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Bernard of Clairvaux · 1148 · Other
The Life of Saint Malachy is Bernard of Clairvaux's biographical tribute to Malachy O'Morgair, the Irish archbishop of Armagh who died at Clairvaux in 1148 while returning from a pilgrimage to Rome.…
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Aelred of Rievaulx · 1163–1164 · Treatise
The Vita Sancti Edwardi Regis is Aelred of Rievaulx's hagiographical portrait of Edward the Confessor, written between 1163 and 1164 at the request of Abbot Laurence of Westminster. This Latin treatise emerged…
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Francis of Assisi · 1212–1226 · Treatise
This brief rule represents Francis of Assisi's attempt to provide formal guidance for the community of women religious that formed around Clare of Assisi at San Damiano. Written between 1212 and 1226,…
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Francis of Assisi · 1221 · Treatise
The Rule of 1221, also known as the Earlier Rule or Regula non bullata, represents Francis of Assisi's first attempt to codify the way of life for his growing fraternity of friars.…
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Beatrice of Nazareth · 1235–1250 · Treatise
A short treatise in Middle Dutch on seven ways of loving God, written by Beatrice of Nazareth (1200–1268), a Cistercian nun of the Brabantine Low Countries who entered religious life as a…
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Thomas Gallus · 1242 · Commentary
Thomas Gallus, abbot of the Victorine house of Sant'Andrea in Vercelli, completed this line-by-line exposition of the Dionysian treatise On the Divine Names in 1242, in the last years of a career…
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Bonaventure · 1259 · Treatise
The Journey of the Mind into God is Bonaventure's mystical masterpiece, written in 1259 during a retreat on Mount La Verna, the same mountain where Francis of Assisi received the stigmata. Composed…
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Bonaventure · 1259 · Treatise
Written around 1259 during Bonaventure's tenure as Minister General of the Franciscan order, De Triplici Via emerged from his efforts to provide systematic guidance for the spiritual life within the Franciscan tradition.…
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Marguerite d'Oingt · 1286 · Treatise
Pagina Meditationum — "a page of meditations" — is a short Latin devotional text completed in 1286 by Marguerite d'Oingt, prioress of the Carthusian house of Poleteins in the diocese of Lyon.…
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Meister Eckhart · 1314–1318 · Treatise
Meister Eckhart wrote this treatise on divine consolation between 1314 and 1318 for Agnes, Queen of Hungary, following the deaths of her father Albert I and brother Frederick. Written in Middle High…
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Richard Rolle · 1320–1330 · Commentary
Richard Rolle's "Judica Me Deus" is a Latin commentary on Psalm 43 (42 in the Vulgate numbering), written during the height of his mystical period in the 1320s or early 1330s. The…
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Traditionally associated with William of Shoreham · 1320 · Scripture
The Shoreham Psalter stands among the significant pre-Wycliffite Middle English efforts to render the Psalms into the vernacular. Its scope is limited to the Psalms, translated from Latin, taking a Latin Psalter…
Original language
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Jan van Ruusbroec · 1335–1350 · Treatise
Jan van Ruysbroeck's "Die Gheestelicke Brulocht" (The Spiritual Espousals) stands as one of the masterworks of medieval mystical theology, written in Middle Dutch sometime between 1335 and 1350. Ruysbroeck composed this treatise…
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Richard Rolle · 1340–1349 · Commentary
Richard Rolle's English Psalter stands as one of the earliest complete vernacular commentaries on the Psalms in medieval England. Written during the last decade of his life as a hermit in Yorkshire,…
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Bridget of Sweden · 1340–1373 · Other
The Revelationes Extravagantes represents a collection of mystical visions received by Brigitte of Sweden during her later years, spanning roughly from 1340 until her death in 1373. These "extraordinary revelations" were recorded…
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Jan van Ruusbroec · 1343–1350 · Treatise
Jan van Ruusbroec wrote this mystical treatise in Middle Dutch during the middle of the fourteenth century, likely between 1343 and 1350, while serving as prior of the Augustinian community at Groenendaal…
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Bridget of Sweden · 1344–1373 · Other
The Revelationes is a collection of mystical visions received by Bridget of Sweden over nearly three decades, from approximately 1344 until her death in 1373. Born into Swedish nobility, Bridget experienced her…
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Catherine of Siena · 1377–1378 · Treatise
Catherine of Siena's great mystical treatise emerged from her profound spiritual experiences during the final years of her short but intense life. Writing in the Tuscan vernacular rather than Latin, Catherine recorded…
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Thomas à Kempis · 1398 · Other
Thomas à Kempis composed this biography of Gerard Groote (Gerardus Magnus) around 1398, some fourteen years after the death of the man who founded the devotional movement known as the Devotio Moderna.…
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Thomas à Kempis · 1408 · Treatise
The Dialogus noviciorum is Thomas à Kempis's earliest known work, written around 1408 as a practical guide for novices entering religious life at the Augustinian monastery of Mount St. Agnes in the…
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Thomas à Kempis · 1410–1420 · Treatise
Thomas à Kempis wrote this treatise on monastic discipline during the early fifteenth century as part of his broader effort to guide religious communities in the principles of the Devotio Moderna. Written…
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Thomas à Kempis · 1415–1440 · Sermon
These sermons were delivered by Thomas à Kempis to novices entering religious life at Mount St. Agnes, the Augustinian monastery where he spent most of his career. Written between 1415 and 1440,…
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Thomas à Kempis · 1418 · Book
The Imitation of Christ emerged from the devotional ferment of the Low Countries in the early fifteenth century, when communities of lay Christians and clergy sought deeper spiritual formation amid the upheavals…
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Thomas à Kempis · 1420–1471 · Other
The Chronicle of Mount Saint Agnes is Thomas à Kempis's detailed historical record of the monastery of Mount Saint Agnes near Zwolle, written over several decades of his life there. This Augustinian…
