Richard Rolle
English hermit and religious writer (c.1300–1349)
Feast: 20 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Richard Rolle of Yorkshire left Oxford at nineteen to live as a hermit. Sheltered by a friend, he passed through years of purification to contemplation, which he described as warmth, song and sweetness in The Fire of Love.
He later lived near the Cistercian nuns of Hampole, where he died on 29 September 1349. Miracles were reported at his tomb.
The miracles
Preparations were made for his canonisation, including a Mass and Office in his honour, but the cause was never pursued.
Why that counted as sanctity
A hermit and mystic who wrote of the fire of God's love.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Richard Rolle de Hampole
- Wikidata Q2345308 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Richard Rolle (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.