Nobility and Annihilation in Marguerite Porete's Mirror of Simple Souls (Suny Series in Western Esoteric Traditions) - Softcover

Robinson, Joanne Maguire

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791449688 ISBN 13: 9780791449684

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 2001

Synopsis

An in-depth examination of the work of this important medieval woman mystic.

This first book-length study of Marguerite Porete’s important mystical text, The Mirror of Simple Souls, examines Porete’s esoteric and optimistic doctrine of annihilation―the complete transformative union of the soul into God―in its philosophical and historical contexts. Porete was burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic in 1310. Her theological treatise survived the flames, but it circulated anonymously or under male pseudonyms until 1946, and her message endures as testament to a distinctive form of medieval spirituality.

Robinson begins by focusing on traditional speculations regarding the origin, nature, limitations, and destiny of humankind. She then examines Porete’s work in its more immediate historical and literary contexts, focusing on the ways in which Porete conceptualizes and expresses her radical doctrine of annihilation through contemporary metaphors of lineage and nobility.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

This first book-length study of Marguerite Porete's important mystical text, The Mirror of Simple Souls, examines Porete's esoteric and optimistic doctrine of annihilation--the complete transformative union of the soul into God--in its philosophical and historical contexts. Porete was burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic in 1310. Her theological treatise survived the flames, but it circulated anonymously or under male pseudonyms until 1946, and her message endures as testament to a distinctive form of medieval spirituality.

About the Author:

Joanne Maguire Robinson is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

About this edition

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0791449688
• ISBN 13: 9780791449684
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 194