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He was a lyric poet, divine troubadour, mystic and
Dominican monk born Heinrich von Berg in Uberlingen, Lake Constance,
Germany. His father was from a
family of nobility and his mother was a holy woman from the Sus family,
whose surname he would later take.
He was also known by the German name Heinrich Seuse and used the
pseudonym Amandus as an author. He studied philosophy and theology in Constance after he
had entered the Dominican convent there when he as 13 years old and in 1324
he took a further course in theology in Cologne where he would study with
his friend Johannes Tauler under Meister Eckhart. The three of them would later be
identified the Rhineland School of Mysticism. He wrote much lyric poetry that explore the philosophy and
spiritual truths of Meister Eckhart and his book In Das Buchleln der
ewigen Weisheit (The Little Book of Eternal Wisdom), written some time
between 1327 and 1334, has been described as "the finest fruit of Germany
mysticism". Another of his
works "In Dulci Jubilo" is a Christmas Carol written in 1328, which has
stood the test of time and although undergoing many translations and
adaptation is still extremely popular today. He returned to Constance as the office of lector, but
for some reason he was removed from this post between 1329 and 1334, so he
stepped into apostolicism where he would become a convent prior in 1343 and
move to Ulm in 1348. He was
known for being a huge influence in convents for women, and in the convent
at Toss, Germany, he would have many of his works translated from Latin to
German by Elsbeth Stagel who was also a mystic. His works were heard throughout Europe and he was highly
thought of in countries such as Switzerland, Italy, France and the
Netherlands. He was claimed to
be a masochist where he would inflict severe pain on himself in the form of
wearing undergarments studded with nails, sleeping on a bare freezing floor
on a cross that had protruding nails and wearing gloves filled with tacks
so he couldn't scratch himself while undergoing 25 years of infestation
from not bathing. He died in
Ulm, Germany, in 1366 aged somewhere around 70 and Pope Gregory XVI
declared him as Blessed in 1831.
Leroy Anderson and His Orchestra recordings
Decca B0003552-02 (CD: A Leroy Anderson Christmas)
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Suso
- http://www.bartleby.com/65/su/Suso-Hei.html
- http://www.nndb.com/people/316/000098022/
- http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Biographies/henry_suso.htm
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