The Book of Margery Kempe

“[O]ur merciful Lord Christ […] appeared to his creature who had forsaken him, in the likeness of a man, the most seemly, most beauteous, and most amiable that ever might be seen with man’s eye, clad in a mantle of purple silk, sitting upon her bedside […] and he said to her these words: ‘Daughter, why have you forsaken me, and I never foresook you?’”

Margery’s first vision of Christ recalls St. Paul of Tarsus’s conversion experience on the road to Damascus. Paul, born Saul, persecuted followers of the early Christian movement at his synagogue for blasphemy. However, after being struck by a blinding light and hearing a voice asking why he engaged in persecution, Paul became an advocate for Jesus’s continuing ministry and went on to become the apostle to the Gentiles, working to establish early Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean world. Margery’s description of her vision shows her familiarity with the Acts of the Apostles, included in the New Testament, and which recounts Paul’s vision and conversion. Though she may not have been able to read or write, she was not uneducated in Biblical literature and makes frequent references to it throughout the book. Margery’s vision ends the torments that caused her to slander those close to her, just as Paul stopped his persecution. Like Paul, Margery goes on to act as a kind of apostle and prophet, which multiple clerics react to unfavorably due to her gender.

“And often this creature advised her husband to live chaste and said that they had often (she knew well) displeased God by their inordinate love, and the great delight that each of them had in using the other’s body, and now it would be a good thing if by mutual consent they punished and chastised themselves by abstaining from the lust of their bodies.”

Margery raises the issue of chaste marriage early in her book. This practice was not uncommon in medieval Europe, and she frames it as both an act of penance for past sin (lust) and well as a form of imitating Christ’s bodily suffering. By denying their bodies the fulfillment of their sexual desires, Margery and John Kempe could struggle to resist physical, worldly temptation, thereby torturing their bodies. It takes many years before John agrees to a chaste marriage.

“And so he laid before this creature the snare of lechery, when she thought that all physical desire had been wholly quenched in her.”

God tests Margery several times. For example, he withdraws her spiritual thoughts and instead sends her lustful ones. God does so after he sees that she has become arrogant about her ability to resist various temptations. This test is intended to humble Margery and strengthen her devotion.

“She told him how sometimes the Father of Heaven conversed with her soul as plainly and as certainly as one friend speaks to another through bodily speech.”

This passage in which Margery explains her mystical experiences to the Vicar of St. Stephens in Norwich illustrates the nature of those experiences. She hears God’s voice within her soul, thus entering an alternate reality in which God is as real as if he were a human being speaking to her. These early experiences reflect her embrace of Femininity and Mysticism.

“And then she was commanded by our Lord to go to an anchoress in the same city who was called Dame Julian. And so she did, and told her about the grade, that God had put into her soul, the compunction, contrition, sweetness and devotion, compassion with holy meditation and high contemplation, and very many holy speeches […] which she described to the anchoress to find out if there were any deception in them, for the anchoress was expert in such things and could give good advice.”

The text recounts an important meeting of two late medieval mystic women: Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, revealing the phenomenon of Femininity and Mysticism among some medieval women. Margery often seeks the guidance of anchorites scattered throughout East Anglia. However, Julian is notable because, like Margery, she experiences a series of mystical experiences involving Christ’s Passion, after which she was restored from a serious illness. Both women are also authors, with Julian composing the first book in English written by a woman and Margery dictating the first autobiography in English authored by a woman.

“Yes, daughter but rest assured that I love wives also, and specially those wives who would live chaste if they might have their will, and do all they can to please me as you do. For though the state of maidenhood be more perfect and more holy than the state of widowhood, and the state of widowhood more perfect than the state of wedlock, yet I love you, daughter, as much as any maiden in the world.”

Margery frequently laments her lack of “virginity,” even though she embraces a chaste marriage. God reassures her that he loves her, despite this perceived flaw. The text emphasizes God’s forgiveness of Margery’s transgressions throughout, presumably including her past lust. According to this contemplation, then, God loves her as much as he loves “virgins.”

“Then they went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and they were let in on the one day at evensong time, and remained until evensong time on the next day. Then the friars lifted up a cross and led the pilgrims about from one place to another where our Lord had suffered his pains and his Passion, every man and woman carrying a wax candle in one hand.”

This passage explains both the nature and The Importance of the Christian Pilgrimage. Jerusalem was the ultimate site of pilgrimage for Christians because of its association with Christ’s Passion, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was an especially sacred space. This is the church Christians believe was constructed over Christ’s place of burial and from which he was resurrected. This site was important to Margery because of her mystical focus on Christ’s suffering and death.

“The Saracens also made much of her, and conveyed and escorted her about the country wherever she wanted to go. And she found all the people good and gentle to her, except her own countrymen.”

Fellow Christian pilgrims often treat Margery poorly because of her extreme behavior, like sobbing and screaming. Her book places them in opposition to Muslims in the Levant (called “Saracens,” common medieval terminology and a pejorative) who control the region and thus escort Christian pilgrims to various locations. Muslims treat Margery with kindness, despite their religious differences.

“The Father said to this creature, ‘Daughter, I shall have you wedded to my Godhead, because I shall show you my secrets and my counsels, for you shall love with me without end.’”

Margery, like other late medieval women mystics, experiences a mystical marriage, in this case to the Godhead. She becomes a bride of Christ via this marriage, despite being a married woman. This experience makes Margery like “virgins” who take the veil, for when a woman became a nun, she underwent a ritual in which she was wed to Christ. The description of her marriage to God draws on the Song of Songs from the Old Testament—erotic poetry that medieval Christians interpreted as an allegory for the bond between God and the church, and which here forms part of Margery’s experience of Femininity and Mysticism.

“I shall preach to you and reach you for myself, for your will and your desire are acceptable to me.”

Margery expresses her dissatisfaction with the lack of good clergy that she can hear preach. God tells her in contemplation that he will act as her inner priest. Therefore, the words she hears within her soul, and which are written in her book, are the literal speech of God conveyed through her. This inner preaching from God makes Margery a prophetical figure.

“Some said she had epilepsy, for while she cried she wrested her body about, turning from one side to the other, and turned all blue and grey, like the colour of lead. Then people spat at her in horror at the illness, and some scorned her and said that she howled like a dog, and cursed her, and said that she did a lot of harm among the people.”

Many of Margery’s neighbors do not understand her behavior. While in contemplation she sobs, screams, and collapses, which causes some to suspect that she is ill. Others find her actions frightening and thus claim that she is possessed. She therefore faces a great deal of opposition throughout her life. She is verbally abused, abandoned while traveling, and occasionally physically attacked. She claims, however, to welcome this suffering because it allows her to imitate Christ’s suffering and garner God’s grace. God continuously praises her for enduring these experiences and promises that her pain will transform to joy in Paradise, reflecting The Importance of the Christian Pilgrimage, in a spiritual sense, through suffering.

“Another time a great cleric came to her asking how these words should be understood: Crescite et multiplicamini. She answering said, ‘Sire, these words are not only to be understood as applying to the begetting of children physically, but also to the gaining of virtue, which is spiritual fruit, such as by hearing the words of God, by giving a good example, by meekness and patience, charity and chastity, and other such things.’”

A cleric asks Margery to explain the biblical passage that encourages believers to “be fruitful and multiply.” She explains that it can be taken literally or as a metaphor for increasing one’s virtue, a response that pleases him. Margery thus acts as a teacher to a churchman, reversing traditional roles between the clergy and laity as well as men and women.

“The friar came forward and said that she disparaged all men of Holy Church—he uttered much evil talk about her that time.”

Multiple people accuse Margery of being a Lollard heretic (See: Index of Terms). She is accused at Beverly, for instance, and brought before the Archbishop of York. Some of the clerics in attendance believe the accusations are true. This friar, for example, suggests that she is heretical because she defames churchmen. Indeed, Lollards were known for criticizing clerical corruption, promoting a universal priesthood, and calling for church reform (See: Background). This friar’s statement that Margery “disparages” men of the church indicates that she is suspected of being a Lollard.

“There was a dinner of great joy and gladness, much more spiritual than bodily, for it was sauced and savored with tales from holy scripture.”

Margery and a “worthy” doctor of divinity, called Master Aleyn, become friends but are banned from speaking to one another. Margery is much relieved when they are reunited much later, and she is overwhelmed with joyous weeping. He invites Margery to dine with him in celebration, but the spiritual nourishment and enjoyment their revived bond provides is more enjoyable than the bodily consumption of the feast.

“Nevertheless, daughter, I have ordained you to be a mirror amongst them, to have great sorrow, so that they should take example from you to have some little sorrow in their hearts for their sins, so that they might be saved.”

God reminds Margery that she is a “mirror” through which sinners, including her detractors, will see themselves. Her piety and morality will remind them of their own failings and encourage them to virtue.

“[A]nd then our Lady said to her, ‘Take it away, daughter. Give me no food but my own child.’”

The Virgin Mary features prominently in many of Margery’s contemplations and visions, reflecting the centrality of The Cult of the Virgin Mary in her life. In this vision, Margery attempts to comfort the Virgin after Jesus’s crucifixion, while Mary’s request to have “no food but [her] own child” is a reference to the Eucharist, in which wine and bread become the blood and body of Jesus during the ritual.

“And then when she was barren in this way, she could find no joy or comfort in food or drink, or chat, but was always glum of face and manner until God would send tears to her again, and then she was happy enough.”

Margery welcomes the pain of her weeping and crying because she believes this pain will help her attain salvation and provide salvation for others. When God withdraws her uncontrolled sobbing, this experience, too, causes her pain. She feels sad because the weeping, despite its pain, is also divine ecstasy, serving as an important component of her experience of Femininity and Mysticism.

“And yet I am not displeased with you, daughter, for I have often said to you that whether you pray with your mouth, or think with your heart, whether you read or hear things read, I will be pleased with you.”

Margery’s book describes her as uneducated and illiterate, but she is obviously knowledgeable about Scripture and some theological matters, including the church’s Articles of Faith. The text describes her friendship with a priest who helps educate her by reading theological treatises to her. Here, God dismisses her inability to read because it is her faith that matters over her education or skills.

“He prayed his mother for her blessing, and he especially prayed her to pray for him that our Lord, of his high mercy, would forgive him that he had trespassed, and take away that great sickness because of which people fled his company as if he were a leper.”

Margery’s son falls ill with a sickness that resembles leprosy after having engaged in lechery. The illness is thus divine punishment for his iniquities. He begs his mother to intervene with God on his behalf through prayer. Margery thus acts as an intercessor, just as saints like the Virgin and Magdalene do, though she is living.

“Some said it was a woman’s wit, and great folly for the love of her daughter-in-law, to put herself, a woman of great age, to all the perils of the sea, and to go into a strange country where she had not been before, nor knew how she should come back.”

Margery decides to travel abroad to Prussia with her German daughter-in-law after her son’s death. She does so despite her fear of sea travel and age and infirmity. Moreover, the English and Teutonic Knights, who controlled much of the North Sea trade coming out of German lands, were at war. This conflict made travel to an unknown land especially dangerous for Margery. Her plans garner yet more criticism, but she believes that God will provide for her during her journey and ensure her safety because he has commanded her within her soul to make the trip.

“The more she wept, the more her man was irked by her company, and busied himself to go from her and leave her alone. He went so fast that she could not keep up without great effort and distress.”

Margery travels to Prussia in her old age, where she meets a man who invites her on pilgrimage. Nevertheless, like other travel companions before, he becomes annoyed with her weeping. He is also bothered by her slowness, since they are traveling overland where brigandry is common. Pilgrimage for Margery is never easy, increasing her suffering in imitation of Christ and reflecting The Importance of the Christian Pilgrimage. Indeed, it is likely not coincidental that some of her worst physical suffering on pilgrimage occurs during this stretch while journeying to a church to see the blood of Christ drip from a Eucharistic host.

“They called her an Englishwoman with a tail, and spoke many filthy words to her, giving her indecent looks, and offering to lead her about if she liked. She had great fear for her chastity and was very wretched.”

Margery encounters a group of immoral clerics on her overland journey back to England from Prussia. This journey places her in peril multiple times when she is abandoned by her companions, illustrating the dangers that travel posed for women in the Late Middle Ages. The text mentions several times that concern about sexual assault leaves Margery afraid to sleep alone at night.

“She spoke boldly and strongly wherever she went in London against swearers, cursers, liars and other such vicious people, and against the pompous fashions of both men and woman.”

Margery arrives in London when she returns to England from Prussia, where she chastises the sinners she encounters. She criticizes their vulgar behavior, including lavish and worldly fashions, a sin of which she was once guilty. Again, she acts as a model for others to improve in Christian virtue, presenting herself as an exemplar and bolstering her spiritual status.