Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / The life and writings of the Blessed John of Ruysbroeck lie at the heart of the Golden Age of Mysticism. The purpose of this study has been to present his life and an interpretation of his writings in the form of a narrative poem, thouroughly documented according to accepted dissertation practice, and to show that his life and writings exerted influence upon Gerhardt Groote and John Tauler. The result of the study indicates that Ruysbroeck had a clear conception and structure for his mystical thought presenting a doctrine of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a doctrine of man, and a conception of the Church, which, while illuminated in many instances with mystic insight, are still conformale to the spirit and intellect of the fourteenth century. [TRUNCATED]