The English Spiritual Tradition A: The Medieval Period (DS2141C)

Content

After introductory lectures on the general literary scene of the late Medieval period in England, the lectures and seminars will be devoted to a critical examination and appreciation of the following works:

• Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love
• Julian of Norwich, The Revelations of Divine Love
• Walter Hilton, The Ladder of Perfection
• The Cloud of Unknowing and
• The Book of Margery Kempe

Students should have available each of the following (generally available on Library Loan)

• Hilton, Walter. The Scale of Perfection. Translated by John P. H. Clark and Rosemary Dorward. Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist, 1991.
  
• Julian of Norwich. Revelations of Divine Love. Translated by Elizabeth Spearing. London: Penguin, 1999.
  
• Richard Rolle of Hampolle. The Fire of Love and the Mending of Life. Translated by Richard Misyn. Cosimo Classics. New York: Cosimo, 2007.
  
• Spearing, Anthony C., trans. The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works. London: Penguin, 2001.
  
• Windeatt, Barry A., trans. The Book of Margery Kempe. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1985.
  

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

36 points at level one Christian Spirituality or the equivalent

Pedagogy

Some lectures with the bulk of the time devoted to discussion of texts, their meaning, significance and how they might speak to the contemporary reader

Indicative Bibliography

• Davis, Carmel B. Mysticism and Space: Space and Spatiality in the Works of Richard Rolle, the Cloud of Unknowing Author, and Julian of Norwich. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2008.
• Fanous S (ed), Cambridge Companion to English Medieval Literature, Cambridge: University Press, 2017
• Frykholm, Amy. Julian of Norwich: a Contemplative Biography. Brewster, Mass: Paraclete Press, 2010.
• Goodman, Anthony. Margery Kempe and Her World. London: Longmans, 2002.
• Jantzen, Grace. Julian of Norwich. London: SPCK, 2011.
• Kennedy, David G. Incarnation and Hilton’s Spirituality. Salzburg: OLW, 1988.
• Mursell, Gordon. English Spirituality. Vol. 1. From Earliest Times to 1700, London: SPCK, 2001
• Nuth, Joan M. God’s Lovers in an Age of Anxiety: The Medieval English Mystics. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2001.
• Walsh, James A., trans. and ed. “The Pursuit of Wisdom” and other works by the author of “The Cloud of Unknowing”. Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist, 1988.
  

Assessment