HILTON, WALTER

(ca. 1340–1396)

Walter Hilton was an English mystical author best known for his spiritual guidebookThe Scale of Perfection. Numerous other treatises and letters in Latin as well as MIDDLE ENGLISH have been attributed to Hilton, but aside from theScale, only theEpistle on the Mixed Lifeand the brief tractOf Angels’ Songare indisputably Hilton’s work, and all three of his extant treatises were written between 1380 and 1395.

Not much is known about Hilton’s life. He seems to have attended Cambridge, and it is believed that after his graduation he spent some time as a contemplative hermit, since his familiarity with that lifestyle is clearly evident in his writing. He is known to have become an Augustinian canon at the priory of Thurgarten in Nottinghamshire. In addition to his responsibilities as canon, he also seems to have become the spiritual adviser of a number of devout souls, to whom in particular he addresses his spiritual treatises. Hilton died at Thurgarton on March 23, 1396. Hilton addresses hisScale of Perfection, a text that became immensely popular for two centuries, to a “sister,” probably a female recluse at the beginning of her contemplative life. But with a potentially wider audience in mind, he warns that the book is intended only for those who have devoted themselves to the contemplative lifestyle. The lengthy treatise is divided into two books. The first, in 93 chapters, deals in part (as the title implies) with a discussion of the ascending stages of contemplation. But the main theme of book 1 is the discussion of man’s soul as the image of God, corrupted by sin. Restoring the true image of God in the soul through the obliteration of sin and the meditative union with God is the focus of the book. Book 2, apparently written some time after the first book, consists of 46 additional chapters concerned essentially with more of the same kind of thing, though in somewhat greater detail.Readers have sometimes criticized Hilton for being repetitious, but recent scholars have defended the structure of theScale, relating it to the scholastic method of breaking each question into parts and then dealing with each part in detail (Sargent 1982).

Of Hilton’s other compositions, the best known is theEpistle on the Mixed Life, a treatise in the form of a letter addressed to a pious nobleman. Hilton advises that the contemplative life is not possible for those involved in the active life of the world, but that the mixed life can be spiritually satisfying (Christ himself led a mixed life) since work should be performed as a duty to God, and works of charity can only be performed in the world. The treatiseOf Angels’ Songis addressed to a “brother” who has reached an advanced stage of contemplation, and focuses on how to distinguish a true mystical experience from a false one. Hilton has occasionally been suggested as the author of the anonymous contemporary meditative textThe CLOUD OF UNKNOWING, but most scholars believe that, though Hilton seems to have been familiar with that text, he is probably not the author.

Hilton’s style is consistently didactic, but not austere. His tone is friendly, accessible, and humane. This is what makes hisScale of Perfectiona more comfortable and readable text than some of the other 14th-century mystics, like Richard ROLLE. He advises the contemplative that he or she must be humble, must learn the nature of prayer, and must turn away from transient worldly goods toward God. But he is careful to advise the contemplative not to go to extremes in physical asceticism.

This warm personal approach no doubt contributed to making Hilton’s book very popular in its own time and in succeeding centuries, evidenced by the 47 extant manuscripts of the text, and its early printing by Wynkyn de Worde in London in 1494. The recent renewal of interest in late Middle English mystics like Rolle, JULIAN OF NORWICH, and Margery KEMPE has helped make Hilton fashionable once more.

■ Hilton,Walter.The Stairway of Perfection. Edited and modernized by M. L. Del Mastro. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1979.

■ Knowles, David.The English Mystical Tradition. London: Burns and Oates, 1961.

■ Milosh, Joseph E.The Scale of Perfection and the English Mystical Tradition. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966.

■ Sargent,Michael G.“The Organization of the Scale of Perfection,” inThe Medieval Mystical Tradition in England, edited by Marion Glascoe. Exeter, U.K.: University of Exeter Press, 1982, 231–61.