ADOLF of Essen. - A courtly ascetical writer, born in the second half of the 14th century. After studying philosophy, law, and theology with distinction in Cologne, in 1378 he entered the Carthusian monastery in Trier, where he served as prior from 1409 to 1415. Chronicles describe him as a pious, learned, and holy man. He died of the plague on June 4, 1439, in the reputation of holiness. He left several manuscripts in which he described the visions and divine charisms he had received from heaven, including the revelation concerning the Rosary.
As confessor to the Blessed Margaret, Duchess of Lorraine, he wrote the following booklets for the use of his penitent: *De commendatione Rosarii*; *Vita Servatoris nostri*; *Exercitium de triplici meditatione*; *De exercitio remissionis peccatorum*. The manuscripts were preserved in the library of the Carthusian monastery in Cologne before its suppression. He also wrote the *Vita B. Margaritae Lotharingiae Duciisae*, published in the collection *Farfagines litterariae*, XIV, pp. 399-420.