The Rise of Mysticism
• Perhaps not surprising in an age of such external turmoil, the 14th
and early 15th centuries saw the flourishing of mysticism as an
expression of Christian faith.
• We have already noted the presence of mystics among the new
mendicant orders: Francis, Clare, and Bonaventura among the
Franciscans and John Tauler, Henry Suso, and Meister Eckhart
among the Dominicans.• In the turmoil of the 14th century, the female mystics Catherine of
Siena (1347–1380) and Birgitta of Sweden (1303–1373) invoked
mystical visions to support a witness that was surprisingly activist,
calling for the unification of the papacy and the reform of the clergy.• Perhaps the rise of mysticism was most evident in England in the
14 th century.
o The Cloud of Unknowing, an anonymous guide to the
contemplative life—through “shooting darts of love through
the cloud of unknowing”—arose in a monastic (probably
Benedictine) context in the late 14th century.o Richard Rolle (1300–1349) was an anchorite whose meditations
and poems on the Passion of Christ seem to emerge directly out
of the experience of the plague.o Julian of Norwich was an anchoress of the late 14th century
who recorded a series of visions (Showings) that revealed to
her mysteries concerning God and “mother Jesus.” With her
also, the sufferings of Christ were a constant preoccupation.• One of the most distinctive writings of the time was The Book of
Margery Kempe, an autobiographical account by an uneducated but
well-off wife of a merchant (1373–1438), who traveled as a pilgrim
to visit holy men and women (including Julian of Norwich) and had
aspirations to the mystical life.