. It introduces two hitherto rather neglected or even unknown German sermons, in which Eckhart deals with poverty in new and rather unexpected ways. His idea of the poor man, expressed there, is compared with those of the famous ‘Armutspredigt’ (DW II, No. 52). In a second part the so-called ‘Eckhart-legends’ are discussed under the aspects of teaching and/or living poverty.

Keywords:

• Meister Eckhart
• poverty
• ‘Armutspredigt’ (Quint No. 52)
• so-called ‘Salzburger Armutstext’
• newly discovered texts by Eckhart on poverty
• so-called ‘Eckhart-legends’