Abstract

Mystical marriage - or hierogamy - is without a doubt a significant aspect of the theme of the androgyne in medieval literature. In this paper we consider these themes, taking as a guide the last eight chapters of the Life by Henry Suso (1295-1366). Introduced by an epigraph in Latin: Sicut aquila (Like an eagle), these eight chapters are a literary work in their own right, which can therefore be labelled Sicut aquila. Indeed this is no longer an autobiographical narrative by the Servant of the Eternal Wisdom, but a romantic metaphysical flight written in the form of a lovers’ dialogue between Suso - sometimes called Frater Amandus - and his beloved spiritual daughter.