James Harpur is a poet, author and translator who lives in Ireland. He was the 2023 Writer Fellow at the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing, Trinity College, Dublin. His debut novel, The Pathless Country, won the J G Farrell Award and was shortlisted for the John McGahern Prize.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Preface Introduction 1. First Seeds 2. Deserts and Monasteries 3. The Early Middle Ages 4. The Twelfth Century 5. Preachers and Poets: The Franciscans 6. Holy Women: The Beguines 7. Mystics of the Rhineland 8. The Flame of English Mysticism 9. Women Mystics of Italy and Sweden 10. Eastern Orthodox Mysticism 11. Mystics of Spain 12. Protestant Mystics of the Seventeenth Century 13. Early Modern French Mystics 14. Light and Reason 15. Romantics, Nature Mystics, and Transcendentalists 16. Modern Voices Epilogue Appendix: Poems Inspired by the Mystics Notes Bibliography Index

'A book where the heart and mind are brought into contact with the wealth and eccentricity of the Christian mystical tradition.'

James Harpur is a poet, author and translator who lives in Ireland. He was the 2023 Writer Fellow at the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing, Trinity College, Dublin. His debut novel, The Pathless Country, won the J G Farrell Award and was shortlisted for the John McGahern Prize.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Preface Introduction 1. First Seeds 2. Deserts and Monasteries 3. The Early Middle Ages 4. The Twelfth Century 5. Preachers and Poets: The Franciscans 6. Holy Women: The Beguines 7. Mystics of the Rhineland 8. The Flame of English Mysticism 9. Women Mystics of Italy and Sweden 10. Eastern Orthodox Mysticism 11. Mystics of Spain 12. Protestant Mystics of the Seventeenth Century 13. Early Modern French Mystics 14. Light and Reason 15. Romantics, Nature Mystics, and Transcendentalists 16. Modern Voices Epilogue Appendix: Poems Inspired by the Mystics Notes Bibliography Index

'A book where the heart and mind are brought into contact with the wealth and eccentricity of the Christian mystical tradition.'

James Harpur is a poet, author and translator who lives in Ireland. He was the 2023 Writer Fellow at the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing, Trinity College, Dublin. His debut novel, The Pathless Country, won the J G Farrell Award and was shortlisted for the John McGahern Prize.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Preface Introduction 1. First Seeds 2. Deserts and Monasteries 3. The Early Middle Ages 4. The Twelfth Century 5. Preachers and Poets: The Franciscans 6. Holy Women: The Beguines 7. Mystics of the Rhineland 8. The Flame of English Mysticism 9. Women Mystics of Italy and Sweden 10. Eastern Orthodox Mysticism 11. Mystics of Spain 12. Protestant Mystics of the Seventeenth Century 13. Early Modern French Mystics 14. Light and Reason 15. Romantics, Nature Mystics, and Transcendentalists 16. Modern Voices Epilogue Appendix: Poems Inspired by the Mystics Notes Bibliography Index

'A book where the heart and mind are brought into contact with the wealth and eccentricity of the Christian mystical tradition.'