Mechthild of Magdeburg s singular book Das Fliessende Licht der Gottheit ( The Flowing Light of the Godhead ) must be accounted one of the most significant texts in German that we have from the thirteenth century. As a piece of first-rate imaginative writing in the vernacular it is a highly rewarding text for those interested in medieval literature and women s writing. It is also of considerable interest to historians and theologians as a document of female spirituality. This introduction to Mechthild s extraordinary account of her revelations and of her relationship with God and with...