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

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	Margery-Kemp-msg	3