He wrote a treatise on mystical theology, also known as *De Triplici via ad sapientiam*, falsely attributed to St. Bonaventure, translated into Italian as early as the 14th century and into other languages. Without doubt, U. di B. is one of the first ascetical writers to describe the interior life according to the three progressive "ways": purgative, illuminative, and unitive, which later became traditional. He also treats of "aspirations," i.e., ejaculatory prayers (v.), which he often calls *anagogici motus*. At the end of the treatise, he raises the question of whether purely affective prayer, without any act of the intellect, is possible; and he answers in the affirmative.
BIBL.: S. Autore, Hugues de B., in DTHC, VII (1927), cols. 215-20 (with indication of sources and bibliography); P. Dubourg, La date de la *Theologia mystica*, in *Rev. d'asc. et de myst.*, 8 (1927), pp. 156-71. Anselmo Giabbani