to the tradition called affec tive piety, characterized by
personal devotion to Christ’s hu manity, particularly in
the Nativity and Passion. The emo tions, or affections,
play a crucial role in this devotion. By identifying with
the suffering humanity of Christ the mystic is trans-
ported through her emotions to spiritual love.
Kempe’s life and mysticism, however, differ con-
siderably from Julian’s. Her boisterous weeping, her
insistent identifi cation with Christ, her self-preoccupa-
tion, and her refusal to live the more orthodox life of a
nun or recluse distinguish her from Julian of Norwich.
Critics in her own time as well as today fault her for the
excessive emotionalism and literalness of her visions.
Yet Kempe’s mysticism was not unique. She found mod-
els for it in the lives and mystical works of other female
mystics, such as Marie d’Oignies, Birgitta (Bridget) of
Sweden, and Elizabeth of Hungary, and in the writings
of the English mystic Richard Rolle.
The core of the controversy about Margery Kempe
is her version of imitating Christ. Although the practice
of imitat ing Christ’s suffering was common in medieval
spirituality, Kempe is preoccupied with this suffering.
Her meditations on the Passion elicit this suffering and
her roaring draws atten tion to it, disrupting sermons
and disturbing the people around her. In addition
Kempe’s use of erotic language to describe mystical
union—words like ravishment, dalliance, and even
homeliness—is boldly literal. She translates the mystical
concept of marriage to Christ into an alarmingly worldly
one, as Christ instructs Kempe to take him to bed with
her as her husband (ch. 36). Although Rolle before her
had used sensual imagery to describe mystical union,
Kempe’s usage startles with its emphasis on the literal
rather than the fi gurative or symbolic.
Kempe’s book poses problems for literary analysis as
well. Her narrative is not strictly chronological, and with
its digres sions and repetitions it seems unconstructed.
How much Kempe’s scribes contributed to the shape of
the narrative is a further problem facing literary analysis.
Finally Kempe s illiteracy makes the question of infl u-
ence an interesting one. She exhibits some knowledge
of both Latin and vernacular religious texts in spite of
her inability to read or write.
Like her book Margery Kempe is an interesting
and prob lematic subject. As a woman charting her
own “way to high perfection” she challenged the re-
ligious, social, and gender expectations of her time.
Her book offers valuable insight into the struggles
of an extraordinary medieval woman who refused
to conform to those expectations in her pursuit of a
“singular grace.”
See also Julian of Norwich; Rolle, Richard,
of Hampole
Further Reading
Primary Sources
Butler-Bowdon, William, ed. and trans. The Book of Margery
Kempe, New York: Devin-Adair, 1944.
Meech, Sanford Brown, and Hope Emily Allen, eds. The Book of
Margery Kempe. EETS o.s. 212. London: Oxford Uni versity
Press, 1940.
Windeatt, B.A., trans. The Book of Margery Kempe. New York:
Penguin, 1985.
Secondary Sources
New CBEL 1:524.
Manual 9:3084–86, 3444–45.
Atkinson, Clarissa W. Mystic and Pilgrim: The Book and the
World of Margery Kempe. Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
1983.
Beckwith, Sarah. “A Very Material Mysticism: The Medieval
Mysticism of Margery Kempe.” In Medieval Literature:
Criticism, Ideology & History, ed. David Aers. New York:
St. Martin, 1986, pp. 34–57.
Fries, Maureen. “Margery Kempe.” In An Introduction to the
Medieval Mystics of Europe, ed. Paul E. Szarmach. Albany:
SUNY Press, 1984, pp. 217–35.
Goodman, An thony E. “The Piety of John Brunham’s Daughter,
of Lynn.” In Medieval Women, ed. Derek Baker. Oxford:
Blackwell, 1978, pp. 347–58.
Hirsh, John C. “Margery Kempe.” In Middle English Prose:
A Critical Guide to Major Authors and Genres, ed. A.S.G.
Edwards. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1984,
pp. 109–19.
Lochrie, Karma. Margery Kempe and Translations of the Flesh.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991.
McEntire, Sandra J., ed. Margery Kempe: A Book of Essays. New
York: Garland, 1992.
Karma LochrieKOERBECKE, JOHANN (ca. 1420–1491)
A contemporary of Stefan Lochner and Konrad Witz,
this painter contributed to the transition from the inter-
national Gothic style to a more realistic one, inspired
by Netherlandish art. Koerbecke was probably born
circa 1420 in Coesfeld (Northrhine Westphalia). He is
fi rst recorded in Münster in 1443, when he purchased
a house. He led an important workshop there until his
death on June 13, 1491.
Koerbecke’s sole documented work is the Marienfeld
Altarpiece, for which he received payment in 1456.
Installed on the high altar of the Marienfeld monas-
tery church in 1457, it originally consisted of a carved
shrine and painted wings with scenes from the life of
the Virgin and the Passion. In the seventeenth century,
the wings were sawn into sixteen panels, now located
in several collections (Avignon, Musée Calvet; Berlin,
Gemäldegalerie; Chicago, Art Institute; Cracow, Na-
tional Museum; Madrid, Thyssen Collection; Moscow,
Pushkin Museum; Münster, Westfälisches Landes-
museum; Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum;KEMPE, MARGERY