THE MEDIEVAL AFFECTIVE DIONYSIAN TRADITION

Thomas Gallus is often credited with introducing an affective innovation in medieval reception of Dionysius. While desire is not absent from the CD, no form of human affectivity plays an explicit role in Moses’ ascent to union with God in the darkness of unknowing, as described in the MT. With Gallus, however, after all knowledge fails, union occurs through love. This innovation was influential, shaping subsequent interpretations of the CD, such as The Cloud of Unknowing. Yet, the subtle interplay of love and knowledge and the complex conception of love's own cognition of God in Gallus’ theology were not generally retained by those whom he influenced.