Margery Kempe: Medieval Mystic
I would like to introduce you to Margery Kempe, visionary extraordinaire, or lunatic extraordinaire, depending on whom you choose to believe. Born in 1373, she committed, before she married, some “great sin”—most likely sexual—for which she spent the rest of her life repenting. Despite marriage and fourteen children, she devoted herself to spiritual quests.
Since little separation existed between church and state, the church was the intellectual and cultural epicenter of medieval society, a highly efficient hierarchy comprised of three feudal estates: the aristocracy, the fighters and rulers, the ecclesiastics, the keepers of spiritual concerns, and the peasants, the workers. The emergence of the middle class eventually disrupted this hierarchy by redistributing wealth and power to professionals and merchants.
Where wealth and power figure, violence figures. Medieval society was, theoretically, a mannered society. Even war was a chivalrous affair, with various rules dictating the treatment of the defeated. In reality, however, money talked. Unless something profitable could be bargained for the victims, rules became moot. Violence was most evident in religion, where paintings and stories revel in hell’s torments, from roasting and boiling to disemboweling and beheading.
Corruption was rampant in the church, and if you were not politically astute, you risked being branded a heretic and becoming the recipient of violence; heretics were routinely burned at the stake. Hence, the atmosphere for mystics such as Kempe was precarious, at best. Either you were accepted as a vessel chosen by God, or you were assumed to be a vessel chosen by the devil, and hence, a heretic. From all accounts, a fine line separated determination of one vessel from the other.
Margery’s first vision occurred after a difficult birth, which left her very weak. Still reeling with remorse from her previous “great sin,” she decided to confess. Her fear of an eternity suffering the licks of hell’s flames outweighed her initial fear of sharing her digression with anyone, priest or layman. The priest confirmed her initial fear and reproached her mercilessly, until she was unable to continue her confession. The resulting nervous strain effected hallucinations of torture by devils. She tried to commit suicide. Then, miraculously, she underwent a dramatic recovery, claiming a visit from Christ in which he asked why she had forsaken him. This vision left her soothed and serene. Her madness had been so extreme, however, that people were not easily convinced her sanity had been restored. Opinion remained divided. Margery was either destined for sainthood or the stake.
Latest Articles