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The Secret Within: Hermits, Recluses, and Spiritual Outsiders in Medieval England

Online ISBN:
9780801470936
Print ISBN:
9780801451096
Publisher:
Cornell University Press
Book

The Secret Within: Hermits, Recluses, and Spiritual Outsiders in Medieval England

Wolfgang Riehle
Wolfgang Riehle
Professor Emeritus of English, the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
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Published online:
18 August 2016
Published in print:
31 January 2014
Online ISBN:
9780801470936
Print ISBN:
9780801451096
Publisher:
Cornell University Press

Abstract

Spiritual seekers throughout history have sought illumination through solitary contemplation. In the Christian tradition, medieval England stands out for its remarkable array of hermits, recluses, and spiritual outsiders—from Cuthbert, Godric of Fichale, and Christina of Markyate to Richard Rolle, Julian of Norwich, and Margery Kempe. This book offers the first comprehensive history of English medieval mysticism in decades—one that will appeal to anyone fascinated by mysticism as a phenomenon of religious life. The book begins in the twelfth century with the revival of eremitical mysticism and the early growth of the Cistercian Order in the British Isles. It then focuses on the great mystics of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries—Richard Rolle (the first great English mystic), Walter Hilton, Margery Kempe, and Julian of Norwich. The book's narrative is grounded in the broader spiritual landscape of the Middle Ages, pointing out both prior influences dating back to Late Antiquity and corresponding developments in mysticism and theology on the Continent. It discusses the problem of possible differences between male and female spirituality and the movement of popularizing mysticism in the late Middle Ages.

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