MD Study Notes

Stai leggendo: religious-writing

Scegli uno stile:

Margery Kempe (c. 1373 – after 1438) was an English Catholic mystic
She wrote through dictation The Book of Margery Kempe, considered by some to be the first autobiography written in the English language
She is honoured in the Anglican Communion, but has not been canonised as a Catholic saint
Like other medieval mystics, she believed that she was summoned to a "greater intimacy with Christ" after multiple visions
After the birth of her first child, she went through a period of crisis that lasted various months
During this time of illness, she claimed to have envisioned numerous demons attacking her and commanding her to "forsake her faith, her family, and her friends"

It is the best insight available of a female middle-class experience in the Middle Ages
The book chronicles her pilgrimages to holy sites in Europe and the Holy Land
Mystical conversations with God
She claimed to be present at key biblical events such as the Nativity and the Crucifixion
In the book she refers to herself as "this creature" in order to display humility before God