Margery Kempe

If a woman stopped you in the street today sobbing about Christ and describing vivid hallucinations of demons, would you believe her? Most people would think she was suffering from some form of psychosis. In the Middle Ages, however, things were a bit different.

Margery Kempe was a female mystic who lived in the Late Middle Ages. She had visions of demons at age 20 that made her devote her entire life to God and she was not shy about telling people or crying because of it. However, she was much more than a weeping woman. Read on to learn about the fascinating life of Margery Kempe.

Margery Kempe Biography

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Margery Kempe Biography: Early Life

Born in 1373 in Bishop’s Lynn, England (now King’s Lynn), Margery Kempe was the daughter of the mayor living a typical middle-class life. At the age of 20, she married John Kempe and, shortly after, became pregnant with her first child.

After giving birth, Margery Kempe became plagued with visions of hell and demons. She suffered for months until Jesus Christ appeared to her and said:

Suddenly, she recovered and began to resume normal life, worldly pleasures and vanity included. It was only after several failed businesses that Margery Kempe came to the understanding that God was punishing her. She decided she needed to make a change and devote her life to Christ.

Margery Kempe quickly became known in her parish for her open weeping anytime she felt overpowered by her devotion to her Christ or heard music believing it came from paradise. Her parish was not too keen on this because put frankly, it was pretty annoying.

Margery Kempe Biography: Devotion to Christ

Margery Kempe had asked her husband following the birth of her first child if they could refrain from sexual relations, so she could be celibate for Christ. At the time, he said no, but after 14 children and 20 years of marriage, he finally gave in. They made an agreement that she could travel where she pleased and finally become celibate so long as she paid off his debts.

With this freedom, she was able to begin her series of pilgrimages to places she deemed holy.

We’ll get into more detail on these pilgrimages later. But first, how do we even know this much about a woman living in the 1400s?

Fig. 1 - Passage from the Book of Margery Kempe

Margery Kempe Biography: The Book of Margery Kempe

Although Margery Kempe was illiterate like most women of the time, her position in the middle class gave her the ability to hire scribes to write an account of her spiritual experiences. The Book of Margery Kempe is the product of these scribes and is widely considered the first autobiography in English.

Margery Kempe’s Visions

As we discussed earlier, following the birth of her first child, Margery Kempe began to have visions of hell and demons. A quote from her book definitely paints a scary picture:

There are several notable female mystics who also had intense visions and they had a great influence on Margery Kempe. In fact, before Margery Kempe went on her first pilgrimage, she visited Julian of Norwich. Margery Kempe wanted and received assurance that her visions were from God and not the demons that haunted her.

Margery Kempe’s Pilgrimages

In the Late Middle Ages, people were traveling across continents more than ever because of extended trade networks and better forms of transportation. One reason people would travel was to make pilgrimages. Certain holy places even sold indulgences that granted easy passage to heaven. Influenced by Saint Bridget of Sweden, another prominent female mystic, Margery Kempe decided she wanted to make her own pilgrimages.

Margery Kempe's Pilgrimages: First Pilgrimage

As we discussed earlier, Margery Kempe’s husband granted her permission to travel in 1413. That same year, she went on her first pilgrimage to Jerusalem where she visited several holy sites. On the way to Jerusalem, she also made a stop in Rome to visit the cathedrals. In The Book of Margery Kempe, she describes her experiences with other people and how God helped her along her way.

Fig. 2 - Photograph of Mt. Zion in Jerusalem

Margery Kempe's Pilgrimages: Second Pilgrimage

In 1417, Margery Kempe made a second pilgrimage to the Santago del Compostela in Spain. Upon her return to England, she ran into trouble with ecclesiastical authorities in various cities before making her way home in 1418.

Margery Kempe’s Religion

Although Margery Kempe was born an Orthodox Catholic, she had several confrontations with ecclesiastical authorities throughout her life. Her public weeping and exclamations most certainly looked like heresy. Additionally, her public speaking rode the dangerous line between sharing her experiences and teaching scripture (which women were not allowed to do).

Margery Kempe’s Significance

The Book of Margery Kempe gives us insight into the life of a middle-class woman in the Late Middle Ages from her own perspective which is very rare. The Book of Margery Kempe is also widely accepted as the first autobiography in English. In it, we can see the growing tension between orthodox Christianity and dissidents calling for religious reform.

On a broader scale, Margery Kempe is one of many global travelers who wrote down accounts of their journeys for widespread publication. These travel journals led to cultural diffusion as they would help readers in the traveler’s homeland understand the cultures of faraway places.

However, not all historians agree on the significance of Margery Kempe and her autobiography. With today's medical knowledge, many agree that Margery Kempe was suffering from a form of postpartum psychosis, a state of psychosis that occurs after pregnancy. Because of this and her desire to portray the miracles of Christ, not all historians agree that she is a reliable narrator.