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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 An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
in the English language. Her book chronicles her domestic tribulations, her extensive
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
s to holy sites in Europe and the
Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
, as well as her mystical conversations with God. She is honoured in the
Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...
, but has not been canonised as a Catholic saint.


Early life and family

She was born Margery Burnham or Brunham around 1373 in Bishop's Lynn (now King's Lynn), Norfolk, England. Her father, John Brunham, was a merchant in Lynn, mayor of the town and Member of Parliament. The first record of her Brunham family is a mention of her grandfather, Ralph de Brunham, in 1320 in the ''Red Register'' of Lynn. By 1340, he had joined the Parliament of Lynn. Kempe's kinsman Robert Brunham, possibly her brother, became a Member of Parliament for Lynn in 1402 and 1417.Beal, Jane. "Margery Kempe." British Writers: Supplement 12. Ed. Jay Parini. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2007. Scribner Writers Series. n.pag. Web. 23 October 2013.


Life

No records remain of any formal education that Kempe may have received. As an adult, a priest read to her "works of religious devotion" in English, which suggests that she might have been unable to read them herself, although she seems to have learned various texts by heart. Kempe appears to have been taught the Pater Noster (the
Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...
),
Ave Maria The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...
, the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...
, and other "virtues, vices, and articles of faith". At around twenty years of age, Kempe married John Kempe, who became a town official in 1394. Margery and John had at least fourteen children. A letter survives from
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
which identifies the name of her eldest son as John and gives a reason for his visit to Lynn in 1431. Kempe, like other medieval mystics, believed that she was summoned to a "greater intimacy with Christ" as a result of multiple visions and experiences she had as an adult. After the birth of her first child, Kempe went through a period of crisis for nearly eight months,Torn, Alison. "Medieval Mysticism Or Psychosis?." Psychologist 24.10 (2011): 788–790. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 8 October 2013. which may perhaps have been an episode of postpartum psychosis. During her illness, Kempe claimed to have envisioned numerous devils and demons attacking her and commanding her to "forsake her faith, her family, and her friends". She claims that they even encouraged her to commit suicide. She also had a vision of Jesus Christ in the form of a man who asked her, "Daughter, why have you forsaken me, and I never forsook you?". Kempe affirms that she had visitations and conversations with Jesus, Mary, God, and other religious figures, and that she had visions of being an active participant during the birth and crucifixion of Christ. These visions and hallucinations physically affected her bodily senses, causing her to hear sounds and smell unknown, strange odours. She reported hearing a heavenly melody that made her weep and want to live a chaste life. According to Beal, "Margery found other ways to express the intensity of her devotion to God. She prayed for a chaste marriage, went to confession two or three times a day, prayed early and often each day in church, wore a hair shirt, and willingly suffered whatever negative responses her community expressed in response to her extreme forms of devotion". An explanation for bearing this scrutiny from others was her conversation held with the mystic Julian of Norwich, whom she travelled to meet. At the end of their conversation, Julian of Norwich implores that "the more shame she empeelicits, the more merit she gains in the eyes of the Lord". Kempe was also known throughout her community for her constant weeping as she begged Christ for mercy and forgiveness. In Kempe's vision, Christ reassured her that he had forgiven her sins. "He gave her several commands: to call him her love, to stop wearing the hair shirt, to give up eating meat, to take the Eucharist every Sunday, to pray the rosary only until six o'clock, to be still and speak to him in thought"; he also promised her that he would "give her victory over her enemies, give her the ability to answer all clerks, and that ewill be with her and never forsake her, and to help her and never be parted from her". Kempe did not join a religious order, but carried out "her life of devotion, prayer, and tears in public". Her visions provoked her public displays of loud wailing, sobbing, and writhing, which frightened and annoyed both clergy and laypeople. At one point in her life, she was imprisoned by the clergy and town officials and threatened with the possibility of rape. However, she does not record being sexually assaulted. During the 1420s, she dictated her Book, known today as ''The Book of Margery Kempe'', which illustrates her visions, mystical and religious experiences, as well as her "temptations to lechery, her travels, and her trial for heresy".Drabble, Margaret. "Margery Kempe." The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. 552. Print. Kempe's book is commonly considered to be the first
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
written in the English language. Kempe was tried for heresy multiple times but never convicted. She mentions with pride her ability to deny the accusations of
Lollardy Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...
with which she was faced. Possible reasons for her arrests include her preaching, which was forbidden to women, her wearing of all white as a married woman, i.e., impersonating a nun, or her apparent belief that she could pray for the souls of those in
purgatory In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul ...
and tell whether or not someone was damned, in a manner similar to the concept of the
intercession of saints The intercession of saints is a Catholic doctrine that maintains that saints can intercession, intercede for others. To intercede is to go or come between two parties, to plead before one of them on behalf of the other. In ecclesiastical usage bo ...
. Kempe was also accused of preaching without Church approval as her public speeches skirted a thin line between making statements about her personal faith and professing to teach scripture. During an inquiry into her heresy she was thought to be possessed by a devil for quoting the scripture, and reminded of the prohibition against women preachers in 1 Timothy. Kempe proved to be something of a nuisance in the communities where she resided, as her frantic wailing and extreme emotional responses seemed to imply a superior connection to God that some other lay people saw as diminishing their own, or inappropriately privileged above the relationship between God and the clergy.


Spiritual autobiography

Nearly everything that is known of Kempe's life comes from her spiritual autobiography known as the ''Book''. In the early 1430s, despite her illiteracy, Kempe decided to record her spiritual life. In the preface to the book, she describes how she employed an Englishman as a
scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...
. He had lived in Germany, but he died before the work was completed and what he had written was unintelligible to others. This may possibly have been John Kempe, her eldest son. She then persuaded a local priest, who may have been her confessor Robert Springold, to begin rewriting on 23 July 1436. On 28 April 1438, he started work on an additional section covering the years 1431–4.Felicity Riddy, 'Kempe, Margery (b. c.1373, d. in or after 1438)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009). The narrative of Kempe's ''Book'' begins with the difficult birth of her first child. After describing the demonic torment and Christic apparition that followed, Kempe undertook two domestic businesses: a brewery and a grain mill, both common home-based businesses for medieval women. Both failed after a short period of time. Although she tried to be more devout, she was tempted by sexual pleasures and social jealousy for some years. Eventually turning away from her worldly work, Kempe dedicated herself completely to the spiritual calling that she felt her earlier vision required. In the summer of 1413, striving to live a life of commitment to God, Kempe negotiated a chaste marriage with her husband. Although chapter 15 of ''The Book of Margery Kempe'' describes her decision to lead a celibate life, chapter 21 mentions that she is pregnant once again. It has been speculated that Kempe gives birth to a child, her last, during her pilgrimage; she later relates that she brought a child with her when she returned to England. It is unclear whether the child was conceived before the Kempes began their celibacy, or in a momentary lapse after it. Sometime around 1413, Kempe visited the female mystic and anchoress Julian of Norwich at her cell in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
. According to her own account, Kempe visited Julian and stayed for several days. She was especially eager to obtain Julian's approval for her visions of and conversations with God. The text reports that Julian approved of Kempe's revelations and gave Kempe reassurance that her religiosity was genuine. However, Julian instructed and cautioned Kempe to "measure these experiences according to the worship they accrue to God and the profit to her fellow Christians." Julian also confirmed that Kempe's tears were physical evidence of the Holy Spirit in soul. Kempe also received affirmation of her gifts of tears by way of approving comparison to a continental holy woman. In chapter 62, Kempe describes an encounter with a friar who was relentless in his accusation for her incessant tears. The friar admitted to having read of Marie of Oignies and recognised that Kempe's tears were also a result of similar authentic devotion. During this time, Kempe's spiritual confessor was Richard Caister, the Vicar of St Stephen's Church, Norwich, who was buried in the church in 1420. Kempe prayed at Caister's burial place for the healing of a priest. After the priest was healed, Caister's burial place became a shrine for pilgrimage. In 1438, the year her book is known to have been completed, a "Margueria Kempe", who may well have been Margery Kempe, was admitted to the Trinity Guild of Lynn. It is not known whether this is the same woman, and it is unknown when or where after this date Kempe died.


Later influence

The manuscript was copied, probably shortly before 1450, by someone who signed himself Salthows on the bottom portion of the final page. This scribe has been shown to be the Norwich monk Richard Salthouse. The manuscript contains annotations by four different writers. The first page of the manuscript contains the rubric "Liber Montis Gracie. This boke is of Mountegrace," making certain that some of the annotations are the work of monks associated with the important Carthusian priory of Mount Grace in Yorkshire. Although the four readers largely concerned themselves with correcting mistakes or emending the manuscript for clarity, there are also remarks about the Book's substance and some images which reflect Kempe's themes and images. A recipe, added to the final folio of the manuscript by a late 14th- or early 15th-century reader of the Book, possibly at the cathedral priory in Norwich, provides more evidence of its readership and has been determined to be for medicinal sweets, or digestives, called 'dragges'. Kempe's book was essentially lost for centuries, being known only from excerpts published by Wynkyn de Worde in around 1501, and by Henry Pepwell in 1521. In 1934, a manuscript, now British Library Add MS 61823, the only surviving manuscript of Kempe's ''Book'', was found in the private library of the Butler-Bowdon family, and then consulted by Hope Emily Allen. It has since been reprinted and translated in numerous editions.


Significance

Part of Kempe's significance lies in the autobiographical nature of her book. It is the best insight available of a female middle-class experience in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. Kempe is unusual compared to contemporaneous holy women, such as Julian of Norwich, because she was not a nun or anchoress. Although Kempe has sometimes been depicted as an "oddity" or a "madwoman", more modern scholarship on vernacular theologies and popular practices of piety suggests she was not as odd as she might appear. Her ''Book'' is revealed as a carefully constructed spiritual and social commentary. Some have suggested that it was written as fiction to explore the aspects of the society in which she lived in a believable way. The suggestion that Kempe wrote her book as a work of fiction is said to be supported by the fact that she speaks of herself as "this creature" throughout the text, dissociating her from her work. Her autobiography begins with "the onset of her spiritual quest, her recovery from the ghostly aftermath of her first child-bearing". There is no firm evidence that Kempe could read or write, but Leyser notes that her religious culture was certainly informed by texts. She had such works read to her, including the by Richard Rolle. Walter Hilton has been cited as another possible influence upon Kempe. Among other books that Kempe had read to her were, repeatedly, the ''Revelations'' of
Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden, Bridgettines, OSsS ( – 23 July 1374), also known as Birgitta Birgersdotter and Birgitta of Vadstena (), was a Swedish Catholic Mysticism, mystic and the founder of the Bridgettines. Outside Sweden, she was also known as the ...
. Her own pilgrimages were related to those of that married saint, who had had eight children. Kempe and her ''Book'' are significant because they express the tension in late medieval England between institutional orthodoxy, and increasingly public modes of religious dissent, especially those of the
Lollards Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...
. Throughout her spiritual career, Kempe was challenged by both church and civil authorities on her adherence to the teachings of the institutional Church. The
Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of Nort ...
and the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
,
Thomas Arundel Thomas Arundel (1353 – 19 February 1414) was an English clergyman who served as Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of York during the reign of Richard II, as well as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken o ...
, were involved in trials of her allegedly teaching and preaching on scripture and faith in public, and wearing white clothes, interpreted as hypocrisy on the part of a married woman. In his efforts to suppress
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...
, Arundel had enacted laws that forbade allowing women to preach, since the very fact of a woman preaching was seen as anti-canonical. In the 15th century, a pamphlet was published that represented Kempe as an anchoress and stripped from her "Book" any potential heterodoxical thought or dissenting behaviour. That made some later scholars believe that she was a vowed religious holy woman like Julian of Norwich, and they were surprised to encounter the psychologically and spiritually complex woman revealed in the original text of the "Book".


Mysticism

In the 14th century, the task of interpreting the Bible and God through the written word was nominally restricted to men, specifically ordained priests. Because of this restriction, women mystics often expressed their experience of God differently – through the senses and the body – especially in the late Middle Ages. Mystics directly experienced God in three classical ways: first, bodily visions, meaning to be aware with one's senses – sight, sound, or others; second, ghostly visions, such as spiritual visions and sayings directly imparted to the soul; and lastly, intellectual enlightenment, where one's mind came into a new understanding of God. Margery Kempe's style of mysticism was very participatory, judging by the fact that, along with her visions, she had specific actions that she would complete as a way of devoting herself to God. Namely, Kempe wept frequently as a way of showing her religiosity. There was another, perhaps more important, purpose associated with her weeping; that is, she could "win many souls from him he Devilwith your weeping".


Pilgrimages

Kempe was motivated to make a pilgrimage by hearing or reading the English translation of
Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden, Bridgettines, OSsS ( – 23 July 1374), also known as Birgitta Birgersdotter and Birgitta of Vadstena (), was a Swedish Catholic Mysticism, mystic and the founder of the Bridgettines. Outside Sweden, she was also known as the ...
's '' Revelations''. This work promotes the purchase of indulgences at holy sites. These were pieces of paper representing the pardoning by the Church of purgatorial time, otherwise owed after death due to sins. Kempe went on many pilgrimages and is known to have purchased indulgences for friends, enemies, the souls trapped in Purgatory and herself.


First Great Pilgrimage, 1413–1415

In 1413, soon after her father's death, Kempe left her husband to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land."Kempe, Margery (c. 1373 – c. 1440 )." British Writers: Supplement 12. Ed. Jay Parini. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2007. 167–183. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 October 2013. During the winter, she spent 13 weeks in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
but she talks little about her observations of Venice in her book. At the time Venice was at "the height of its medieval splendor, rich in commerce and holy relics." From Venice, Kempe travelled to
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
via Ramlah. Kempe's voyage from Venice to Jerusalem is not a large part of her story overall. It is thought that she passed through
Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
, which was the usual port for pilgrims who were heading to Jerusalem. One vivid detail that she recalls was her riding on a donkey when she saw Jerusalem for the first time, probably from Nabi Samwil, and that she nearly fell off the donkey because she was in such shock from the vision in front of her. During her pilgrimage Kempe visited places that she saw to be holy. She was in Jerusalem for three weeks and went to
Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
where Christ was born. She visited
Mount Zion Mount Zion (, ''Har Ṣīyyōn''; , ''Jabal Sahyoun'') is a hill in Jerusalem, located just outside the walls of the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City to the south. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew Bible first for the City of David ( ...
, which was where she believed Jesus had washed his disciples' feet. Kempe visited the burial places of Jesus, his mother Mary and the cross itself. She went to the River Jordan and Mount Quarentyne, which was where they believed Jesus had fasted for forty days, and
Bethany Bethany (,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac language, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā''), locally called in Palestinian Arabic, Arabic Al-Eizariya or al-Aizariya (, "Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba,
lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...
of Lazarus (name), L ...
, where Martha, Mary and Lazarus had lived. After she visited the Holy Land, Kempe returned to Italy and stayed in Assisi before going to Rome. Like many other medieval English pilgrims, Kempe resided at the Hospital of Saint Thomas of Canterbury in Rome. During her stay, she visited many churches including
San Giovanni in Laterano The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (officially the ''Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of A ...
,
Santa Maria Maggiore Santa Maria Maggiore (), also known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major or the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great, is one of the four Basilicas in the Catholic Church#Major and papal basilicas, major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim C ...
, Santi Apostoli, San Marcello and St Birgitta's Chapel. She left Rome in Easter 1415. When Kempe returned to Norwich, she passed through Middelburg, in today's Netherlands.


Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, 1417–1418

In 1417, Kempe set off on a pilgrimage to
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
in Spain, travelling via Bristol, where she stayed at Henbury with Thomas Peverel, bishop of Worcester. On her return from Spain she visited the shrine of the holy blood at Hailes Abbey, in Gloucestershire, and then went to Leicester. Kempe recounts several public interrogations during her travels. One followed her arrest by the Mayor of Leicester who accused her, in Latin, of being a "cheap whore, a lying
Lollard Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...
," and threatened her with prison. After Kempe was able to insist on the right of accusations to be made in English and to defend herself she was briefly cleared, but then brought to trial again by the Abbot, Dean and Mayor, and imprisoned for three weeks. After this, Kempe continued to York. Here, she had many friends with whom she wept and attended Mass. She encountered further accusation, specifically of
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...
, of which she was eventually found innocent by the Archbishop. She returned to Lynn some time in 1418. She visited important sites and religious figures in England, including Philip Repyngdon (the
Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of Nort ...
),
Henry Chichele Henry Chichele ( ; also Checheley; – 12 April 1443) was Archbishop of Canterbury (1414–1443) and founded All Souls College, Oxford. Early life Chichele was born at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, in 1363 or 1364; Chichele told Pope Eu ...
, and
Thomas Arundel Thomas Arundel (1353 – 19 February 1414) was an English clergyman who served as Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of York during the reign of Richard II, as well as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken o ...
, both
Archbishops of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop was Augustine ...
. In the 1420s, Kempe lived apart from her husband. When he fell ill, however, she returned to Lynn to be his nursemaid. Their son, who lived in Germany, also returned to Lynn with his wife. Both her son and husband died in 1431.


Pilgrimage to Prussia, 1433–1434

The last section of Kempe's book deals with a journey, beginning in April 1433, aiming to travel to Danzig with her daughter-in-law. From Danzig, Kempe visited the
Holy Blood of Wilsnack The Holy Blood of Wilsnack was the name given to three hosts, which survived a fire in 1383 that burned the church and village to the ground. The hosts were thus seen as miraculous. The relics became the destination of medieval religious pilgri ...
relic. She then travelled to
Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...
, and returned to Lynn via
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...
,
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
and London, where she visited
Syon Abbey Syon Abbey , also called simply Syon, was a dual monastery of men and women of the Bridgettines, Bridgettine Order, although it only ever had abbesses during its existence. It was founded in 1415 and stood, until its demolition in the 16th cent ...
.


Veneration

Margery Kempe is honoured in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
with a commemoration on 9 November and in the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...
together with Richard Rolle and Walter Hilton on 9 November.


Memorials

In 2018, the Mayor of King's Lynn, Nick Daubney, unveiled a bench commemorating Kempe in the Saturday Market Place. The bench was designed by local furniture-maker, Toby Winteringham, and sponsored by the King's Lynn Civic Society. There is a Margery Kempe Society, founded in 2018 by Laura Kalas of
Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...
and Laura Varnam of
University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...
, whose aim is the support and promotion of the scholarship, study and teaching of ''The Book of Margery Kempe''. In 2020, a statue in honour of Kempe was erected at the entrance of a medieval bridge in Oroso in Northern Spain, on the pilgrimage trail she would have followed to Santiago de Compostela. A sculpture of Kempe, entitled 'A Woman in Motion', was installed in King's Lynn Minster in 2023. It is made of aluminium and depicts Kempe wearing a wide-brimmed hat typical of medieval pilgrims with her head bowed in prayer.


Dramatic depictions

Kempe's life and her ''Book'' have been the subject of several dramatic portrayals: * ''The Saintliness of Margery Kempe'', written by John Wulp in 1959, and revived in 2018. * '' Margery Kempe'', written by New Narrative co-founder Robert Glück in 1994 and republished by the ''
New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
'' in 2020.


Modern editions

* * Prefatory note by Hope Emily Allen. * With an introduction by R.W. Chambers. * * * Republished online as * * *


Fictionalised treatment

* Perigrinor, Ffiona (2021). ''Reluctant Pilgrim: The Lost Book of Margery Kempe's Maidservant.'' Anglepoise Books. ISBN 978-1916309951. * * MacKenzie, Victoria (Broadcast 30 March 2024). ''For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain.'' BBC Radio 4, Drama on 4.


References


Further reading

* * * * Castagna, Valentina ''Re-reading Margery Kempe in the 21st Century'', New York: Peter Lang, 2011. * Cholmeley, Katharine ''Margery Kempe, Genius and Mystic'', New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1947. * * * * * McEntire, Sandra ''Margery Kempe: A Book of Essays'', New York: Garland, 1992. * Mitchell, Marea ''The Book of Margery Kempe: Scholarship, Community, and Criticism'', New York: Peter Lang, 2005. * *


External links


British Library MS Add. 61823: The Margery Kempe Manuscript



Mapping Margery Kempe
a site including the full text of her book with explanations

"Aspects of the High Middle Ages," University of Edinburgh School of Divinity *
The Book of Margery Kempe
' at Google Books


In Our Time podcast: Margery Kempe and English Mysticism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kempe, Margery 1373 births 14th-century English businesspeople 14th-century English women writers 14th-century Christian mystics 15th-century deaths 15th-century English women writers 15th-century English writers 15th-century Christian mystics Roman Catholic mystics English Catholic mystics Middle English literature Medieval historical texts English Roman Catholics English autobiographers English religious writers English women religious writers Writers from King's Lynn Pre-Reformation Anglican saints Female saints of medieval England Women autobiographers Women mystics Anglican saints Medieval businesswomen 15th-century English businesspeople