The story of the eventful and controversial life of Margery Kempe - wife, mother, businesswoman, pilgrim and visionary - is the earliest surviving autobiography in English.
Here, Kempe (c1373-c1440) recounts in vivid, unembarrassed detail the madness that followed the birth of the first of her fourteen children, the failure of her brewery business, her dramatic call to the spiritual life, her visions and uncontrollable tears, the struggle to convert her husband to a vow of chastity and her pilgrimages to Europe and the Holy Land.
Margery Kempe could not read or write, and dictated her remarkable story late in life.
It remains an extraordinary record of human faith and a portrait of a medieval woman of unforgettable character, undeniable courage and unparalleled experience.
Margery Kempe, of well-to-do middle-class parentage in King's Lynn in Norfolk, was married at twenty, had a vision of Christ in her madness following her first childbirth, and, after early failures as a businesswoman, saw visions and felt herself called to a spiritual life. At about the age of forty, when she had borne fourteen children, she persuaded her husband to join her in a mutual vow of chastity, and then embarked on an eventful life of pilgrimage in England, Europe and the Holy Land, visiting both great and humble religious figures of her day, ceaselessly seeking the counsel of mystics and recluses.
Always a controversial figure, her devotion characteristically expressed itself in loud weeping and cries, which often divided priests, congregations and fellow pilgrims into friends or enemies, and she was several times in danger of being burnt at the stake as a heretic. Towards the end of her life, she dictated in an account of her travels and visions her spiritual autobiography, and the discovery of a unique fifteenth-century manuscript - which had long been in the possession of an old Catholic family, the Butler-Bowdons - in 1934 has restored to English literature the earliest autobiography in English.
About Barry Windeatt: Barry Windeatt came to Emmanuel as a College Lecturer in English in 1978. In the Faculty of English, he has been a University Assistant Lecturer and Lecturer (1983-95), Reader in Medieval Literature (1995-2001), and, from 2001, Professor of English. In Emmanuel, he has been Director of Studies in English (1979-97) and a Tutor (1983-95). At various times, he has also acted as Admissions Tutor in Arts, Tutor for Advanced Students, Financial Tutor, Librarian and Archivist. He is Keeper of Rare Books and Special Collections in the College Library, and since 1990 he has curated the College's collection of portraits and paintings and is preparing a revised catalogue of them.
His translation of The Book of Margery Kempe (1985) makes the text accessible for the modern reader while remaining as close as possible to the original manuscript. His introduction discusses Kempe's life, the composition of her Book and its striking, down-to-earth style. The edition also includes notes, a chronology and further reading.
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