HILTON, WALTER. - English mystic, Augustinian canon of Thurgarton in Nottinghamshire, d. 24 March 1396. His fame is bound up with his treatise or guide to contemplation, *The Scale of Perfection* (*Scala perfectionis*).
He was a fervent admirer of the Carthusians but never belonged to their Order, as was erroneously reported by J. Pitts (1619) and S. Cressy (1659). Fr. Guy revived this hypothesis in 1869, but H. himself expressly states that he is not a monk. Juliana of Norwich (q.v.) must have known his work, for on a couple of occasions she echoes his words. From the beginning of the 15th century some have attributed to him the authorship of *The Imitation of Christ*, but this hypothesis is highly improbable.
His work was especially praised by St. Thomas More. *The Scale* was published in the following editions: 1494, 1507, 1659 (ed. Cressy), 1869 and 1870; it was soon translated into Latin under the title *Speculum* or *Baculus contemplationis* by the Carmelite Thomas Fyslave and was highly esteemed by the Carthusians. H. also wrote *To a Devout Man in Temporal Estate* and *The Song of Angels*, printed respectively in 1506 and 1521, the former reprinted in 1909 by E. G. Gardner under the title *The Cell of Self-Knowledge*; and other minor works (cf. *Minor Works of W. H.*, ed. Dorothy Jones, London 1929). The *Musica Ecclesiastica*, initially attributed to him, is formed from the first three books of *The Imitation of Christ*. H. is also renowned as a writer. His English prose is admirable for its clear, simple, concise and elegant style.
His mystical-theological system is essentially that of Richard of St. Victor, simplified. H. sets forth the purification of the soul, the mystical dark night, the soul’s progress until it becomes perfect love of Jesus, “perfectly united to Him in tender love.” The entire work is rich in beauty of thought, felicitous documentation and expression, and that practical wisdom so evident in *To a Devout Man in Temporal Estate*, which may be compared to the counsels of St. Francis de Sales to those living in the world.