Walter Hilton was an English mystical author best
known for his spiritual guidebook The Scale of Perfection. Numerous other treatises and letters in
Latin as well as MIDDLE ENGLISH have been attributed to Hilton, but aside from the Scale, only the
Epistle on the Mixed Life and the brief tract Of Angels’ Song are 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 his Scale 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 the Scale, 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 the Epistle 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 treatise Of Angels’ Song is 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 text The 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 his Scale of Perfection a
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.
Bibliography
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,” in The Medieval Mystical Tradition in
England, edited by Marion Glascoe. Exeter, U.K.:
University of Exeter Press, 1982, 231–61.