Meister Eckhart, the essential sermons, commentaries, treatises, and defense

Eckhart von Hochheim (c. 1260 – c. 1328), commonly known as Meister Eckhart (German: [ˈmaɪstɐ ˈʔɛkaʁt]), Master Eckhart, claimed original name Johannes Eckhart, was a German Catholic priest, theologian, philosopher and mystic. He was born near Gotha in the Landgraviate of Thuringia (now Thuringia in central Germany) in the Holy Roman Empire. Eckhart came into prominence during the Avignon Papacy at a time of increased tensions between monastic orders, diocesan clergy, the Franciscan Order, and Eckhart's Dominican Order. In later life, he was accused of heresy and brought up before the local Franciscan-led Inquisition, and tried as a heretic by Pope John XXII with the bull In Agro Dominico of March 27, 1329. In the trial, excerpts of his Book of Divine Consolation were used against Eckhart.