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Kempe, Margery
Kempe, Margery (c.1373–c.1440). The manuscript of her memories, which she had dictated in the later years of her life, was discovered in 1934, first published in 1947, and is now considered to be the earliest English autobiography. After the birth of her first child, Kempe, daughter of a prosperous burgess of King's Lynn (Norfolk), suffered a spiritual crisis and was subsequently redeemed by a vision of Christ. In later life she became deeply religious and undertook many pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Rome, and Santiago de Compostella, amongst others. Her devotion manifested itself in excessive lamentation, for which she was ridiculed and imprisoned, and even denounced as a heretic, ‘for some said that she had a devil within her’. A mystic of remarkable courage, she is often likened to Julian of Norwich, whom she knew. Her story inspired admiration and pity for all she suffered in her search for God.
Sandra M. Dunkin |
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JOHN CANNON. "Kempe, Margery." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Kempe, Margery." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-KempeMargery.html JOHN CANNON. "Kempe, Margery." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-KempeMargery.html |
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Margery Kempe
Margery Kempe , d. 1438 or afterward, English religious writer, b. King's Lynn. She was the wife of a prominent citizen and the mother of 14 children. Her autobiography, The Book of Margery Kempe (complete ed. 1940; ed. with modern spelling 1944), was known only in small excerpts until 1934, when the whole was discovered. She was a religious enthusiast whose loud weeping in church and reproof of her neighbors kept her in public disfavor. She traveled abroad as a pilgrim, and her work has rich details of the everyday life of her time. The narrative is occasionally interrupted with visions, prayers, and meditations, many of them of great beauty. The book may be the earliest autobiography in English. See mysticism .
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"Margery Kempe." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Margery Kempe." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Kempe-Ma.html "Margery Kempe." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Kempe-Ma.html |
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Kempe, Margery
Kempe, Margery (c.1373–after 1433). Author of the Book of Margery Kempe. Born in Lynn, Norfolk, she married young and had fourteen children, but was increasingly drawn to a deeper religious experience. In 1413 she and her husband took vows of chastity. Sharply critical of contemporary religious corruption, she went on pilgrimage and also visited Julian of Norwich. Her life, as revealed in her Book, became one of an imaginatively close relationship to Christ, her heavenly spouse, expressed in visions and highly emotional (some say disordered) devotion, and also in auditions.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Kempe, Margery." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Kempe, Margery." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-KempeMargery.html JOHN BOWKER. "Kempe, Margery." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-KempeMargery.html |
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Kempe, Margery
Kempe, Margery (c.1373–after 1438), author of the Book of Margery Kempe. About 1393 she married John Kempe, a burgess of Lynn, by whom she had 14 children. She received several visions after a period of madness, and she and her husband went on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Her denunciation of all pleasure aroused opposition and accusations of Lollardy. She visited the Holy Land in 1413, Compostela in 1417, and Norway and Danzig in 1433. Her Book describes her travels and mystical experiences. Only one MS is known to exist; it was acquired by the British Library in 1980.
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Kempe, Margery." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Kempe, Margery." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-KempeMargery.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Kempe, Margery." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-KempeMargery.html |
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Kempe, Margery
Kempe, Margery (c.1373–c.1440). The manuscript of her memories, which she had dictated in the later years of her life, was discovered in 1934, first published in 1947, and is now considered to be the earliest English autobiography. After the birth of her first child, Kempe, daughter of a prosperous burgess of King's Lynn (Norfolk), suffered a spiritual crisis. In later life she became deeply religious and undertook many pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Rome, and Santiago de Compostella, amongst others.
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Kempe, Margery." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Kempe, Margery." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-KempeMargery.html JOHN CANNON. "Kempe, Margery." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-KempeMargery.html |
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Kempe, Margery
Kempe, Margery (c.1373–c.1439), a mystic, travelled widely on pilgrimage: to Jerusalem, Rome, Compostella, and Wilsnack in Poland. She dictated, probably in the late 1420s, her Book of Margery Kempe which recounts her visions and experiences of a more general kind: her temptations to lechery, her travels, and her trial for heresy.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Kempe, Margery." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Kempe, Margery." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-KempeMargery.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Kempe, Margery." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-KempeMargery.html |
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