Henry Suso

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For other people named Suso, see Suso (disambiguation).

Blessed Henry Suso, O.P.

Servant of the Eternal Wisdom

Religious, priest and mystic

Born 21 March 1295

Free Imperial City of Überlingen, Holy Roman Empire

Died January 25, 1366 (aged 70)

Free Imperial City of Ulm,

Holy Roman Empire

Venerated in Roman Catholic Church

(Dominican Order)

Beatified 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI

Feast 23 January (previously 2 March)

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Henry Suso, O.P. (also called Amandus, a name adopted in his writings, and Heinrich
Seuse in German), was a German Dominican friar and the most popular vernacular writer of the
fourteenth century (when considering the number of surviving manuscripts). Suso is thought to have
been born on March 21, 1295. An important author in both Latin and Middle High German, he is also
notable for defending Meister Eckhart's legacy after Eckhart was posthumously condemned for
heresy in 1329.[1] He died in Ulm on 25 January 1366, and was beatified by the Catholic Church in
1831.

Contents
[hide]

 1Biography
o 1.1Career
o 1.2Mortifications
 2Writings
 3Legacy and veneration
 4Editions and translations
 5References
 6Further reading
 7External links

Biography[edit]
Suso was born Heinrich von Berg, a member of the ruling family of Berg. He was born in either
the Free imperial city of Überlingen on Lake Constance or nearby Constance, on 21 March 1295 (or
perhaps on that date up to 1297-9).[2] Later, out of humility and devotion to his mother, he took her
family name, which was Sus (or Süs). At 13 years of age he was admitted to the novitiate of the
Dominican Order at their priory in Constance. After completing that year of probation, he advanced
to do his preparatory, philosophical, and theological studies there.
In the prologue to his Life, Suso recounts how, after about five years in the monastery (in other
words, when he was about 18 years old), he experienced a conversion to a deeper form of religious
life through the intervention of Divine Wisdom. He made himself "the Servant of Eternal Wisdom",
which he identified with the divine essence and, in more specific terms, with divine Eternal Wisdom
made woman in Christ. From this point forward in his account of his spiritual life, a burning love for
Eternal Wisdom dominated his thoughts and controlled his actions; his spiritual journey culminated in
a mystical marriage to Christ in the form of the Eternal Wisdom.[3]
Career[edit]
Suso was then sent on for further studies in philosophy and theology, probably first at the Dominican
monastery in Strasbourg, perhaps between 1319 and 1321, and then from 1324 to 1327 he took a
supplementary course in theology in the Dominican Studium Generale in Cologne, where he would
have come into contact with Meister Eckhart, and probably also Johannes Tauler, both celebrated
mystics.[4]
Returning to his home priory at Constance in about 1327, Suso was appointed to the office
of lector (lecturer). His teaching, however, aroused criticism - most likely because of his connection
with Eckhart in the wake of the latter's trial and condemnation in 1326-9. Suso's Little Book of Truth,
a short defence of Eckhart's teaching, probably dates from this time, perhaps 1329. In 1330 this
treatise, and another, were denounced as heretical by enemies in the Order. Suso traveled to the
Dominican General Chapter held at Maastricht in 1330 to defend himself. The consequence is not
entirely known - at some point between 1329 and 1334 he was removed from his lectorship in
Constance, though he was not personally condemned.[4]
Knowledge of Suso's activities in subsequent years is somewhat sketchy. It is known that he served
as prior of the Constance convent - most likely between 1330 and 1334, though possibly in the
1340s.[4] It is also known that he had various devoted disciples, a group including both men and
women, especially those connected to the Friends of God movement. His influence was especially
strong in many religious communities of women, particularly in the Dominican Monastery of St.
Katharinental in the Argau, a famous nursery of mysticism in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the mid-
1330s, during his visits to various communities of Dominican nuns and Beguines, Suso became
acquainted with Elsbeth Stagel, prioress of the monastery of Dominican nuns in Töss. The two
became close friends. She translated some of his Latin writings into German, collected and
preserved most of his extant letters, and at some point began gathering the materials that Suso
eventually put together into his Life of the Servant.
Suso shared in the exile of the Dominican community from Constance between 1339 and 1346,
during the most heated years of the quarrel between Pope John XXII and the Holy Roman Emperor.
He was transferred to the monastery at Ulm in about 1348. He seems to have remained there for the
rest of his life. Here, during his final years (possibly 1361-3), he edited his four vernacular works
into The Exemplar.
Suso died in Ulm on 25 January 1366.
Mortifications[edit]
Early in his life, Suso subjected himself to extreme forms of mortifications; later on he reported that
God told him they were unnecessary. During this period, Suso devised for himself several painful
devices. Some of these were: an undergarment studded with a hundred and fifty brass nails, a very
uncomfortable door to sleep on, and a cross with thirty protruding needles and nails under his body
as he slept. In the autobiographical text in which he reports these, however, he ultimately concludes
that they are unnecessary distractions from the love of God.[5]

Writings[edit]
Suso and Johannes Tauler were students of Meister Eckhart, forming the nucleus of
the Rhineland school of mysticism. As a lyric poet and "troubadour of divine wisdom," Suso explored
with psychological intensity the spiritual truths of Eckhart’s mystical philosophy.[citation needed]
Suso's first work was the Büchlein der Wahrheit (Little Book of Truth) written between 1328 and
1334 in Constance. This was a short defence of the teaching of Meister Eckhart, who had been tried
for heresy and condemned in 1328-9. In 1330 this treatise and another (possibly the Little Book of
Eternal Wisdom) were denounced as heretical by Dominican opponents, leading Suso to travel to
the Dominican General Chapter held at Maastricht in 1330 to defend himself.[4]
Suso's next book, Das Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit (The Little Book of Eternal Wisdom), written
around 1328-1330,[4] is less speculative and more practical. At some point between 1334 and 1337
Suso translated this work into Latin, but in doing so added considerably to its contents, and made of
it an almost entirely new book, which he called the Horologium Sapientiae (Clock of Wisdom). This
book was dedicated to the new Dominican Master General, Hugh of Vaucemain, who appears to
have been a supporter of his.[4]
At some point in the following decades, Stagel formed a collection of 28 of Suso's letters in
the Grosses Briefbuch (Great Book of Letters), which survives. Suso also wrote a long text
purporting to tell the story of his spiritual life and ascetic practices (variously referred to as the Life of
the Servant, Life, Vita, or Leben Seuses), and revised the Büchlein der Wahrheit, and the Büchlein
der ewigen Weisheit. At some point in his later years, perhaps 1361-3, he collected these works,
together with 11 of his letters (the Briefbüchlein, or Little Book of Letters, a selection of letters from
the Grosses Briefbuch), and a prologue, to form one book he referred to as The Exemplar.[6]
There are also various sermons attributed to Suso, although only two appear to be authentic.[6] A
treatise known as the Minnebüchlein (Little Book of Love) is sometimes, but probably incorrectly,
attributed to Suso.[6]
Suso was very widely read in the later Middle Ages. There are 232 extant manuscripts of the Middle
High German Little Book of Eternal Wisdom.[7] The Latin Clock of Wisdom was even more popular:
over four hundred manuscripts in Latin, and over two hundred manuscripts in various medieval
translations (it was translated into eight languages, including Dutch, French, Italian, Swedish, Czech,
and English). Many early printings survive as well. The Clock was therefore second only to
the Imitation of Christ in popularity among spiritual writings of the later Middle Ages.[8] Among his
many readers and admirers were Thomas à Kempis and John Fisher.[9]
Wolfgang Wackernagel and others have called Suso a "Minnesinger in prose and in the spiritual
order" or a "Minnesinger of the Love of God" both for his use of images and themes from secular,
courtly, romantic poetry and for his rich musical vocabulary.[10] The mutual love of God and man
which is his principal theme gives warmth and color to his style. He used the full and
flexible Alemannic idiom with rare skill, and contributed much to the formation of good German
prose, especially by giving new shades of meaning to words employed to describe inner
sensations.[11]

Legacy and veneration[edit]

In the world Suso was esteemed as a preacher, and was heard in the cities and towns of Swabia,
Switzerland, Alsace, and the Netherlands. His apostolate, however, was not with the masses, but
rather with individuals of all classes who were drawn to him by his singularly attractive personality,
and to whom he became a personal director in the spiritual life.
Suso was reported to have established among the Friends of God a society which he called
the Brotherhood of the Eternal Wisdom. The so-called Rule of the Brotherhood of the Eternal
Wisdom is but a free translation of a chapter of his Horologium Sapientiae, and did not make its
appearance until the fifteenth century.
Suso was beatified in 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI, who assigned 2 March as his feast day,
celebrated within the Dominican Order. The Dominicans now celebrate his feast on 23 January,
the feria, or "free" day, nearest the day of his death.
The words of the Christmas song In dulci jubilo are attributed to Suso.[12]

Editions and translations[edit]

The Exemplar (Middle High German):

 Henry Suso, Das Buch von dem Diener (The Life of the Servant), ed. K. Bihlmeyer, Heinrich
Seuse. Deutsche Schriften, 1907
(translated by Frank Tobin, in The Exemplar, with Two German Sermons, New York: Paulist Press,
1989, pp. 61–204.)

 Das Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit (The Little Book of Eternal Wisdom), ed. K. Bihlmeyer, ibid.
(trans. in F. Tobin, ibid., pp. 204–304.)

 Das Büchlein der Wahrheit (The Little Book of Truth), ed. K. Bihlmeyer, ibid.
(trans. in F. Tobin, ibid., pp. 305–332.)

 Das Briefbüchlein (The Little Book of Letters), ed. K. Bihlmeyer, ibid., pp. 360–393
(trans. in F. Tobin, ibid., pp. 333–360.)
Preaching and Letters (Middle High German):

 Henry Suso, The Great Book of Letters, ed. K. Bihlmeyer, Heinrich Seuse. Deutsche Schriften,
1907, pp. 405–494.
 Sermons 1 and 4 (those now recognized as authentic) are published in English translation
in The Exemplar, with Two German Sermons, trans. F. Tobin, (New York: Paulist Press, 1989),
pp. 361–376.
Latin:

 Henry Suso, Horologium sapientiae (Clock of Wisdom), ed. P. Künzle, Heinrich Seuses
Horologium sapientiae, Freiburg: Universitatsverlag, 1977
(translated by Edmund Colledge, Wisdom's Watch upon the Hours, Catholic University of America
Press [1994])