Richard Rolle
born c. 1300, Thornton, Yorkshire [now in North
Yorkshire] Eng.
died Sept. 29, 1349, Hampole, Yorkshire [now in
South Yorkshire]
English
mystic and author of mystical and ascetic
tracts.
Rolle attended the University of Oxford but,
dissatisfied with the subjects of study and the
disputatiousness there, left without a degree.
He established himself as a hermit on the estate
of John Dalton of Pickering, but he later moved
to other hermitages and probably always led a
wandering life, rousing some opposition but
winning much admiration. He kept in touch with a
number of religious communities in the north and
seems to have become spiritual adviser to the
nuns at Hampole, in south Yorkshire, before his
death there.
Rolle’s
importance lies in the devotional prose he
composed in the vernacular for women readers. It
is sometimes difficult to distinguish his
writings from those of his followers and
imitators. Those English or Latin epistles and
treatises that have definitely been attributed
to Rolle, however, reflect his fervent devotion
and his emphasis on a rapturous mystical union
with God. Throughout his writings the life of
contemplation and solitude is exalted. Rolle’s
writings in Latin are overly rhetorical, but his
English prose style is lively, flexible, and
persuasive. His influence and reputation lasted
until the Protestant Reformation.
