RICHARD ROLLE produced one of the most extensive bodies of religious iliterature of the early fourteenth century; the bulk of this literature is exegetical, but some works are based on Rolle's own mystical experiences, and others can be considered as didactic works, composed specifically with a view to exhorting others to turn to the love of God. Rolle wrote in both English and Latin, more prolifically in the latter, but his works in both languages were widely disseminated throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; this is shown by the large number of surviving manuscripts of his Latin and English writings. Genuine works by Rolle exist in over five hundred extant manuscripts from this period, more than fifty of which contain his English writings, making him a more widely disseminated author than even the celebrated later fourteenth-century English writer Geoffrey Chaucer. It has been noted that in the fifteenth century alone a great many people must have dedicated their time to copying, translating and disseminating Rolle's output; presumably many more spent at least as much time reading him.