Margery Kempe: An Introduction,

In the tradition of the last few weeks of articles on interesting women in the history of the church, this week we'll briefly delve into the life of Margery of Kempe, who is particularly notable not only for her mystical visions and interesting life, but for having produced the first autobiography of a woman in Western history. While Margery's religious life was clearly extraordinary, her autobiography also serves to provide the modern reader with a glimpse into the life of a laywoman at the end of the Middle Ages.

Margery's autobiography, The Book of Margery Kempe, was written around 1430, towards the end of her life. She describes a life not unlike that of many upper-middle class women of the Middle Ages. She married, worked and bore fourteen children. Margery was the daughter of a wealthy townsperson, and her husband, John Kempe, was an alderman in the town of Lynn. After the birth of her first child, Margery had a nervous breakdown and was finally cured by a vision of Christ. Margery was fond of the good things in life, and was, after her breakdown, resumed her efforts at wealth and fortune. When her money-making ventures failed, she questioned her own faith and worth. As she aged, her relationship with God changed and she was granted the gift of tears. She was socially ostracized because of this gift (it is, after all, rather inconvenient to have someone wailing during Mass). Her autobiography describes her negotiations with her husband to have a celibate marriage, her travels and pilgrimages, and most of all her visions of Christ as the eternal bridegroom.

Margery's visions took two forms: participatory visions in which she envisioned herself as present at and participating in the life of Christ and bridal visions in which she envisioned Christ as her spouse. Bridal mysticism, while it is a bit odd by modern standards, was quite common among women, and occasionally men, in the Middle Ages.

Margery's autobiography, if we can call it that, reveals not only her visions, but also the life of a woman in the late Middle Ages. We learn of Margery's fears, her struggles and her triumphs. Her life remains to us as a testament to her own strength and faith and a valuable historical document.

Margery's autobiography has been reprinted many times and is easily available at any library or bookstore.

For more information on Margery, please peruse the following: http://members.nbci.com/screaming1/intel... http://www.luc.edu/publications/medieval... http://www.anamchara.com/mystics/kempe.h... http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/margery...

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