mpa A Co nion. Ke) y JO Ed edb L fe The Book of Margery Kempe presents the autobiographical account of a challenging and intriguing English medieval woman. Her mystical visions, pilgrimages, and encounters with authority make the Book one of the most vivid sources for the late middle ages, one that reflects, refracts, conceals and illuminates various elements of late medieval England. In this new collection of essays, twelve historians and literary critics explore Margery Kempe, her Book, and the world around her. The chapters cover a multitude of themes, from charity to heresy, bodily piety to medieval masculinity, print culture to sainthood, literacy to civic politics, drama to prophecy. The authors both survey existing work and present new arguments, insights and ideas. All the essays endeavour to historicise Margery, examining simultaneously the forces surrounding the constitution of the Book, the import and meaning of the events it describes, and the wider social, cultural and political currents through which Margery cut a swathe; together the collection provides an informative introduction both to its central figure, and to the world that surrounded her Contributors: JOHN H. ARNOLD, PR H. CULLUM, ISABEL DAVIS, ALLYSON FOSTER, JACQUELINE JENKINS, KATHERINE J. LEWIS, KATE PARKER, KIM M. PHILLIPS, SARAH SALIH, CLAIRE SPONSLER, DIANE WATT, BARRY WINDEATT. Jacket: Early sixteenth century depictions of female saints in the north Norfolk church of Wiggenhall St Mary the Virgin show (left) St Mary Magdalene and (right) St Katherine. Photographs Katherine J. Lewis. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2023 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation httos://archive.org/details/companiontobooko0000unse_s7i4 A COMPANION TO THE BOOK OF MARGERY KEMPE A COMPANION TO THE BOOK OF MARGERY KEMPE EDITED BY John H. Arnold and Katherine J. Lewis D. S. BREWER © Editors and Contributors 2004 The rights of John H. Arnold and Katherine J. Lewis to be identified as the editors of this work have been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner First published 2004 D. S. Brewer, Cambridge ISBN 1 84384 030 8 D. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk 1P12 3DF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer Inc. PO Box 41026, Rochester, NY 14604-4126, USA website: www.boydellandbrewer.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A companion to The book of Margery Kempe / edited by John H. Arnold and Katherine J. Lewis. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-84384—-030-8 (Hardback : alk. paper) 1. Kempe, Margery, b. ca. 1373. Book of Margery Kempe. 2. Christian literature, English (Middle)—History and criticism. 3. Christian women-Religious life-England-History-To 1500. 4. Mysticism—England-History—Middle Ages, 600-1500. 5. Feminism and literature- England-History-To 1500. 6. Dissenters, Religious—England-History-To 1500. 7. Women and literature-England—History—-To 1500. I. Arnold, John, 1969- II. Lewis, Katherine J., 1969- PR2007.K4Z724 2004 248.2'2'092—de22 2004018213 This publication is printed on acid-free paper Printed in Great Britain by Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, Wiltshire Contents Mlustrations Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Abbreviations Preface John H. Arnold and Katherine J. Lewis Introduction: Reading and Re-reading The Book of Margery Kempe Barry Windeatt 1. Margery Kempe and the Ages of Woman Kim M. Phillips 2. Men and Margery: Negotiating Medieval Patriarchy Isabel Davis 3. Lynn and the Making of a Mystic 5D Kate Parker 4. Margery’s Trials: Heresy, Lollardy and Dissent 1D John H. Arnold 5. A Shorte Treatyse of Contemplacyon: The Book of Margery Kempe 95 in its Early Print Contexts Allyson Foster 6. Reading and The Book of Margery Kempe 113 Jacqueline Jenkins 7. Drama and Piety: Margery Kempe 129 Claire Sponsler 8. Political Prophecy in The Book of Margery Kempe 145 Diane Watt 9. Margery’s Bodies: Piety, Work and Penance 161 Sarah Salih 10. ‘Yf lak of charyte be not ower hynderawnce’: Margery Kempe, 177 Lynn, and the Practice of the Spiritual and Bodily Works of Mercy P. H. Cullum 11. Margery Kempe and Saint Making in Later Medieval England 195 Katherine J. Lewis vl CONTENTS 12. Afterword 217 John H. Arnold and Katherine J. Lewis Bibliography 223 Index 241