Tauler, Johannes (Strasburg, c.1300-61, Strasburg), Dominican monk and noted preacher, entered the monastery of his order in Strasburg. Evicted with his brother-monks in 1339, he spent eight years in Basel in a circle of the devout called Gottesfreunde. His last fourteen years were spent in his native city. Tauler, though an admirer of Meister Eckhart, can hardly be called a disciple; for he had little interest in the intellectual processes of Eckhart's thought. He preached a simple piety, the love of God, and the need for humility. His religious interest is concentrated on the conversion of men to a better way of life rather than on metaphysical speculation. Some eighty sermons by Tauler survive, and though these are written down by hearers, chiefly nuns, it is possible that some have been checked by the preacher himself.
Tauler's sermons (Predigten) were edited by F. Vetter (1910) and by G. Hofmann (1961). Twenty-five sermons were translated by Susanna Winkworth (see Winkworth, C.) and published with her History of his Life (1857).






