SOURCE: George G. Perry, English Prose Treatises of Richard Rolle de Sampole, N. Trubner & Co., 1866.

[Perry's 1866 edition of Rolle's treatises in English constituted the first time these manuscripts were made available since the Middle Ages. In the following excerpt, he touches on many issues central to Rolle scholarship, including Rolle's reputation, the authenticity of the manuscripts, and the matter and style of Rolle's English.]

The treatises which follow, now for the first time printed, are taken from a miscellaneous collection of Poems, Tracts, Prayers, and Medical Receipts, made by Robert Thornton, archdeacon of Bedford, in the earlier half of the fifteenth century¹. These religious tracts are especially valuable in two ways. First, as illustrating the teaching given to the people—the unlered or lewed folke—in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; next, as being genuine specimens of the old Northumbrian dialect—perhaps the finest form of the ancient English tongue. The publications of the E. E. T. S. have already furnished several excellent specimens of religious teaching for the unlettered, written in verse; an opportunity is now afforded for comparing these with the prose of about the same period on similar subjects. The present volume contains only those which are attributed to Richard Rolle, the hermit of Hampole; but another selection from the same MS., of religious treatises by other hands, is intended to follow. The date of those here printed may be assigned to the earlier part of the fourteenth century. The Hermit died in 1349, as is mentioned in several ancient MS. copies of treatises of his. Now, as an immense number of MS. works, both in English and Latin, are ascribed to Richard Rolle, and as there is good reason to suppose that very many thus attributed are not genuine, it is perhaps necessary to say a few words to explain why these English fragments are put forth as the true productions of Richard Rolle. The writer of the manuscript, Robert Thornton, was, if not actually connected with Richard Rolle's birthplace², at any rate a neighbour of it, and though a century later in date, must have without doubt heard much and known much about the famous Yorkshire Hermit. During Robert Thornton's lifetime the priory of Hampole was the favoured resort of pilgrims who came to the shrine of the Hermit; and an old authority informs us that his works were kept at the priory "in cheyn bondes," to preserve them from being tampered with³. Robert Thornton would therefore have every facility for obtaining genuine extracts from the Hermit's writings, and, as one proud of the fame of his fellowcountryman, would probably take care to transcribe him faithfully. Now, of the pieces here printed as Rolle's, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 are given by name in Thornton's MS. to Richard Hermite. Nos. 8, 10 are without heading in the MS., but are assigned to Rolle on the ground of the internal evidence of style and matter⁴. No. 9, which has lost its earlier part, is the treatise De Vitâ Activâ et Contemplativâ, which exists also in the British Museum and in Cambridge University Library in another dialect, and is usually attributed to the Hermit. A difficulty as to the genuineness of the English of No. 1 may be thought to arise from the fact of its existing also in Latin. But it is clearly ascertained that Richard Rolle was in the habit of writing the same matter both in Latin and in English, and this in all probability is one of the instances of this practice. Thus he himself says in the Pricke of Conscience, which also exists in a Latin form:—

Tharfore this buk es on ynglysche drawen,
Of sere matters that er unknawen.
Til laude men that er unkunnund
That can na Latyn understand.

And in the Preface to the English Exposition of the Psalms, of which there is also a Latin version, it is said by a very early writer:—

But for the Psalms ben full darke in many a place who wol take hede,
And the sentence is full merke—who so wol rede.
It needeth exposicyon written wel with cunning honde
To strive toward devocyon and hit the better understonde.
Therfore a worthy holy man called Rychard Hampole
Whom the Lord that all can lered lelely on his scole,
GloƷed the sauter that sues here in English tong sykerly,
At a worthy recluse prayer call'd Dame Marget Kirkby.
(From MS. in Bodleian Library—Laud. 286.)

Of the Treatise No. 1 there is at least one other copy (in Brit. Mus. Harl. 1022), and in this the spelling is somewhat more archaic than in the Lincoln MS., while the main peculiarities of the Northumbrian dialect remain the same. It would seem to follow from the substantial but not absolute identity of the two MSS. that the version here given cannot have been a translation made by R. Thornton from Hampole's Latin, but must have been the original composition of the Hermit, transcribed, with a few modifications of spelling and inflexion, by his countryman in the next century. It will further strengthen this view if we take into consideration that the quotations made by Thornton from the Hermit's works are not all in English,—which, if it had been the case, might rather suggest the inference that he himself had translated them from the Latin,—but are some of them in Latin, some in English. Probably, therefore, the extracts here printed are a genuine specimen of the true English style of the Yorkshire Hermit of the fourteenth century. It must, however, be remembered that they are no more than a specimen; and one of the chief objects which it is hoped will be served by this publication is the leading to further transcripts of genuine English works of Rolle's which may be found in our great libraries, and few of which have as yet been printed. In foreign collections of mediaeval writers his name indeed figures as the writer of Latin treatises under the singular disguise of Pampolitanus; but neither Latin nor English of his has been published in this country, with the exception of a small collection of devotional writings printed by Wynkyn de Worde, and the poem of the Pricke of Conscience, published recently by the Philological Society. A cursory glance at the manuscript catalogues of our chief collections will at once reveal the fact that Richard Rolle of Hampole was one of the most prolific writers of his day; and the fact of the preservation of so large a mass of MSS., either his or attributed to him, testifies to the great estimation in which he was once held. Who then was this man who had in his time so much to do with controlling and influencing the opinions of his fellow-countrymen? Can we in any way realize and identify him? Can we discover any personality for the author of these numerous works, and in any way evoke him from the shadowy past as a living and acting man? Certainly Richard Rolle (usually called Hampole, from the priory where his death and burial took place) was an enigma and a puzzle to the various writers who have professed to give an account of the ancient authors of England. These gentlemen usually tread very faithfully in the track of one another; and it is amusing enough to follow the same mistake reappearing in a slightly different form in one grave folio after another through several centuries. Thus, if we look for Richard de Hampole in Pitz, Leland, Tanner, Wharton, Cave, or any other of the bibliographers, or, hoping for fresh information, hunt him up in more modern works, as in the "Archœologia" or in "Hunter's South Yorkshire," we find just the same account of the Hermit, equally baseless and conjectural. It has been attempted to construct a life for the saint without having any materials to make it out of, and the deficiency has been sought to be supplied by conjecturing what a hermit who wrote books would be likely to be, and then attributing this as the real account to the actual hermit. Thus, in the sketches alluded to, Richard Rolle is described as belonging to the Augustinian order, as a doctor of divinity⁵, and as one who had seen much of the world, but who, disgusted with its emptiness and sinfulness, retired into solitude to pray and meditate. Hunter, in his laborious and accurate work, thus sketches the Hermit:—"Few persons, who have written so much, have left so little memorial of themselves. The place of his birth is unknown, the seat of his education, the scenes in which he passed the active part of his life, and the places in which he witnessed that luxury and extravagance which he so much deplores. It is only conjectured that he was born in this neighbourhood (Doncaster), and if that is admitted, we may conclude that he was educated in the Carmelite convent of Doncaster. But all that appears to be with certainty known respecting him is that some time about the beginning of the reign of Edward III. Richard withdrew himself from a world with whose manners he was disgusted, and devoted himself to a life of austerity and divine meditation in a cell not far from the monastery of Hampole. More might perhaps be recovered concerning him if we had the "Officium de Sancto Heremitâ," for he was admitted among the sancti confessores of the Church. This office, of which there was a copy in the Cotton Library, destroyed by the fire in which that library suffered so much, contained some particulars de ipsius vitâ et miraculis⁶."

We are glad to be able to contribute somewhat towards the more accurate delineation of Richard Rolle by supplying the deficiency here lamented. A copy of the "Officium et Legenda de Vitâ Ricardi Rolle" exists in the library of Lincoln Cathedral, being probably, since the destruction of the Cotton MS., the only copy re maining of this curious document. This is here printed in its entirety, so far as it can be deciphered⁷, and the account of Richard Rolle which it furnishes will be seen to differ altogether from the conjectural sketches made of him by the bibliographers. It is not indeed contended that the "Legenda de Vita Ejus" is trustworthy in all its statements. We do not concede to our saint the miraculous powers claimed for him, nor do we treat as grave matter of fact his continual contests with devils. The life, however, such as it is, gives a personality to the Hermit, hitherto the most shadowy of existences, which will be found to accord very well with his admitted works. It supplies us with facts about his birthplace, his education, his early adoption of the eremite life, the way in which he practised that life,—not living solitary, but journeying from one place to another to instruct the people,—the scenes of his earlier labours, and his ultimate retirement to Hampole, none of which facts were hit upon by the conjecturers. It shews us that he was neither an Augustinian friar, nor a doctor of divinity, nor in any degree of holy orders; that he was altogether an irregular sort of teacher, and in a great measure self-instructed; all which considerations must needs increase our wonder at the learning and power of his numerous writings.

To give any adequate account of these writings would occupy too much space for this place. Suffice it to say, that so far as the Editor has examined them he believes that the matter and manner of the Hermit's teaching are very well illustrated by the extracts here printed. Few, it is thought, can fail to be struck by the terse and vivid way in which, in the passages here given, the Hermit enforces his view of the truth, and the devout ardour which animates his words. The two stories about Shrift are especially remarkable, as giving a clear tes timony against the opus operatum view of religion which is generally attributed to all mediaeval writers. Nor less striking is the strong way in which Rolle contends for the paramount importance of the duties of active over contemplative life in the case of those whose position gives them influence or power of assisting their fellows. This for his age and profession is highly creditable to the Hermit. Of course the contemplative life is in his view the higher state, but it is much to find an anchorite and an ecstatic allowing even any possibility of merit to the despised active life. And this we find Richard Rolle doing, not only in the treatise here printed, but also in divers other passages. For instance, in The boke maad of Rycharde hampole heremyte to an ankeresse⁸ he thus writes:—"Thou shall understonde that ther ben in Holy Chyrche twey maner of lyves in the whyche cristen men schul bee saaf, that oon is clepyd actyf and that other contemplatyf. Without oon of these two may no man be saved. Actyf lyf lyeth in love and cheryte schewyd outward by goude bodili werkys, in fulfillynge of Godis commandmentis and of the seven dedis of mercy bodil and gostly to a manys euen cristen. This lyf langys to all wordly men which han rychesse and plenti of wordly goude. And also to alle other men that han goudis for to spend, lerned or lewid, temporal othere spiritual, and generally al wordly men ben bounden to fulfille it bi ther myght and ther kunnyng, ther reson and discrecion. 'If he moche have moche doo, if he a litell have litell or lasse do,' and if he nought have that he have thane a goude wille. There beth workys of actyf lyf othere gostly othere bodily." It will be observed that this passage is one of the numerous instances in which the English of Rolle has been re-written in a more southern dialect. Another quotation from the same treatise will further illustrate the practical and truly devout character of the Hermit's mind:—"Wyte thou wel a bodili turnyng to God without thyne hert folwyng is but a figure and a lykenesse of vertuce and of ne sothefastenesse. Whar-for a wreched man or woman is thylke that leeveth al the ynward kepynges of hym-self and chareth hym with-out forth only a fourme and a lykenesse of holynesse in habyte other clothyng in speche and in bodili werke, by-hooldyng other mennys dedys and demyng there defautys, wenyng hym-self to be ought whanne he is rigt nougt and so begylez hymself. Do thou not so but turne thyn harte with thy body principalli to God and shape thee withynne in His lykenesse by mekenesse and charite and other gostly vertues and thane art thou trewly turnyd to Hym." The man who could write this in an age of monkery and amidst the deifications of the principle of asceticism cannot be said to have been without some insight into the true divine life. Yet the wildest extravagances of mysticism are also to be found in plenty in the Hermit's writings. In the book De Incendio Amoris⁹ he tells us that amidst the rigours of his ascetic devotions he became conscious of an actual physical heat and burning. At first he believed that this was due to some bodily cause, but he soon discovered that this was not so—that it was an inward spiritual power making itself felt on the body by its excessive strength. He experienced sensations of inconceivable pleasure, and was kindled to such a love of God that his whole being seemed to be dissolved in it; and the more he mortified the flesh by fast and vigil, the greater was his spiritual joy. He was often in ecstasies and absent from the body in spirit, and so great was his absorption in contemplation that his friends were able to take away the ragged dress which he wore and to put on him a more decent garment without attracting his attention. Under these circumstances we are not surprised to hear what he tells us in his book "De Amore Dei," that many thought him mad; nor was it an unreasonable prudence on the part of Sir John de Dalton (his patron as he is represented in the Life) to require to be satisfied of his sanity before he extended to him his protection. Indeed, the thoughts and images that were present to the Hermit's mind were of so gloomy and awful a character that they might easily have overborne his reason. In his view the thought of death was ever to be present; and the death even of the righteous would be accompanied with such fearful terrors, the manifestation and sight of devils and the consciousness of their struggles for the departing spirit, that the mind quails at the contemplation. This is brought out with terrible vigour in his poem of The Pricke of Conscience, and in a short treatise of his called The thre Arrows in the Dome, which represents the terrors of the last day.¹⁰ There was by no means a cheerful tone about the religion of the Hermit, yet at the same time he did not arrive at such an utter Manichean hatred of everything material as is to be found in some of his contemporaries. He was not one of those eremites satirized by the author of Piers Plowman, who

Clothed them in copis to be knowe fro othire
And made themselves eremites thare eise to have.

Yet, on the other hand, he was no Simeon Stylites, to court and practise bodily austerities simply for their own sakes. On the contrary, our Hermit was a travelling preacher, intensely devoted to the work of the instruction of his fellow-creatures. In the performance of this office we are told that he travelled about through the northern parts of Yorkshire, and his biographer thinks it necessary to apologize for his migratory habits lest he should be confounded with the crowd of careless and debauched hermits who went about collecting alms from the people. We are not informed in the Life at what period Richard Rolle left Richmondshire and its neighbourhood and went south-ward towards Doncaster. We are also left to conjecture what it was that drew him to Hampole, his ultimate dwelling and the place of his death and burial. At this place was a Cistercian nunnery, founded by William de Clairefai in the year 1170, for fourteen or fifteen nuns.¹¹ The Life tells us that on his death at this place his "gostly suster," Dame Margaret Kyrkby, the anchoress of Anderby, to whom he had addressed the treatise quoted above, being miraculously informed of the event, hastened to assist at his funeral at Hampole; and there can be no doubt that the Officium and Legenda and the account of the miracles which follow were drawn up by the pious care of the Hampole nuns, to whom the fame of Richard's sanctity was a source of great profit and honour. Crowds flocked to pray at the tomb of the saint, to whose intercession the greatest miracles were granted, while the nuns were careful to preserve authentic copies of their patron's works, which "yvel men of Lollardry" had, as they alleged, in many cases perverted to their own base purposes, feigning to "leude soles" that their noxious compositions were the works of Richard Hampole, and thus propping up their mischievous heresies by the support of his great and honoured name.¹²

Notes

¹ See Preface to Morte Arthure, E. E. T. S. 1865.

² Richard Rolle was born at Thornton in Yorkshire, probably Thornton-le-Street, Robert the archdeacon was born at East Newton, or Oswaldkirk, but his family may have been of the very place where the Hermit was born.

³ MS. Bodl. (Laud. 286).

⁴ When Sir F. Madden examined the Thornton MS. he assigned No. 8 to Richard Rolle.

⁵Archœologia, vol. xix. p. 319; Cave, Hist. Lit.; Pitz; Tanner; Wharton, A.-S. V.

⁶ Hunter's South Yorkshire, i. 358.

⁷ The first two or three pages of the MS. are extremely faded through the action of damp, and a part of one leaf has been torn off. It will be observed that the plan of the service is to recite a short piece of the saint's history, and then to break off into hymns and psalms, thus giving the audience an opportunity of expressing the devout feelings which are supposed to be stirred up by the hearing of the perfect virtue of the Hermit. A long list of miracles follows the Officium, which are not printed here.

⁸ MS. Bodleian (Laud. 602).

⁹ The passage will be found printed in the Latin Life.

¹⁰ Bodleian MSS. (Douce 13). This treatise, together with that called "The Rule of mannis bodi," has been cast into a longer one called "The Gostly Batell," usually attributed to Hampole, but not his genuine work. (MSS. Douce 322.)

¹¹ The last prioress was Isabella Arthington, who had been elected in 1518, and who surrendered the house on the 10th of November, 31 Henry VIII., upon which she had a pension of 10l. per annum. At the Dissolution the gross annual value of the Hampole Priory was 83l. 6s. 11d. (Lawton's Religious Houses of Yorkshire).

¹² See Rhyming Preface to R. de Hampole's Exposition of the Psalms, MS. Bodleian (Laud. 286).