HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hope Emily Allen (1883–1960), was an American medievalist who is best known for her research on the 14th-century English mystic
Richard Rolle Richard Rolle ( – 30 September 1349) was an English hermit, mystic, and religious writer. He is also known as Richard Rolle of Hampole or de Hampole, since at the end of his life he lived near a Cistercian nunnery in Hampole, now in S ...
and for her discovery of a manuscript of the Book of
Margery Kempe Margery Kempe ( – after 1438) was an English Catholic mystic, known for writing through dictation '' The Book of Margery Kempe'', a work considered by some to be the first autobiography in the English language. Her book chronicles her domes ...
.


Early life and education

Hope Emily Allen was born in Kenwood, Madison County, New York, on November 12, 1883. Her parents, Henry Grosvenor Allen and Portia Allen (born Underhill), had previously lived for a time in the
Oneida Community The Oneida Community ( ) was a Christian perfection, perfectionist religious communal society founded by John Humphrey Noyes and his followers in 1848 near Oneida, New York. The community believed that Jesus had Hyper-preterism, already return ...
, an experimental group based on socialist principles that broke up in 1880. Allen spent much of her life living on property that originally belonged to the community. She also lived in
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...
, Ontario, Canada, attending Niagara Falls (Ontario) Collegiate. Allen undertook her undergraduate studies at
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...
, with special interests in the study of
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...
literary texts, taught by medievalist Carleton Brown. She graduated in 1905 as one of "The Ten" top scholars. The next year she completed graduate work, also at Bryn Mawr, in English literature and Greek, earning a master's degree. After Bryn Mawr, she went to
Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...
to begin studying for her PhD, and in 1910 she enrolled at
Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...
, for a semester to study English literature. That semester eventually became a period of three years. After a period of illness, Allen returned to Oneida to recover. In September 1913, her mother died, and Allen assumed care of her father. During World War I, she remained in the United States, working on Rolle, frequently writing to her friends in England, and sending them care packages. On July 7, 1920, her father died. By 1921, Allen had returned to London, lodging at 116
Cheyne Row Cheyne Row is a residential street in Chelsea, London. It runs roughly north to south from the crossroads with Upper Cheyne Row, where it becomes Glebe Place, leading down to a t-junction with Cheyne Walk which forms an embankment of the Ri ...
with a Cambridge friend, scientist-artist Marietta Pallis.


Scholarly career and feminism

Allen's time in Britain allowed her to make a great number of personal and academic connections, as well as experience European culture. She was closely connected with a group of other women scholars on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, including Joan Wake and Dorothy Ellis. During her time in Britain, she pursued her two lifelong goals: medieval scholarship and feminism. Allen had great concern for women's values and identity, and continued to fight for these issues throughout her life. Allen described herself as an "independent scholar," and she never accepted an academic teaching appointment. This independence allowed her to research more freely, so that she could closely examine texts that had not received recognition before. It may also have worked against her, in the lack of public credit for her work, and in her omission from later cultural and historical studies. Her writing falls into three overlapping groups: her early work on the ''
Ancrene Riwle ''Ancrene Wisse'' (; also known as the ''Ancrene Riwle'' or ''Guide for Anchoresses'') is an anonymous monastic rule (or manual) for anchoresses written in the early 13th century. The work consists of eight parts: divine service, keeping the ...
''; her insight into the study of Richard Rolle; and her research on the cultural background of ''
The Book of Margery Kempe ''The Book of Margery Kempe'' is a medieval text attributed to Margery Kempe, an English Christian mystic and pilgrim who lived at the turn of the fifteenth century. It details Kempe's life, her travels, her accounts of divine revelation includ ...
''. Themes in her work include the spirituality of women in the late Middle Ages (''Ancrene Riwle''), and the contradictions and impossibilities in the work of Richard Rolle. In work on both the ''Ancrene Riwle'' and ''Margery Kempe'', she identified a need for a "history of culture", extending both the range of material to be considered, and the kinds of questions to be asked. In 1910, she presented evidence that Rolle was not the author o
''The Prick of Conscience''
in the Radcliffe Monographs. In 1927 she published ''Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, Hermit of Hampole, and Materials for His Biography'' in the third volume of the Monograph Series of the Modern Language Association of America. In 1931, she published ''English Writings of Richard Rolle, Hermit of Hampole.'' In 1934, Allen identified the one surviving manuscript of the '' Book of Margery Kempe'', an autobiographical account of a Norfolk mystic and pilgrim, mentioned, with a few pages of extracts, by Wynkyn de Worde about 1501. It was found in a cupboard at Southgate House, Chesterfield,url=http://www.southgate-house.co.uk/ the home of Lt.-Col. William Erdeswick Ignatius Butler-Bowdon. Albert Van de Put of the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
borrowed it, and showed it to Hope Emily Allen, who was visiting Britain at the time. Allen returned to the United States in the 1930s, living in
Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, where she continued to pursue her research and writing, and to carry on correspondence with friends and scholars such as Joan Wake. Allen was the assistant editor of the Early Modern English Dictionary at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
from 1933 to 1938. Allen asked Sanford Brown Meech, a colleague at Michigan, to collaborate with her in editing ''The Book of Margery Kempe''. However, Meech began mistreating Allen, and attempted to take over the edition, and eventually, the work was issued in two volumes, as the collaborators could not agree' on account of Meech's misogynistic attitude to Allen. Volume I of ''The Book of Margery Kempe'', with notes by Hope Emily Allen, was published by the
Early English Text Society The Early English Text Society (EETS) is a text publication society founded in 1864 which is dedicated to the editing and publication of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes contain editions of ...
in 1940. Sadly, although Allen planned and worked extensively on a second volume of her magnum opus; it was never completed. Nevertheless, Allen promoted a secular, feminist criticism of the ''Book of Margery Kempe'', raising issues of the materiality of the text and its cultural production in addition to its content. Her work significantly prefigures current scholarship on the text.


Later life

Allen apparently suffered from severe
osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of articular cartilage, joint cartilage and underlying bone. A form of arthritis, it is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the world, affect ...
in later life, which made it difficult for her to travel and work. It was a painful comparison to her earlier active life, of which she had written, "when libraries were closed I walked all day in ing'sLynn, poking into all the corners both of streets and churches. I am a great believer in the living picture as a stimulus to study." She eventually returned to her hometown of Oneida, New York, and spent the last years of her life at the Mansion House in Kenwood. She died on July 1, 1960.


Awards and honors

In 1929 Allen was awarded the
Rose Mary Crawshay Prize The Rose Mary Crawshay Prize is a literary prize for female scholars, inaugurated in 1888 by the British Academy. Description The prize, set up in 1888, is said by the British Academy to be the only UK literary prize specifically for female sc ...
of the
British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
for her work on Richard Rolle. In 1946 she was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Smith College. In 1948, she was inducted into the Medieval Academy of America. In 1960 she was "designated one of the seventy-six most distinguished graduates of Bryn Mawr College". A significant collection of materials relating to Hope Emily Allen's life can be found at the Bryn Mawr College Library. The papers consist primarily of research notes by Allen, photostats and typescripts of manuscripts, and professional correspondence. Topics include the ''Book of Margery Kempe'', the ''Ancrene Riwle'', and Richard Rolle.


References


External links

*
The Book of Margery Kemp
', digitized manuscript, British Library, c. 1440 * Finding aid to th
Hope Emily Allen Papers at Bryn Mawr College
* Finding aid to th
Hope Emily Allen collection
at th
University of Pennsylvania Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Hope Emily People from Oneida, New York Bryn Mawr College alumni 1883 births 1960 deaths American medievalists American women medievalists American feminists University of Michigan people Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Historians from New York (state)