The Book of Margery Kempe: Annotated Edition

As the oldest autobiography in English (and about an upper-middle class female mystic, no less), this book is worthwhile and was this month's Great Books book club selection. Might I have read this on my own without the book club to keep me in line? I suspect not. Yet, I am quite glad to have “met” Margery in print, if certainly not in person; I don't think she's a lot of fun at parties what with all the boisterous weeping, roaring, and high holiness and launching into the entire history of her sins at the drop of a hat.

I liked having a view into domestic life of the day, such as Margery's early attempts at housewifery (brewing, milling), vain dress, and occasional bawdy thoughts (nothing like “The Decameron!”). It is interesting that women had a bit more freedom at this time than a few hundred years later. Certainly, the repetitious praising of Jesus, God, etc. can get a bit tedious, but these laments are the very things that would have been repeated at mass or during the 8 or so years that she was read to.

It is curious that Margery rarely references her 14 children other than the very clear mentions of the son who likely wrote the first, illegible draft of her manuscript and who predeceased her. I suspect that her other children were dead or estranged at the time the manuscript is being written for several reasons. First, it is likely that some surviving children would have been nearby to assist in the care of Margery's husband after his stroke, yet we hear nothing of children coming by. Any children yet living might have been somewhat peeved that Margery spent or gave away the inheritance from her father without considering the welfare of her children or had been driven away by her mystical weeping, so it's entirely possible that they were estranged. High infant mortality combined with what appeared to be post-partum psychosis (and, perhaps, post-partum depression at other times) might explain one of Margery's reason's for turning toward God at around the age of 40. Also of note is the anchorite of Norwich's accusation that Margery had a child while on her pilgrimage. Was she pregnant prior to acquiring a promise of chastity from her husband? Or, did the accusation arise because she travelled with the Irish broken-backed Richard with no other chaperone?

The Boydell and Brewer annotated edition of “The Book of Margery Kempe” is worth picking up for several reasons. First, it includes a chronology, a 1-2 sentence summary of each chapter, a glossary, is presented in Middle English (fun, but slow-going) with convenient on-page footnoting, and a very thorough introduction. Other folks in my book club had various editions that “translate” the text into modern English and they enjoyed the book just as much.

Below are the questions that another book club member put together for today's discussion:

1. How does the book compare to modern memoirs? Why does Kempe never talk about her other 13 children or her mother? What prevents her from learning to read, with all the mentoring she's getting over the years? She says she hungers to hear books read to her.

2. Margery: delusional or blessed? How self-absorbed on a scale of 1-10? What is the purpose of her pilgrimages?

3. How would Margery be received in your church/bible study/book club? Does she fit your concept of a devout Christian? Why wasn't she convicted of heresy? In what forms does she encounter good and evil? Why is she most critical of people who swear?

4. Did the reactions of others to her “weeping, roaring and shrill shrieking” seem culturally different as she travelled? Why did some assist her while others bailed? Why were some authorities fans and others enemies? (The Duke of Bedford was later a judge at Joan of Arc's trial.)

5. Margery's behavior isolates her and she is often friendless. How is this particularly dangerous for her? Why do you think she faces greater personal risk in England than on the continent?

6. The book is unique in describing an upper middle class woman's lifestyle in late medieval Europe. What did you think of her “Material Girl” stage? Why does she get into microbrewing ?

7 . Margery's husband was amenable to a buy-out. How would you describe his personality? Did he seem to care for her? What does chastity mean to Margery, since she still wants extramarital sex?

8. What's the deal with the erotic visions: getting steamed over Jesus's manhood; marriage ceremony with G-d? These features were consistent with other medieval female mystics. (Mysticism is defined as becoming one with G-d through an altered/ecstatic state of consciousness.)

9. How would you characterize Margery's conversations with Christ? Are they surprising in any way?

10. Bonus question: compare Margery to:
Bridget of Sweden(1303-1373 )
Mad Joanna of Castille (Juana de Loca) 1479-1555. (Isabella's heir)
Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)