Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361), one of the great Rhineland mystics, was born to a prosperous and apparently religious family, both he and his sister entering religious orders at a young age. He began his Dominican novitate in 1314, and spent several years studying logic, philosophy, and theology before his ordination to the priesthood, after which he dedicated his life to the spiritual direction of Dominican nuns and the laity, and above all to preaching. Under the influence of Meister Eckhart, Tauler developed a mystical approach to Christian spirituality rooted in the concept of God's 'birth' and continuing presence in the human soul.
