The Book of Margery Kempe

by Kempe, Margery; Windeatt, Barry; Windeatt, Barry

• ISBN13: 9780140432510
• ISBN10: 0140432515
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1986-02-04
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• More Book Details

Summary

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 Kempe (c.1373-c.1440) 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.

Author Biography

Barry Windeatt is a professor of English at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He translated The Book of Margery Kempe for Penguin Classics.

Barry Windeatt is a professor of English at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He translated The Book of Margery Kempe for Penguin Classics.

Table of Contents

Introduction	9	(20)
Suggested Chronology of the Life of Margery Kempe	29	(2)
The Book of Margery Kempe	31	(267)
Notes	298	(33)
Further Reading	331