Category: Margery Kempe (Page 1 of 2)

Comparing Margery Kempe’s journey on a modern map and the Psalter World Map juxtaposes how a modern traveler and a medieval traveler visualize the world differently.

The modern map provides a modern traveler with a physical and geopolitical understanding of the world. This map defines countries with strict borders, establishing that different regions have separate cultural and political identities. Cities are labeled, with the more prominent and larger cities labelled in bigger fonts, reflecting their social significance and popularity. Generally, continents are scaled to reflect their comparative sizes. While this map is a world map, it also reflects the U.S. government’s (and some Americans’ perspective of the world). For example, this map uses the label “Gulf of America” rather than “Gulf of Mexico.”  In addition, the labels are in English, meaning that location names are anglified, and not necessarily  written how a native speaker would write them..

The Psalter World Map provides a medieval traveler with a different physical and geopolitical understanding of the world that is largely rooted in Catholicism. Jerusalem, the holiest city, is placed in the center of the world. The cardinal directions are rotated ninety degrees, with east as north, due to the belief that Paradise (the most Northern/upwards point) was in the same direction the sun rises.

While the modern map is divided into countries, the Psalter World Map has no country borders. The T-O structure of the map uses the Mediterranean Sea to generally separate the world into three land masses, though there are no defined countries with names. Instead, it depicts some prominent geographical features, such as bodies of water and mountains, and prominent cities (represented by gold triangles). This layout of the map suggests a worldview in which different geographical groups of people are viewed not by country, but through a religious lens. Each of the three land masses is representative of the descendants of one of the three sons of Noah, informing how the people in each of those areas may have been perceived. For example, the top left of the map is an illustration of Alexander’s Wall, behind which were meant to be the cannibalistic descendants of the evil sons of Cain, the Gog and Magog. By depicting this religious lore, the Psalter World Map identifies those living in the Northeast of the world as evil cannibals.

Like the modern map reflects a modern day American perspective, this map reflects an English perspective from (roughly) the thirteenth century, due to the location and time of its creation. This English perspective of the world is evident in the amount of locations labelled in each area. Outside of Jerusalem with its many labelled (religiously informed) locations, the bottom left quadrant, closest to Britain, contains the most labelled cities. Meanwhile, the right side of the map contains depictions of the “monstrous” races, or people/creatures with multiple or missing body parts. This portrayal of people in the southern part of the world reflects that those in Britain knew less about the world the further it was from them, allowing speculation and folklore to shape their understanding.

An additional element of the modern map that the Psalter World Map lacks is the inclusion of roads. This aspect of the modern map emphasizes that its priority is to give instruction for travel. The modern map suggests that the modern traveler views their place in the world as a specific geographical point, and the purpose of a map is to accurately assess this point in relation to the rest of the world. It offers physical guidance on how to reach a specific location, not only through its depictions of roads, but its depictions of mountainous terrain and bodies of water, which both accurately reflect the physical world and illustrate potential geographic barriers to a modern traveler. Country borders also provide this type of logistical information, as a border crossing can be an obstacle for travelers.

Instead of providing practical and logistical information for travel, the Psalter World Map’s visual priorities are in religious illustration. This purpose can be seen in the colorful and detailed artwork not only on the map but surrounding the map– angels surround the world, along with the upper body of Christ, who has a large halo of gold. In his hand, Christ holds a T-O sphere, expressing that he is ruler of the world. Margery begins her journey in Britain, located at the bottom of this map, and in moving physically upwards on this map to reach Jerusalem, the map shows Margery is moving closer to God on her journey. This idea suggests that in going on her pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a medieval traveler like Margery would have held the perspective that she was not only symbolically and spiritually growing closer to God, but also physically moving closer to him. Further, by physically (in her mind) moving up in the world, she could have felt that her religious status and quality of life was also moving upwards. By looking at the modern map, a modern traveller can see the impressive length and physically difficult journey Margery went on (traveling more than 3,000 miles southeast), which, though it does not support this religious narrative of moving upwards and closer to God, does reflect the strength of her religious devotion.

While the modern map is a physical representation of the earth, visualizing logistical and terrain-related information, it also reflects a modern day geopolitical understanding of the world. The Psalter World Map frames the world from a religious viewpoint, both physically and through the religious illustrations surrounding it. Rather than categorizing people by countries, it expresses a medieval idea in which areas are generally understood through religious scripture and speculation. In mapping Margery Kempe’s journey on both of these maps, a viewer is able to compare their modern day understanding of the world and travel to the Catholic perspective through which pilgrims like Margery Kempe saw the world and understood other people.

After re-mapping Margery Kempe’s travels on the Bianco Map, it became evident that the major difference between Bianco’s Map and Google Maps is specificity. Bianco’s Map depicts many important locations and areas of the world, but it tends to ignore anything considered a ‘minor’ city (often cities of less religious importance, and therefore fewer visitors). Marking Kempe’s journeys on this vaguer map proved to be more difficult simply because I had to estimate the locations of places like Constance and Great Yarmouth in relation to larger bodies of water or other landmarks. Because of this lack of specificity on Bianco’s map, Kempe’s travels may be more difficult to follow, or the markers of certain locations may be entirely incorrect.

Further, Bianco’s map is an artistic rendition of the world that utilizes illustrations to mark specific cities. Borders are completely omitted, while they are something our maps today rely heavily on. One of Google Earth’s central capabilities is to show specific borders of countries, cities, and continents. The way we understand travel today is based on the idea of crossing borders – whether that means crossing borders to other states, or farther away to other countries. While Kempe was certainly aware of crossing into other countries, the awareness of a specific line or immediate transition may have been less apparent than it is to us today.

Bianco’s interest in the religious significance of major European cities is clearly evident on this map. As with most medieval maps at this time, Jerusalem is oriented in the center of the map, highlighting its significance and centrality in the world. For Bianco and Kempe, and other Christians on pilgrimage, Jerusalem’s orientation in the center of the world makes the most sense, as it is the location for Jesus’s adult life. Surrounding areas, including the Red Sea, depictions of Adam and Eve, and proverbial characters like the three wise men, show the significance of religious themes in understanding travel and location in Europe. Even beyond the landmarks and depictions of cities, Bianco’s religious expertise is evident in the outskirts of the map: the world is surrounded by the stars (heavens), and the farthest reaches of the ocean show fantastical creatures like two-tailed sirens and two-winged dragons.

In addition to this map representing common religious ideologies, it’s imagery also holds underlying racist themes. The existence of Gog and Magog as one gets closer to Africa is something that should not go unnoticed. Because of this map’s emphasis on imagery to show location, the images tend to represent common notions of what those locations hold (mostly religious importance), and having the people of Africa become more monstrous, fantastical, or dangerous shows the racist ideas European people held about African people. Bianco’s map is opinionated and based on religious and cultural beliefs, while today’s maps, especially Google Earth, lean more toward factual and scientific evidence of location and proportion. That is not to say that Bianco’s map holds no accuracy, though. In her book on the world map, Evelyn Edson says, “It is a struggle between the authority of the mighty classical past, the religious orthodoxy of the medieval mappaemundi, and the practical experience of sailors, ‘persons worthy of trust who have seen with their own eyes’ (Edson 7).” Bianco’s map was accurate, or at least as accurate as possible for the time period, but it certainly is not as accurate as modern maps.

On Bianco’s map, the distance of Kempe’s journey seems to be across over half of the length of the world. If Bianco’s map is, in fact, a map of the entire world, Kempe has seen a significant portion of it. In relation to our modern map, though, Kempe’s travels cover barely a fraction of Europe, let alone the whole world. The sheer size of the map on Google Earth is significantly larger than Bianco’s Map, even though, at their time of creation, both are believed to depict the entire (known) world. To Kempe and most of the European world at this time, her travels seemed quite extensive, and while they certainly were for the time, our understanding of travel in today’s world far surpasses what it once meant.

Overall, there are many differences between Bianco’s map, Google Earth, and what that means for those who utilize each atlas. One of the most difficult parts of mapping Kempe’s travels on Bianco’s map was the medieval map’s orientation with east at the top. To ensure my locations were marked correctly, I rotated Google Earth 90 degrees to the left to make the maps match as closely as they could. After comparing both maps, readers can see that Bianco’s map holds important cultural information on beliefs of travel, religion, and race, while today’s map values specificity, facts, and scientific proportions to ensure accuracy.

Edson, Evelyn. The World Map, 1300-1492 : The Persistence of Tradition and Transformation. Baltimore, Sante Fe, N.M., Johns Hopkins University Press ; Published in association with the Center for American Places, 2007.

Tristan Deliana Link to Story Map because it gets cut off on the blog post: https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/16945eb4b6d4bd1c035a3a3eb37beb86/margery-kempe/draft.html

     A modern day map and the Hereford Mappa Mundi have drastically different styles of mapping the world but both contain vital information pertaining to travel. Modern day maps do not contain a subjective world view, but rather keep a more objective and neutral lense. They display the world as it is, with minor unintended errors such as enlarging countries. For example in the Mercator projection, due to attempting to place a 3D spherical world on a flat plane. Modern day maps display countries that are partially or entirely recognized, indicating borders, cities, and terrain of the area. They are useful for accurate navigation and for understanding the geographical location of an area and its terrain. They do not usually contain mythological or religious elements to them and remove the sense of the unknown due to technological advances in mapping and seeing the world. Using a modern map, the physical extent of Margery Kempe’s travels is truly revealed, displaying visually the large distance she had to cover from England, across the European continent, and to Jerusalem. It gives a realistic idea of what route she may have had to take, the distance she would have had to travel, the time it would have taken, and the terrain she would have had to overcome. It gives a pragmatic view of her journey without any bias, and can allow the viewer to either mentally or physically replicate her journey. It is devoid of subjective perspectives or prejudices that can affect the perception of how locations are, or what they should be like. For example, on the Hereford Mappa Mundi, the labyrinth of Minos is present whilst in reality, if someone were to have followed the Hereford Mappa Mundi they would find no such labyrinth, at least in the area indicated. 

  The Hereford Mappa Mundi on the other hand itself focuses much less on precise geographical depictions like a modern map and more on presenting the religious worldview. In comparison to a modern map, Margery Kempe’s journey on the Hereford map appears much shorter. On the Hereford map, cities are placed much closer in proximity to each other, countries are distorted and shrunken to conform to the T-O style that places Jerusalem at the center of the world. Margery’s journey on the Hereford Mappa Mundi looks as though she had traveled much less than she actually did. It does not display detail of terrain other than very broad imagery used to display rivers and the Alps, making her journey look flatter and relatively simple. This is because the map is not intended for accurate navigation but for the average viewer to have a certain view of the world around them.The map was created with religious iconography and placed into a Catholic cathedral displayed to a Catholic parish. It was intended to display an English Catholic perspective of how the world is assumed to be.     

    The map depicts Christ at the top with angels holding inscriptions whilst other angels turn themselves to look at the world and to the saints around them. These drawings and inscriptions visibly present two core Catholic beliefs. Christ is God and the king of both Heaven and of Earth itself. The second being that the saints are alive in heaven and can engage in intercessionary prayer. The map also displays biblical events and locations and places Jerusalem as the center of the world since this is where Christ was crucified and resurrected giving salvation to all of humanity. This gives more emphasis to the religious aspect of Margery’s journey. She does not travel for politics nore economic motivations. She does not travel with the intent of finding new lands and exploring. Her sole intentions are religious in nature, motivated by the Spirit of God to visit holy sites for the benefit of her soul. The Hereford map displays the cross with Christ on it directly above Jerusalem, which is in the middle of the map, telling the viewer that at the center of it all is Christ and the salvation He brings to humanity. Margery herself is departing from England with the intention of arriving to Jerusalem for pilgrimage, she travels to not only the center of the world, but also the place that holds sites of the faith that is the center to her life. In this aspect, the Hereford Mappa Mundi is more faithful to Margery’s journey and account in comparison to a modern map. In her narrative, Margery never describes the exact route she takes, the terrain that she must travel through, and rarely describes someone’s ethnicity or culture. The focus of her narrative is based on religious nature, and if it talks about something else it is always tied back to her faith, religion, or Christ. Just as her narrative, the Hereford Mappa Mundi places emphasis on Christ, Catholic doctrine, religious sites, and mythological mysteries rather than practical matters like distance. 

     A modern map and the Hereford Mappa Mundi may appear stylistically very different but both serve an important role in understanding the world and travel, specifically that of Margery Kempe. A modern map will give genuine appreciation to the large scale that Margery had to travel and the terrain she had to overcome. It will give an objective view of the world she had to travel through, with the exception of modern day borders. The Hereford Mappa Mundi gives emphasis to the purpose of her travels, and allows the viewer to gain access to how Margery herself would have seen the world. It allows the viewer to see the importance of faith and how it affects a person’s motives, specifically pertaining to travel and pilgrimage and can give a better insight to Margery’s thought processes that she details in her book. 

Link to Story Maps: https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/16945eb4b6d4bd1c035a3a3eb37beb86/margery-kempe/draft.html   

Pictures used for storymaps: 

Rome: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_peters_basilica_interior_drawing.jpg

Assisi:https://www.posterazzi.com/assisi-italy-in-the-late-19th-century-from-el-mundo-ilustrado-published-barcelona-circa-1880-posterprint-item-vardpi1958095/?srsltid=AfmBOoqewbND0DcoXcG5Yb_XIIWN7LZLZNK-_HEjUibWqMEzv9L-zkCp

Venice: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gentile-Bellini

Jerusalem: https://www.saintjohnchurch.org/palm-sunday/

Bologna: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towers_of_Bologna

Konstanz:https://www.meisterdrucke.ie/fine-art-prints/Unknown-artist/915499/Exterior-view-of-the-Notre-Dame-Cathedral-in-Constance,-Germany.-Engraving-in-%27The-Universe-illustr%C3%A9%27.html

Zierikzee:https://www.alamy.com/ruin-of-the-sint-lievensmonsterkerk-in-zierikzee-after-the-fire-of-1832-the-st-lievens-monsterkerk-in-zierikzee-daily-after-the-brandview-of-the-building-of-the-sint-lievensmonsterkerk-in-zierikzee-after-the-fire-of-october-6-1832-on-the-left-the-tower-that-has-remained-intact-right-the-destroyed-church-building-image414430917.html

Yarmouth:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Nicholas_Great_Yarmouth_1864_Ecclesiologist22camb_0047.jpg

Norwich:https://www.periodpaper.com/products/1919-print-norwich-cathedral-norfolk-england-architecture-landscape-dayes-art-129953-xac9-036 

Norfolk:https://www.wellandantiquemaps.co.uk/product/st-margarets-church-west-front-lynn-norfolk-by-mackenzie-le-keux-c-1809-2/ 

Virgin Mary Fighting Devil:https://www.bl.uk/stories/blogs/posts/the-medieval-origins-of-mothering-sunday 

Saint George Drawing:https://monarchies.fandom.com/wiki/Saint_George%27s_Cross?file=St_George_BNF_Fr_241_101v.jpg

Ship drawing: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25896-medieval-longship-by-bolin-finished-130-based-on-reconstruction-helga-holm/ 

Holy Roman Empire drawing: https://themiddleagesperiod4.weebly.com/the-holy-roman-empire.html

Christ Middle ages depiction: https://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/30/77488

The Annunciation drawing: https://michaelfaletra.weebly.com/virgin-mary.html 

Crucifixion: https://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/18/77488

Margery finds herself without funds to be able to make another voyage for her pilgramage to Santiago in Spain as she had given all her money away to others during her journey. She eventually prays to God to help her in her time of need which then many people begin to give her money. Some gave money in request she pray for them in Santiago. This sort of prayer which is intercessory prayer is an important part of the Catholic faith and is the same time of request Catholics make to the Virgin Mary and saints, requesting they pray for them in heaven to God.  People, like Margey’s friend, give her money for her voyage as they have a genuine belief that Margery’s intercessory prayer in a holy site like Santiago has a genuine benefit to the spiritual well being of their soul.

Eventually Margery obtains enough funds to beging her journey to Bristol, from which she would then travel to Santiago. She has heard that the rode from King’s Lynn to Bristol is filled with thieves that could rob her, but she is assured by God she will be safe. Eventually she arrives in Bristol where she again greets the man with the hunchback who traveled with her to Rome, where she pays him back for his help just as she had promised back in Rome.

Margery ends up waiting 6 weeks in Bristol for a ship because the king had requisitioned all of them.  It seems the harbor in Bristol is a common location for routine ships between Santiago, or at least Spain, and England, hence why Margery already knows about it. It also seems to be the major port in the area, since all other ports have no ships available to the point many pilgrims end up preferring to return to Bristol to wait for a ship to Santiago.

While in Bristol she continues to recieve communion and attend mass, where her weeping is again ridiculed by others around her, in return she prays to God for Him to forgive them. She again weeps for God during the procession in the town, and whilst again some were annoyed, others were astonished by her and end up inviting her to eat and drink with them, as well as to talk about God. Again as before, some of those people pay her to pray for them in Santiago.

Eventually a ship from Britanny arrives in Bristol but she is prevented from boarding due to a rich man who refuses her entry due to his dislike for her. She is eventually summonded by the Bishop of Worcester who does not reprimand her as many others have done but instead praises her and even asks her to pray for him as well. This is most suprising since many times people were angry with her display of piety, maybe because many expected women to be silent in public regarding to religious matters, but the Bishop himself respects her and asks for her prayers. He gives her gold, an escort, and blessings for her journey, and eventually she boards a ship for Santiago.

According to Margery the weather and wind were preferable for sailing and the journey finished in 7 days, so I would assume 6-7 days would be the usual time it takes for a ship to go from Bristol to Santiago.

When she arrives in Santiago, she finds that many who were cruel to her in Bristol were kinder to her now. In Santiago she prays, eventually returning to Bristol with her companions.

Margery travels from Jerusalem back to Venice by ship. Though she does not mention the length of their journey, she notes that many of her companions were very ill. Margery does not describe the conditions of the ship or other travel difficulties that might have inflicted this illness, though she does bring this situation back to her relationship with God, saying that he assured her no one would die if they were on the same ship as her. By sharing this message from God, Margery frames herself as a favorite or someone special in the eyes of God. Upon arriving in Venice, Margery’s companions abandon her, saying “they would not go with her for a hundred pounds” (111). This comment from her fellow pilgrims expresses the frustration and tiredness Margery’s travel companions felt after traveling with her for so long.

Margery states that God tells her that he will make sure she arrives in Rome and then England safely if she wears white clothes. Margery responds “’If you are the spirit of God that speaks in my soul, and I may prove you to be a true spirit through counsel of the church, I shall obey your will; and if you bring me to Rome in safety, I shall wear white clothes, even though all the world should wonder at me, for your love” (112). This response is interesting because Margery’s phrasing “If you are the spirit of God” implies that she is not fully sure that God is speaking to her at this moment. As a woman with many children, Margery wearing white clothes (indicative of virginity and purity) would have been seen as blasphemous. Therefore, Margery’s insistence that the voice of God told her to wear white could have been perceived as her actually being spoken to by the voice of the devil. By setting up this condition where she must arrive safely in Rome before wearing white, Margery will be able to provide proof that it is God speaking to her upon her safe arrival (and then will be justified for wearing white).

Margery then meets an Irish man of around fifty years old with an old broken back (named Richard). She recalls her confessor telling her that when all her companions abandon her, God will provide a broken-backed man to escort her. Margery tells Richard to guide her to Rome, and he responds with “No, ma’am” and a list of fears: they have no weapons, they could be robed, and Margery could be taken away from him and raped. Richard’s concerns emphasize the dangers of travel during this time, and the heightened risk (of being raped) that Margery faces due to being a woman. Margery responds  that God will look after them and she will give him two nobles. He agrees, suggesting that either Margery’s connection to God or the promise of two nobles (or both) are very convincing.

Once they set off, Margery describes coming across two Grey Friars and a woman “that came with them from Jerusalem” (113). As Margery previously describes being abandoned and alone, it is likely that this trio sailed on the same ship as her to Venice, and they were then separated up until this point. Margery describes the woman as having an ass which bears a chest containing an image of the lord. Margery writes that she travels with this trio while Richard returns to his occupation (begging), but he returns every morning and evening. The logistics of this situation are very confusing and Margery does not care to elaborate (does Richard only beg once they have stopped at a city?– otherwise, it would be unlikely he could stay caught up with the group).

Margery describes that though she does not speak the same language as the trio, they provide her with food, drink, and lodgings, and therefore she prays for them. This language barrier suggests that Margery is able to form connections with people, regardless of linguistic and cultural differences, through a shared dedication to religion. Margery writes that when the group arrives at fine cities, they place the image of the lord in the laps of respectable wives. Margery is moved to tears by the wives’ devotion. She writes that “When these good women saw this creature weeping… so astonishingly and so powerfully… they arranged a good soft bed and laid her upon it, and comforted her” (114). Here, Margery (as usual), depicts her weeping (and therefore the strength of her faith in God) as unique and incredible. This kind treatment of Margery, despite her language barrier with these women, once more demonstrates her ability to make connections with people through shared devoutness. However, it is also possible that because of the language barrier, these women did not understand Margery’s tears, and were simply concerned for her well-being.

Ultimately, Margery’s focus on herself, her relationship with God, and how other people perceive her suggest that she is attempting to record her own (or something like a) hagiography. She consistently depicts herself as having a more powerful connection to God than those around her, and further describes suffering for God. Interestingly, in this section Margery also demonstrates that while her devotion to God is often insufferable to those spending long periods of time with her, this connection to God can also convince people to help her and provide for her on her journey (regardless of language/cultural barriers).

Margery travels from Venice to Jerusalem by ship with her group of pilgrims. She does not note how long this journey takes, however she states that her pilgrims arrange a ship and obtain wine containers and bedding for themselves for this journey, though not for her (so she must obtain bedding herself). She then describes receiving a warning from God not to travel on the ship her fellow pilgrims had arranged, assigning her a different ship to sail in. She tells this information to her party, who sells their wine containers to join her on this other ship. This description of travel focuses on Margery’s relationship with God and the other pilgrims. While the pilgrims frequently express dislike towards Margery and exclude her, here Margery describes a reversal of power dynamics. Margery draws on religious authority and places herself in a position of power, even expressing that rather than her needing the pilgrims, they need her (“though it was against her will, she went on with them in their company, for they did not dare to do otherwise”)(103). Funnily, the pilgrims even have to sell the wine containers that they excluded her from.

Margery describes more mistreatment on the sea voyage to Jerusalem, expressing that a priest in the party took away her bedclothes and her sheet, rebuking her for being “false” (103). She does not explain why the priest does so, though says “she supposed they were annoyed with her” and proceeds to apologize  to the group for any annoyance she has caused, and tells the party that she forgives them for any wrongdoing they have done upon her (103). By describing this drama on the ship, Margery emphasizes overcoming struggles on her journey for God. She also places herself in a position of religious virtuosity (above the other pilgrims)  by apologizing (when she has not described having anything to apologize for) and forgiving the party for their mistreatment of her. She even says “God forgive you for it, as I do,” very closely linking herself with God and God’s feelings (and therefore authority) (103).

Once reaching land, Margery rides a donkey into Jerusalem. Rather than describing her surroundings, Margery focuses on her emotional reaction to seeing the holy land, and expresses that her emotions are so strong they are reflected through her body. She notes that one of these bodily reactions is almost falling off of her donkey. She writes that two German pilgrims helped keep her from falling, suggesting that Jerusalem was a center of interaction between many different cultures, all connected through the act of pilgrimage.

Rather than describing Jerusalem physically, Margery uses words such as “earthly” and “blissful” to describe it (103). This word choice demonstrates that Margery’s attention is very  much focused on the divine aspects of Jerusalem, rather than anything cultural or visual. She does not describe any logistical aspects of her stay, though she does write about visiting sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount of Cavalry. In these locations, Margery weeps more loudly and dramatically than she ever has before, explaining that she is unable to control the divine sensations and passion she feels when being in such holy locations. Like before, many pilgrims are frustrated with her displays of passion, and so she expresses that she attempts to withhold her tears for as long as possible. However, she ultimately bursts into tears, reflecting the power of Margery’s religious devotion. She says that those who haven’t seen her tears before are amazed and astounded, highlighting the uniquely intense nature of her sobbing.

Margery’s focus on her relationship to God, divine locations, and how people perceive (and usually mistreat) her and her religious devotion suggest not only that Margery prioritizes all that has religious connection, but that Margery is recording her story in order to demonstrate how devoutly passionate (and close with God) she is.  Further, by framing her faith as stronger than and superior to the faith of others (meaning she is more closely linked with God), she is able to place herself in a position of some power through religion.

After spending sometime in Rome, eventually Margery is commanded by God to return to her home. She departs Rome with her travelling party who again reiterate the common fear that they may encounter thieves along the journey home. Margery again assures her company that God will protect them during their travels. A little outside of Rome, Margery encounters a young priest whom she had been exchanging letters and decides to accompany her and her ground to Middleburg. I presume to get to Middleburg  Netherlands Margery ends up taking the same route she took from England to Italy. Since she does not specify, and since it seems her way of getting to Italy was the common route for pilgrams, I assume she again went North up until Bologna where then she travelled through the Alps along one of the common trails. I assume then again she went up until Konstanz Germany until she got to Middleburg Netherlands. This was the route she took orginally to get to Italy and again seems to be a common route taken, so to me it would make sense for her to just use it again to return home, especially as she is travelling with a large group of people. I also assume her method of travel was the same meaning, she mostly walked and continued to stop in peoples’ homes to eat and sleep just as she did before originally.

When Margery arrives in Middleburg, most of her company initially boards a ship to pass the English channel whilst Margery herself chose to remain in the city a little longer. Eventually she boards a “small ship” to cross the channel where she encounters a large storm, fortunately she arrives in England where she thanks God for getting her through the voyage. Based on how quickly her companions were able to find a ship upon their arrival in the Netherlandsm and how quickly she was able to get a ship after them, makes me believe this is probably some routine ferry / ship route pilgrams and travelers take all the time to get between mainland Europe and England.

Eventually Margery arrives again in Norwich England where she gives reverence to the Trinity just as she did when she initially departed Norwich to make her way to Jerusalem. In Norwich she meets the Vicar of Saint Stephan’s where he asks her about her travels and where she requests again to wear white clothing. She meets a generous man who, after speaking to her about her tales, agrees to pay for her white clothes since she had no money because she donated all of it to the poor while in Italy. She then recieves Holy Communion on Trinity Sunday in her all white clothes.

Eventually her husband makes his way down from Lynn to Norwich and then shortley after the two return together to Lynn. The distance between Lynn and Norwich is rather small with no major rivers in the way so the two would be able to complete the distance hiking within 2-3 days just as she had done when she departed from Lynn to make her way to Norwich and then Jerusalem.

Eventually the two arrive in Lynn where again Margery encounters judgment from her peers and she eventually gets extremely ill. Though Christ assures her she will not die she is so sick she is sure of it. When she eventually recovers she decides she wants to go to Santiago in Spain and she sets out to get the funds from her companions in Lynn. I presume she wants to go to Santiago to visit the remains of St. James which is a popular location for Christian pilgrims

In this chapter, Margery Kempe begins her travels by traveling from Norwich to Yarmouth. In these places, the reader does not get much information about the landscape or inhabitants of the towns – Kempe’s focus is her religious action, describing praying and offering at the Trinity and the Image of Our Lady, respectively. Before even beginning her journey, she prepared to leave for a significant amount of time by settling her debts and keeping in mind the advice/premonition that she received from an “anchorite,” describing events that had yet to occur.

The first location that Kempe describes in detail is Zierikzee, a city in the Netherlands. It is described as a large town, and Kempe is overcome with a deep sense of religious humility. She begins to explain, in detail, how she is wrought with “tears of compassion” at the thought of Jesus’s Resurrection. More than anything, Margery Kempe describes her emotions and near-constant tears at each place she visits on her journey towards the Holy Land. Her struggles begin to affect her, though, when her travel companions begin to reproach her for her annoying state of exultation and overt emotion. They begin to speak negatively towards her, saying things like “I pray God that the devil’s death may overtake you soon and quickly.” In addition to her religious emotion, she also ate no meat and drank no alcohol, except for a short time when one of her companions convinced her to eat meat and drink wine. After denying and asking if she could return to her vegetarian way of life, her companions grew even more annoyed at her constant state of religious superiority and piety. She would constantly speak of God and her love of the Lord, and her companions grew so annoyed that they began to act rashly towards her in addition to their previous negative statements.

At one point, they cut her dress and made her wear a sack so she “looked like a fool.” They demoted her to sitting below the table so they could be less annoyed by her religious conversation. Despite all these attempts at silencing Kempe’s religious belief, she states that she was still held in higher regard than her companions in every place they went. It is this high regard and Kempe’s conversations with the Lord that ensure she is on the right path. Kempe describes that she has conversations with God multiple times throughout her journey, and at this point (on the road to Constance from Zierikzee), He assures her that her and her companions will be safe on their journey as long as they stay together.

Kempe is stingy on her descriptors of location-specific details like terrain, length of stay, and even the culture/buildings/environment. In this section, Kempe’s focus is on the struggles she has with her travel companions, and sets up how her relationship with the Catholic God protects her and keeps her company in times of hardship. As with the other places she visits, and her descriptions of those places, we learn more about Kempe’s (and women in general) struggles with traveling, and how traveling with companions is not without its struggle, especially as someone as enthusiastically, outwardly devout. It is Kempe’s religious zeal that is the root of her distress with her companions, but it is her unwavering faith that keeps her focused on her journey and purpose: to see the Holy Land.