ABSTRACT
Recurring figures throughout medieval history, ones that attracted and still attract more attention than the actual numbers would justify, are the religious mystic and heroic ascetic. Capturing local and, at times, national and international notoriety, mystics such as Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), and Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) and heroic ascetics such as Simeon Stylites the elder (c.388-459) and younger (521-597), Peter of Luxembourg (13691387), and Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) served as exemplars of Christian pursuit of the divine and rejection of worldly values.
