Stefan's Florilegium

Margery-Kemp-msg

Margery-Kemp-msg - 1/21/00

Messages on Margery Kemp. A rather unconventional and eccentric women
of the Middle Ages.

NOTE: See also the files: MK-Med-Ecc-art, nuns-msg, Isabella-art, Arthur-bib,
Joan-of-Arc-art, Martin-Guerre-art, St-Hildegard-msg, Lamoral-art,
Otto-T-Great-art.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that
I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some
messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called StefanŐs Florilegium.
These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with
seperate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes
extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were
removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I
make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the
individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these
messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this
time. If information is published from these messages, please give
credit to the orignator(s).

Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: Lord Stefan li Rous
RSVE60@email.sps.mot.com stefan@texas.net
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From: Michael Newton <MELCNEWTON@worldnet.att.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Margery Kempe
Date: 16 Feb 1997 23:33:11 GMT

>Does anyone have any original information on Margery Kempe or the life of a
>"typical" housewife of the time??? I need this for a critical essay and most
>of the things I am finding on the web are just rehashes of the same idea. I
>would like some varied information.
>
>Akastelich@aol.com

My Lady wife Beatrix of Thanet, Informs me that that the book "Memoirs of
a Medieval Woman. The Life and Times of Margery Kempe." by Louise Collis,
is an excellent book on this subject. A book review of this book can be
obtained by E-mailing a request to Henry Atwood, Oakheart (Calontir)
Chronicler at KS1015@AOL.com it is in the March A.S. XXIX edition of the
Oakleaf.

Lord Thorbjorn Bjornson.

From: HPGV80D@prodigy.com (Patricia Hefner)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Margery Kempe
Date: 24 Feb 1997 06:48:11 GMT

By coincident, I've just finished an article about Margery Kempe for SCA
publications. You can even get the primary source from Penguin Books. The
translation is by B.A Windeatt. There should also be some books in the
library--I found them. Basically, Margery was unconventional because she
didn't stay home and spin wool--she went on pilgrimages without her
husband. In fact, when she was arrested as an alleged Lollard she was
taken from place to place. In one town all of the women stood outside of
their houses, holding their distapffs and screaming "burn the heretic"!
They were irritated that she didn't live the way they did. Warning: The
Book of Margery Kempe (the primary source) is quite sloppy because it
doesn't follow a timetable of her life. Windeatt's translation is
excellent, but it's still hard to follow through the book because
Margery dictated the book (she was illiterate) by episodes that she
remembered, and not in chronological order. She mentioned her "chastity"
vow before she mentioned the birth of one of her fourteen children. But
the book is wonderful because it tells you what the people were like,
what they liked, what they didn't like, etc, etc. It's the story of a
life, and I think you're in for an interesting project!

Isabelle de Foix
Shire of Misty Mere
Kingdom of Meridies

[You can find IsabelleŐs article in the Florilegium as: MK-Med-Ecc-art]

From: Michael Newton <MELCNEWTON@postoffice.worldnet.att.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Margery Kempe
Date: 25 Feb 1997 22:40:38 GMT

My Lord, I hope your reserch doesn't put you off, but Margery Kempe was
quite a character to say the least! While there have been other books
mentioned(you will want to check the archives), the book I read and
reviewed for our local newsletter, _The Oakleaf_, was _Memoirs of a
Medieval Woman, the Life and Times of Margery Kempe_,by Louise Collis. An
interesting book and not what I expecting when I picked it up at the
local Library. Margery Kempe {1373-1438?} is known for having the first
autobioghraphy written in English. Collis uses other people's travel
notes from the same period to round out the picture. It is a very good
book for those wanting information on 12th century pilgramages, and holy
or peasuo-holy personas.

Kempe was a very eccentric person and was considered to be either a very
holy person or a very noisy fraud and bore to the people she meets during
her life. She was a mayor's daughter, married to John Kempe, had fourteen
children, but guilt later convinces her to declare a vow of chasity.
Later, because of "visions" and "holy" fits, she leaves her family, and
goes on a pilgramage to the Holy Land and Rome. When she returns home,
she is accused, arrested and cleared of being a Lollard. At the end of
her life, she convinced herself that she has become a saint, such as St.
Bridgit. Her last known act is to dictate a book of her life, to prove
her belief.

Lady Beatrix of Thanet

From: HPGV80D@prodigy.com (Patricia Hefner)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Margery Kempe
Date: 27 Feb 1997 07:57:38 GMT

Another really good book about Margery is "Mystic and Pilgrim: the Book
and the World of Margery Kempe" by Clarissa Atkinson.

Isabelle de Foix

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