Richard Rolle 1295-1349
Few people have written so much and left so few memorials of themselves. All that appears to be certainly known respecting the man who is Richard Rolle, is that at sometime around the start of the reign of Richard III, Richard Rolle withdrew himself from society whose with manners he was disgusted with and devoted himself to a life of austerity and divine meditation in a cell not far from the monastery of Hampole, and he continued this mode of life till his death in 1349. Thus the Rev. Joseph Hunter summarised the life of Richard Rolle in his great “History of the Deanery of Doncaster”
Published in 1828.
None of Richards contemporaries wrote a book about him. People did not do that in those days. Besides he died in the Black death – plague which killing perhaps a third of the population, brought about a time of fearful confusion, distress. There is two sources that reveal a little about his life. The first is from the very many volumes of writings, most were written in Latin but some were written in the vernacular language of the day. Richard was the first write in English. The second source is much more helpful. Within the York Breviary is to be found “The office of saint Richard the Hermit, after which he shall be canonized by the church, because in the meantime it is not allowed to sing the canonical hours for him in public, nor solemnize his feast. Nevertheless, having evidence of the extreme sanctity of his life, we may venerate him and in our private devotions seek his intercessions, and commend ourselves to his prayers. This office consists of nine lessons(some quite long to be read at matins on his feast day. These tell us the story of his life. (probably written by the nuns at Hampole).
Richard was a clever lad. His parents were sure he was the brightest boy in Thornton Le Dale and were prepared to invest in his abilities. Though poor, they saw that he had a good education. He was sponsored by Thomas Neville, Arch Deacon of Durham, to go to Oxford. At this time Universities were new, and were a good gateway to a career in the Church.
Very Surprisingly he left Oxford and returned home. He feared that he would be caught in the snare of the sinners. The best explanation of this can be found in one of his books “ The Fire Of Love”
He was not an ordained priest and in 1320 educated laymen were very rare in Yorkshire.
He did not stay very long at home. He fled across the moor and arrived at Topcliffe near Thirsk, Where he went to Dalton and lining at Dalton was John, the father of two of his friends from Oxford. At Dalton Richard gave a sermon from the preachers pulpit, heard by the Dalton family, on the eve of the Assumption. The people listening could not refrain from tears and they all said that they had never heard a sermon of such virtue and power.
Richard then went back to Sir John’s house for dinner, and stayed at the Daltons as a hermit in the prophets chamber for many years.
Richard Rolle is important for many reasons. Indeed his well supported claim to be the first person to write English prose should be enough to secure him a place on the team of famous Yorkshiremen.
Richard Rolle wrote in English because he wanted his friends and family to be able to understand his writings, he wanted to be understood,” I speak” he writes “no strange English but the easiest and the commonist”
He was a rather difficult and awkward man, he often complained about harsh words and sharp looks he received. He was conscious of being talked about and was ready to become his own man. He also had a few complaints about the church music too. His was a life that was certainly moving on.. He could quite easily outstay his welcome. This is a reminder of a character some years later called John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, he wrote in his diary on numerous occasions “I don’t think I will be invited there again”.
Richard Rolle was known as the first of the English Mystics.
Richard Rolle and Hampole
“Hampole is still a tiny Hamlet seven miles away from Doncaster and is part of the parish of Adwick. Of the Nunnery there are now no traces, except where a few mounds in the meadows by the stream below the hamlet mark its foundations and beyond that a few of its stones built into the School house. The few grey stone houses nestle together on the steep slope in a shallow nook in the hill round an open space where the old village spring still runs. There is no trace of Richards cell; but in spite of the railway line in the valley, the place has a curious detached air, lying as it does a complete and self contained whole, below the Doncaster Road, fringed and shadowed by trees and bordered with low lying meadows rich in early summer with daisies and buttercups and dotted with numerous May-Trees” That was written in 1905.. It is quite a different story now.
The Nunnery had always been a small one with about fifteen nuns living there. Roche Abbey was founded for the Cistercian Monks around 1150 and it seems likely that Hampole was founded at much the same time for the White ladies. Practically nothing is known of its history. Not even a full list of Prioresses has survived.
Henry VIII dissolved the priory. The annual value of the estate, with garden, orchard and dovecote, meadow and pasture ground adjacent to it with a varied list of other possessions was £63.5s.8d.
How Richard Rolle came to Hampole is a mystery. From his references he was certainly staying in Tickhill. Clearly he ministered to the Nuns at Hampole, he was sometimes described as their chaplain, but records tell us he was not ordained. After a long while people had come to realize that this man was a man of God. In his lifetime his writings were much sought after, read and copied
Nothing is known of the circumstances of his death. The date 29th September 1349 suggests that he was a victim of the Black Death, but he does seem to have been at work right up to the time of his death. A few lines from his last letter made a fitting end to the story of his life.
“One thing I counsel thee that thou forget not this name Jesu, but think it in thy heart night and day as thy special and dear treasure. Love it more than life. Love Jesu for he made thee and brought thee full dearly. Give thy heart to him for it is his debt, therefore set thy love on his name, Jesu that is heal. There may no ill thing have dwelling in the heart where Jesu is holden in mind truly.”
