Richard Rolle was born about 1300 at Thornton Dale near Pickering in
Yorkshire. He studied at Oxford. He became a hermit and lived in solitude
on the estate of Sir John Dalton. Later he moved to Richmond, not far from
Ainderby. He wrote The Form of Living and Ego Dormio for
Margaret Kirkby, as recluse living in Richmond. When he was nearly 50 he
moved to Hampole, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire. He died September
1349.
Rolle's English works were written late in his life, probably between
1340 and his death. Although Rolle wrote much, many more works are
attributed him than he was responsible for, but it is not always easy to
distinguish his authentic works from those of his followers.
The texts of the Prose Treatises are
taken from the ms. written by Robert Thornton about 1440.
This text is not included in the Helsinki Corpus.
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