Contemplation and the Contemplative Life According to Three Carthusians: Guigues II, Hugh of Balma, and Guigues du Pont

The understanding of contemplation and the contemplative life sees an interesting evolution in an order contemplative par excellence, the Carthusians, between its beginnings and the end of the xiiith century. On the basis of the analyses of three authors, Guigues II, Hugh of Balma, and Guigues Du Pont, this article endeavors to explore this turn. Heir to the monastic tradition of lectio divina, the first sets in place the ladder for monks ascending from reading to meditation, from prayer to contemplation. Yet the second saws apart the rungs. Conceiving of a mystical theology, an affective union with God without preceding or concomitant knowledge, he shows the way to the paradox of a contemplative life without contemplation. The subtle distinctions of the last bestow upon mystical theology an anagogic contemplation and clear the away around it for a speculative contemplation of the philosophers, theologians and mystics.