Walter Hilton
Walter Hilton was an Augustinian monk and theologian, believed to have been born around 1343, although details about his early life, including his birthplace and parentage, remain unknown. He gained prominence in the late 14th century, particularly after his appointment as canon of Thurgarton in Nottinghamshire in 1386, where he authored significant works, most notably *The Scale of Perfection*. This two-part work, composed in English, addresses themes of spiritual renewal, prayer, humility, and contemplation, aiming to guide individuals on their spiritual journeys. Hilton also contributed to the secular understanding of spirituality with his work known as the *Mixed Life*, which catered to laypersons engaged in daily labor.
His writings, particularly the *Scale of Perfection*, gained recognition during the Renaissance, and some attributed him mistakenly to the medieval text *The Cloud of Unknowing*, although this is now largely considered inaccurate. Hilton's background in law influenced his moralistic approach, which resonated with both Catholic and Anglican theologians. He passed away on March 24, 1396, leaving a legacy that has continued to be of interest in theological circles.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Walter Hilton
Mystic
- Born: c. 1340
- Died: March 23, 1396
- Place of death: Thurgarton Priory, Nottinghamshire, England
Biography
The Augustinian monk Walter Hilton, who wrote the work that became known as The Scale of Perfection, appears to have been born in 1343 or thereabouts, but his birthplace and parentage are unknown, as is the date of his ordination. If he is the Walter Hilton, bachelor of law, who became a canon and prebendary in Abergwili, Carmarthenshire, in 1571, and is referred to in other documnts as an “inceptor” in canon law (i.e., someone who qualified for a doctorate but did not actually take it), he probably studied at Cambridge. Although he seems to have been in the employ by Thomas Arundel, the Bishop of Ely, in the early 1380’s, he became more clearly visible to history when he was appointed canon of Thurgarton in Nottinghamshire in 1386. It was in his early years there that he produced the works definitely attributable to him.
The Scale of Perfection—whose title was imposed on it by a subsequent editor—is a two-part work written in English, whose first part speaks of the renewal of God’s image in man as a prelude to monastic contemplation, offering advice on prayer, humility, charity and strategies for avoiding the seven deadly sins. The second part focuses more intently on contemplation as the core activity of the monastic life. The project was, however, interestingly extended in a further document usually known as the Mixed Life, which is addressed to devout laymen, attempting to define attitudes and behavior appropriate to a secular life of labor.
The two works were combined when they were first printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1494, the former having peviously been better known in religious circles via a Latin translation of 1400. Various letters written by Hilton have also also published, but the only other work of any substance that is almost certainly his is a translation of a work by an Aragonese Franciscan, Luis de Fontibus, known as Eight Chapters on Perfection. One of the few hard facts on record is that he died at Thurgarton on March 24, 1396.
Hilton’s modest fame was markedly increased for some centuries by the rumor that he might be responsible for the famous medieval theological tract The Cloud of Unknowing, but that was almost certainly written at Beauvale. Hilton had a correspondent there, which probably accounts for the fugitive similarities between the Cloud and the Scale; the latter’s implicit theology seems considerably less “apophatic” (i.e., organized as a series of denials rather affimations) than the Cloud’s. Hilton’s concerns are primarily moralistic, reflecting his legal training, although he does not neglect the spiritual dimensions of theology. The emergent near-certainty that he did not write the Cloud did not send his reputation into eclipse, because the reputation of the Scale had increased in the meantime, its legalistic leanings recommending it not merely to some modern Catholic theologians but also to Anglicans who recognised its argument as a precursor to the ones deployed by Richard Hooker in the definitive Law of Ecclestiastical Polity.