While The Cloud of Unknowing and Julian of Norwich have enjoyed a surge of popularity in recent years — Julian for her optimism and her maternal images of God, The Cloud for its insistence on a spiritual practice that is deeply congenial to those seeking a Christian alternative to Eastern meditation — such popularity has so far eluded Hilton, an Augustinian friar from northern England who was a contemporary of both Julian and The Cloud. Hilton’s persistent obscurity is ironic, for in the fourteenth century he was probably the most renowned of these three mystics; in our time his lack of visibility is unfortunate, for his works are arguably the most balanced and useful of the fourteenth century English mystical writings. Especially in his masterpiece, The Scale of Perfection, Hilton provides a truly systematic theology of the contemplative life, describing the dynamics of the mystical life in a manner both pastorally sensitive and psychologically astute.
Before the Protestant Reformation, The Scale of Perfection was widely read in Catholic Europe — a testament to its value as a grounded manual for spiritual development. Like so many other works of mystical genius, The Scale (also translated as the “Stairway” or the “Ladder” of Perfection) challenges its reader to enter the mystical life by embracing a life of penance and of seeking personal holiness. The book consists of two parts, which very likely were written at different times. While it is addressed to a specific nun who has chosen the contemplative life, the work provides a broad enough view of the spiritual life that it can be profitably studied by laypersons as well as by nuns, monks and clergy.
Throughout The Scale, Hilton patiently guides his readers through stages of spiritual development leading to the renewal of our divine birthright as creatures formed in the image of likeness of God. This renewal occurs in stages (hence the title), including the “reformation of faith” — using techniques such as divine reading and meditation to nuture a sense of being loved and found worthy by God — and, for the committed contemplative, the “reformation of feeling,” which is not a matter of emotional transformation so much as it is the cultivation of an on-going practice of contemplative attentiveness to God. For modern readers, the overall message is simple yet profound: for one to actually experience God, begin by making a commitment to conform both one’s faith and one’s behavior to the wisdom of the church and of the great contemplatives down the ages.
Aside from The Scale of Perfection, several shorter works are also generally regarded as having been written by Hilton, these include De Imagine Peccati (”On the Image of Sin”), The Mixed Life, Eight Chapters of Perfection, and Of Angels’ Song. As the titles suggest, Hilton wrote both in English and in Latin; The Scale appears to have been written in English although at some point it was translated into Latin.
Little is known about Walter Hilton, apart from his writings. We do know that he abandoned a promising career as a secular lawyer in order to enter the priesthood, and probably became a canon lawyer once he was ordained. He was an Augustinian friar, at the time of his death serving as Canon of the Augustinian Priory of Thurgarton, near Nottingham (of Robin Hood fame). He died on March 24, 1396 — the eve of the Annunciation of Our Lady.
For further reading:
- Walter Hilton, The Ladder of Perfection, translated by Leo Sherley-Price
- Walter Hilton, The Scale of Perfection (Middle English Text), edited by Thomas H. Bestul
- Walter Hilton, The Scale of Perfection (Classics of Western Spirituality Series), translated by John P.H. Clark and Rosemary Dorward
- Walter Hilton, The Stairway of Perfection, translated by M. L. DelMastro
- Walter Hilton, Eight Chapters on Perfection and the Angel’s Song
- Walter Hilton, The Mixed Life
- Walter Hilton, Toward a Perfect Love
- Julia Gatta, Three Spiritual Directors for Our Time: Julian of Norwich, The Cloud of Unknowing, Walter Hilton
- Joseph E. Milosh, The Scale of Perfection and the English Mystical Tradition
