SOURCE: T. W. Coleman, "Richard Rolle," in English Mystics of the Fourteenth Century, The Epworth Press, 1938, pp. 64-83.

Below, Coleman describes Rolle not only as a true mystic, but also as a bridge from medieval to modern literature by virtue of the personal note in his devotional and literary styles.

History plays curious pranks. In the middle of the fourteenth century, Richard Rolle of Hampole was one of our most prolific writers, in verse and prose, on religious subjects. During his lifetime, and for some years after his death, alike in England and upon the Continent, his numerous works were eagerly sought and frequently copied. Unfortunately, after enjoying this blaze of popularity, he was banished to the night of neglect. Why he suffered this eclipse is a mystery. It may be that during the century of political disturbances and prolonged wars, through which this country passed soon after...