MECHTHILD
(1212–1282)> POETESS · SINGER · WRITER · COMPOSER
MECHTHILD (Mechthild von Magdeburg) German nun, poetess, singer, writer and composer. Magdeburg, 1212; Helfta, 1282. She was a nun of the Cistercian convent of Helfta, where she was cantrix for 30 years. Her visionary poems and writings, written originally in Low German, are thought to have been one of the inspirations of Dante’s Divine Comedy and to have been acknowledged by him in the episode where he meets Matilda in the earthly paradise. Many of her compositions consisted of spiritual love…