Margery Kempe

Margery Kempe

Margery Brunham, or Burnham, was born about 1373 and died 65 years later – a very old age in those days.  She was born in Bishop’s Lynn in Norfolk.  She dictated her memoirs to a scribe, as she could neither read nor write.  She died in Rome in 1438.  She is the earliest woman to author an autobiography in English.  She had a remarkable memory and remembered many incidents, complete with dialog.  

However, she was guilt ridden, and never mentioned her sin nor could she seek absolution because she was unable to confess her crime.   Her shameful secret is never revealed.  She did tell to all who would listen, her life’s history, and she was eager to reprimand all people who did not conform to her standards.    Her book was discovered in 1934 in a country house in Yorkshire.  My copy is titled Memoirs of a Medieval Woman - The Life and Times of Margery Kempe by Louise Collis.  I do not know how many were copied from the original scribe.  There were no printing presses, copies had to be copied. 

          At the age of 20 or so, Margery, daughter of the mayor, married John Kempe and had 14 children.  After the first baby, a difficult birth, she consulted Dame Julian, the most famous mystic and author of Revelations.  Dame Julian and the Bishop of Norwich agreed that Margery had mystical knowledge, but not all people agreed.

       By 1413 John and Margery agreed that she was under God’s protection.  They made pilgrimages to English shrines and cathedrals.  She talked to many people about her life and visions.  Then she decided to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.    That will make another story.

           Another source of information was International Dictionary of Women’s Biography and The Norton Anthology of Literature By Women.