_Mysticism and Spirituality in Medieval England._ William F.
Pollard and Robert Boenig, ed. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer; Rochester,
NY: Boydell and Brewer, 1997. 260pp.

Reviewed by David A. Salomon, das93006@uconnvm.uconn.edu,
University of Connecticut

Medieval spirituality is "hot." Well, not as hot as interactive
Barney or those virtual pets kids are carrying everywhere. A visit
to any bookstore (whether it be one of those ever-pregnant
superstore chains or what is left of your local independent
booksellers) will reveal the usual biographies of the rich and
not-so famous, as well as the latest soon-to-be-a-blockbuster-movie
novel. But something else can be found way in the back, behind the
remainders, next to the craft books--the religion section. And even
the shelves of this section are growing; in fact, some publishing
analysts project that religious publishing will experience the
largest growth of any other subject between now and the year 2000.
The truly interesting thing is that this section is growing
beyond what used to be called "New Age Spirituality" or
"Inspirational Fiction. You'll find here a growing number of new
editions of Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Margery
Kempe, Richard Rolle, and even Walter Hilton. Medieval spirituality
and mysticism are finding themselves in book discussion groups, on
Oprah Winfrey, and onto radio talk shows. 

The women, especially, are experiencing a renaissance, and college
courses reflect this interest. Hildegard of Bingen, Margery Kempe
and Julian Norwich, along with the _Ancrene Riwle_ and the
Wooing Group, are increasingly the subject of courses in religion,
literature, history, and women's studies. 

Enter into this discussion a new collection of eleven essays edited
by William F. Pollard and Robert Boenig. This volume covers a vast
array of Medieval spiritual authors and texts focusing on England,
from Anselm to Rolle, from the Pseudo-Dionysius to Julian of
Norwich.  The volume is organized thoughtfully. After a brief
unsigned introduction, Thomas H. Bestul takes up the question of
antecedents of Medieval English Spirituality,  particularly Anselm
and the Cistercians St. Bernard, William of St. Theirry, and Aelred
of Rievaulx. Bestul concludes that "the spiritual writers of the
eleventh and twelfth centuries are thus deeply significant for us"
(20). Well-documented (78 footnotes in 20 pages of text), the piece
lays the groundwork for later essays in the volume. 

No fewer than four of the eleven essays address issues in women's
spirituality and mysticism, and they do so splendidly. Denis
Renevy's discussion of the so-called "Wooing Group" is timely
indeed, given the recent publication of the critical editions of
the texts (also published by Boydell and Brewer: _Ancrene Wisse,
the Katherine Group, and the Wooing Group, _Bella Millett ; with
the assistance of George B. Jack and Yoko Wada [Boydell and Brewer,
1996]). Renevy shows us the ways in which these texts helped to
shape what we now term "Medieval English spirituality." The theme
is continued in Anne Savage's essay on the _Ancrene Wisse,_ the
Katherine Group, and the Wooing Group. Study of the critical texts
of the _Ancrene Wisse_ is sure to be aided by this essay in which
the spirituality in these works is related to the role of the
anchoress, what Savage terms "the solitary heroine." 

Robert Boenig discusses the mysterious and ever-difficult
Pseudo-Dionysius both as the sixth-century Syrian monk we believe
him to have been and as the greatest single influence on English
Medieval mysticism. Boenig explains that his essay is not an
explication of Dionysius (one might do well to look at Paul Rorem's
work for that), but is instead meant to serve as a bridge from
sixth-century Syria to fourteenth-century England. This bridge, the
_via,_ is a well-constructed and insightful exploration of both the
confusion over the Dionysian canon as well as a brief examination
of the reception of the texts in the English Middle Ages.

William F. Pollard's essay, "Richard Rolle and the 'Eye of the
Heart,'" examines Rolle's "frequent use" of the "eye of the heart"
image (86). Its origins found in Augustine, the phrase _oculus
cordis_ occurs often throughout Rolle's works, and Pollard relates
Rolle's use of the phrase to its appearance in the _Officium_
prepared for Rolle's still-born canonization. Although Pollard's
essay is itself convincing, it would have been interesting to take
the theme a step further--to perhaps examine the influence of the
image and the phrase on both emblem literature and the poetry of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries where such images are
conjured often, most obviously in the work of the mystic-poet
Thomas Traherne.

Almost every important spiritual text of the Middle Ages is treated
in this fine volume. Rene Tixier studies contemplation in _The
Cloud of Unknowing._ Not necessarily an examination of any
particular aspect of _The Cloud,_ Tixier's essay surveys the
various extant texts and introduces its reader to the important
themes in the work. 

Ritamary Bradley, one of the founding editors of _Mystics
Quarterly,_ continues her fine work on Julian of Norwich, most
notably in _Julian's Way_ (1992) and _Not For The Wise: The Prayer
Texts of Julian of Norwich_ (1994), with her essay on "Everyone's
Mystic." The title, Bradley explains, is an allusion to T.S.
Eliot's reference to Julian in "Little Gidding." After Eliot
mentioned her in his poem, Bradley argues, Julian became
"everyone's mystic," and Eliot's phrase "all shall be well" served
to capsulize Julian's message. Julian scholars, however, have
proven that phrase wrong as they have argued over not only themes
but basic texts. The greater portion of this essay is devoted to a
study of Julian's use of the word "asseth," which some have
translated as atonement. 

Susan Dickman contributes one of two essays in the volume on
Margery Kempe. Dickman examines the ways in which Margery's book
can indeed be called the first autobiography. Dickman concludes,
"Margery Kempe virtually invented the genre we now call
autobiography" (176). The new literary study of Autobiography has
been very taken with Margery's work, but most often, regrettably,
scholars in the field resort only to Augustine. Dickman's study
does well to establish Margery's text as the true originator of the
genre as we know it today.

Michael P. Kuczynski examines Wycliffite copies of Richard Rolle's
English Psalter. Long the topic of doctoral dissertations, Rolle's
Middle English Psalm translation is still neglected in published
work. Kuczynski's insightful essay shows us both the popularity of
and the debate over Rolle's Psalter. It is curious that Nicholas
Watson's extensive but controversial work on Rolle should be
ignored in this essay (Watson is never cited), but that simple fact
does well to alert the reader to Kuczynski's own methodology. 

Even Medieval English mystical lyric is treated in this volume in
a brief essay by Douglas Gray. Most of these poems are to be found
in Carleton Brown's seminal editions of Medieval religious lyrics.
Gray's essay is punctuated with five reproductions of manuscript
pages of particular lyrics, not for the sake of seeing the poetry
but for study of the marginal (some not so marginal) drawings. 

In Roger Ellis' essay on the spirituality of Syon Abbey
(established by Henry V), we are offered an exploration of the
"first and, in the event, only house in England of the Order
founded by St. Bridget of Sweden" (219). Ellis argues that
Brigittine spirituality was actually an amalgamation of various
spiritual traditions and themes in the late Medieval world. As we
approach the celebration of Bridget's 700th birthday in the year
2003, we might can this essay to be cited in the many essays yet to
be written on the subject.

_Mysticism and Spirituality in Medieval England_ concludes with a
helpful bibliography on each of the subjects in the book, including
the various textual translations and editions available. This
volume is an important publication in the field. Continuing in what
is now an established practice of publishing fine studies in
Medieval culture, Boydell and Brewer has given us a collection that
belongs on the shelf of every college library.

Link to Boydell and Brewer