"You can boldly take me in the arms of your soul and kiss my mouth, my head, and my feet as sweetly as you want" 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 Kemp 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 and courage. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Book of Margery Kempe (Penguin Classics)

Kempe, Margery

Literature & Fiction

Penguin Classics

"Alas that I ever did sin! It is so merry in Heaven!" The Book of Margery Kempe (c. 1436-8) is the extraordinary account of a medieval wife, mother, and mystic. Known as the earliest autobiography written in the English language, Kempe's Book describes the dramatic transformation of its heroine from failed businesswoman and lustful young wife, to devout and chaste pilgrim. She vividly describes her prayers and visions, as well as the temptations in daily life to which she succumbed before dedicating herself to her spiritual calling. She travelled to the most holy sites of the medieval world, including Rome and Jerusalem. In her life and her boisterous devotion, Kempe antagonized many of those around her; yet she also garnered friends and supporters who helped to record her experiences. Her Book opens a window to the medieval world, and provides a fascinating portrait of one woman's life, aspirations, and prayers. This new translation preserves the forceful narrative voice of Kempe's Book and includes a wide-ranging introduction and useful notes. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Book of Margery Kempe (Oxford World's Classics)

Literary

Oxford Univ. Pr.

'And then he, completely astonished at her words, left off his lewdness, saying to her as many a man had done before, "Either you are a truly good woman or else a truly wicked woman." ' Brave, outspoken and guaranteed to annoy people wherever she went - including exasperated fellow pilgrims in Jerusalem and her long-suffering husband - Margery Kempe was one of the most vivid and unforgettable voices of the Middle Ages. Whether travelling alone, getting herself arrested or having visions of marrying Jesus, Margery repeatedly defied feminine convention - and also managed to compose the first autobiography in English, despite being unable to read or write. One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

How To Be a Medieval Woman (Penguin Little Black Classics)

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Penguin Classic

The text presented here remains as faithful to the original Middle English as possible, without sounding archaic. Kempe's work is accompanied by an introduction, a map of medieval England, a Kempe lexicon, and explanatory annotations. "Contexts" collects primary readings that illuminate The Book of Margery Kempe. Included are excerpts from The Constitutions of Thomas Arundel, Meditations on the Life of Christ, The Shewings of Julian of Norwich, The Book of Saint Bride, and The Life of Marie d'Oignies by Jacques de Vitry. "Criticism" includes nine varied interpretations of the autobiography, written by Clarissa W. Atkinson, Lynn Staley, Karma Lochrie, David Aers, Kathleen Ashley, Gail McMurray Gibson, Sarah Beckwith, Caroline Walker Bynum, and Nicholas Watson. A Selected Bibliography is also included.

Book of Margery Kempe (NCE)

Staley, Lynn

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

Dating from the fifteenth century, The Book of Margery Kempe is the first known autobiography in English. In it the author describes, in unembarrassed, down-to-earth detail, her madness, financial ruin, religious ecstasies, marital problems and dangerous treks to distant shrines. The result is a unique portrait of a strange medieval character, living out a colourful life in a turbulent, often tragic world. Margery Kempe was born about 1373 in the then bustling port of King's Lynn in Norfolk. She married a merchant and was mother to fourteen children, but a streak of worldly ambition led her into ill-fated business ventures in milling and brewing. Chastened by their failure, and by a vision of Christ, she became prone to ecstatic weeping and crying and was shunned, tormented and even put on trial. With the encouragement of saintly individuals such as Julian of Norwich, she undertook pilgrimages to Rome, Santiago de Compostela and the Holy Land, and journeyed widely in England, France, Germany and Poland - making an offering at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham before the dangerous sea-voyage to the Baltic. Kempe's religious life belongs in that rich vein of spirituality expressed by women who, debarred from theological training or any official position in the church, cultivated the more immediate authority of mystical experience. Her Book, which was dictated to two scribes beginning in about 1431, shows an extraordinary recall both of external events and of her inner life over a span of forty years. After being lost for centuries it was only rediscover ed in 1934, in a fifteenth-century manuscript. Previous translations of her Middle E nglish prose have not captured Kempe's authentic voice; this present one brings her fully and volubly alive for modern readers.

The Book of Margery Kempe: The Autobiography of the Wild Woman of God

Leaders & Notable People

Gracewing

The Book of Margery Kempe

Triumph Books

The Book of Margery Kempe: The Autobiography of the Madwoman of God (Triumph ...

The Book of Margery Kempe: The Autobiography of the Madwoman of God (Triumph Classic)

Historical

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