Title:
Alternate names/spellings: Mechthild, of Magdeburg
Dates: 1212 - 1285 (Dates are approximate. )
Mechtild von Magdeburg was a 13th-century mystic, Beguine and Benedictine nun. She was born c. 1212, and her familiarity with German court culture suggests that she was born to a noble family. Mechtild arrived in Magdeburg in 1230, and joined a Beguine community there. In 1270, Mechtild left the Beguines and entered a Benedictine convent at Helfta. She had begun to have visions at the age of 12, but did not record them until much later in life.