The first autobiography written in English--by a brewery owner, Christian mystic, and mother of 14 named Margery Kempe, who died in the 15th century--is now available in a lively, modern translation by John Skinner. It begins with her stark conversion experience, heralded by a vision of Christ in her bedroom one night. The story follows Margery through pilgrimages across Europe and to the Holy Land, through a heresy trial in England, and her burgeoning mystical life. Similar in many ways to Showings by Julian of Norwich and the Confessions of Augustine, The Book of Margery Kempe is a beautiful description of medieval daily life and religious experience. --Michael Joseph Gross


From Library Journal
This classic, one of the first English autobiographies, chronicles the spiritual life of a very unusual, and illiterate, medieval woman. Not an autobiography in the modern sense, the text?dictated between 1432 and 1436?provides sparse personal detail but does give some insight into the beliefs of this holy woman. Kempe (c. 1373-c. 1440) ran a brewery, married, and mothered 14 children before taking a vow of chastity. In her subsequent pilgrimages she learned much through pious conversations with strangers and gained important insights from her communion with God about how her manner of dress and uncontrolled tears at communion would save her from some "secret" sin. Numerous translations of these writings exist, including the Middle English Memoirs of a Medieval Woman (1983), but this text uses modern English and organizes the chapters chronologically, making for a better story. Recommended for popular religious collections.?Leo Kriz, West Des Moines Lib., Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)

ANNOTATION

The earliest surviving autobiographical writing in English, this narrative tells of a woman's pilgramages through Europe and the Holy Land.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Margery Kempe's book, a unique narrative of sin, sex and salvation, comprises a text which has continued to perplex and fascinate contemporary audiences since its discovery in the library of an English country house in 1934. Simultaneously exasperating, endearing, vulnerable and eccentric, Margery Kempe, wife, and mother of fourteen children, provides an autobiographical account of her own singular piety and the growth of what she regarded as an individual and privileged mystical relationship with Christ. This is an abridged, thematically organised translation of the text, with detailed introduction and interpretive essay, focusing particularly on the importance of motherhood, sexuality and female discourse to the inception and expression of Margery Kempe's mystical experiences, and illuminating contemporary debate regarding the agency of holy women during the later middle ages.

SYNOPSIS

This is an edition of the earliest surviving autobiography of the unique account of the extraordinary life, travels and revelations of Margery Kempe. For the first time the original text is presented in an accessible form for modern readers. This is the most compelling and significant English text of the Middle Ages. Provides on-page annotation , the first of its kind for this book, which brings together the insights of scholarship on Kempe since the discovery of the manuscript in 1934. Also included is a chronology of Kemp's life, a helpful summary analysis of the chapters, and a full bibliography. A must for those interested in the history or literature of the Middle Ages, or for those interested in Women's' history.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

This classic, one of the first English autobiographies, chronicles the spiritual life of a very unusual, and illiterate, medieval woman. Not an autobiography in the modern sense, the text--dictated between 1432 and 1436--provides sparse personal detail but does give some insight into the beliefs of this holy woman. Kempe (c. 1373-c. 1440) ran a brewery, married, and mothered 14 children before taking a vow of chastity. In her subsequent pilgrimages she learned much through pious conversations with strangers and gained important insights from her communion with God about how her manner of dress and uncontrolled tears at communion would save her from some "secret" sin. Numerous translations of these writings exist, including the Middle English Memoirs of a Medieval Woman (1983), but this text uses modern English and organizes the chapters chronologically, making for a better story. Recommended for popular religious collections.--Leo Kriz, West Des Moines Lib., IA

Fran Shaw