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.