ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that any historical or geographical transition is marked by specific semantic changes which in turn create new linguistic milieus, these in turn creating new possibilities for experience by reflecting different realities and modes of describing these realities. Mystics emphasize the subjective nature of their experiences – Ralph Hanna III describes how Richard Rolle, in naming himself and his experiences, created his own vocabulary. While mystics are usually anxious to be seen to be operating within orthodox thought, the fact that they base their writings on experience rather than on teaching means they are, by implication, allowing their readers to question the role authority plays in directing their beliefs. Among Carthusians books and learning were disseminated, particularly in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, via copying, translation, import and physical transfer. The books written, collected and disseminated by Carthusians seem to be reaching out to a wider community.
