Category: Margery Kempe (Page 2 of 2)

Margery, now in Jerusalem, continues to visit Holy sites within the city such as Golgatha, weeping at each one at the thought of Christ’s torture at the hands of men. Presumably she travels to all these places on foot as she does not mention another mode of travel. She does not recieve aid from her fellow travelers, especially when she is walking up  Mount Quarantania, but only recieves help from Friars and “Saracens” which according to Britannica was used at some point in the middle ages to describe anything or anyone originating from Arabia. This defintely shows something special about Jerusalem with the peaceful interactions between faith, where Margery herself states that an Arab/or Muslim man would help up the mountain when she was beginning to get tired and where Catholic Grey Friars would supply her with water and comfort her when her “fellow country men would not acknowledge her”

She eventually makes her way to Bethany to visit the homes of Mary and Martha, as well as the tomb of Lazarus. Again Palestine is an interesting comparison to England with Margery her self stating she would walk around the country Muslim/or Arab people would accompany her and aide her, giving her special attention, as well as stating the entire populice of the area (Both Christian and Muslim) was kind to her and that all interactions were good  unlike her interactions with her fellow countrymen.

She eventually returns to Jerusalem and then Ramleh, where God commands her to go to Rome and then to return to England, and that she is pardoned in those places just the same as if she were in Jerusalem. She eventually boards a ship (presumably the same route she came with) to return to Venice. Though her companions are ill, Christ assures her that no one will die on the ship.

Eventually when they arrive in Venice, again her companions abandon her. She meets a man with a great hump on his back and, remembering her confessors words foretelling that a hunchback will accompany her when her companions abandon her, asks him to accompany her to Rome. He is reluctent because of his fear of robbers which I presume indicates this was a common issue in the area to get to Rome that travelers had to work around. I assume the typical way they would get around this is travelling in large groups with weapons, I say this because the man originally refuses to travel with Margery because he acknowledges that her companions have left her and therefore they would be left alone and have no one to carry crossbows and swords to protect them from robbers. Eventually Margery convinces him only on the condition that they travel with two Friars and some women, one of which carrys an image of Christ with her. This group including the man with the hump (Richard) were much kinder to Margery, presumbly because they themselves were quite religious and seemed to have resonated with her weeping.

Along the journey to Assisi, again Margery stays at another person’s house to rest and eat (which because of how many times this happened I assume is common in Medieval travel) where she loses and finds her ring dedicated to Christ.

Eventually Margery arrives in Assisi with Richard, with the method of travel not mentioned, where she meets Margaret Florentyne. The two ask this woman if they can join her party until Rome. Richard specifically asks because he hopes to avoid thieves by travelling with Margret, who presumably has a much larger party (possibly with weapons) that protects against robbers and other criminals. Margaret agrees, and all three travel together into Rome.

In Rome, Margery is recieved into the Hospital of Saint Thomas and recieved communion and confession every Sunday. Again the method of travel to Rome, aside from travelling with a large party, is not mentioned.

Rather than traveling with the other pilgrims, Margery Kempe travels to Bologna with an escort, an old man named William Wever who she meets in Constance. Rather than describing the terrain she travels across, she describes feeling the spiritual comfort of God throughout her journey. She does not mention the time it took to travel from Constance to Bologna, though she says that “they went on day by day and met many excellent people. And they didn’t say a bad word to this creature, but gave her and her man food and drink, and the good wives at the lodgings where they put up laid her in their own beds for God’s love in many places where they went” (101). These lines depict her journey as filled with very generous people. It is uncommon for Margery to meet so many people and not be openly insulted or criticized. While the specific type of lodgings Margery stays in are not mentioned, the mention of wives suggests that they may have stayed in people’s personal homes. The incredible level of hospitality described, in which wives give Margery their own beds to sleep in, may imply that in the areas Margery travelled through to reach Bologna, there was a major societal duty of hospitality (especially for women). It is also possible that this description of hospitality is Margery exaggerating, as this section of her journey is not witnessed by the other pilgrims.

Margery writes that she arrived at Bologna faster than the pilgrims that abandoned her, which shocks them and convinces them to allow Margery to rejoin their party. It is possible that because Margery was only traveling with one other person, they did not face any hold ups that a large group of people travelling might have encountered. However, Margery is only allowed to rejoin the group under the condition “you will not talk of the Gospel where we are, but you will sit and make merry, like us, at all meals,” which she agrees to (101). Margery notes nothing else about Bologna, emphasizing her focus on her relationship with God and people’s perceptions of her (often their difficulties with how she expresses her faith).

Margery then states that they travelled to Venice. She does not offer details about her travel (beyond that she is once more traveling in a group). For once, she actually notes how long they stayed in a location– 13 weeks.  Margery writes that while in Venice she receives communion every Sunday in a house of nuns. Her access to communion suggests a strong presence of Christianity in Venice (and considering its close proximity, also in Bologna).  Once more, Margery and her relationships are the primary focus. She writes that she is very welcomed among the nuns, who are “greatly amazed” at Margery’s “devotion and plentiful tears” (102). Margery may be attempting to brag and uplift herself, or, these nuns could have been appreciative of a woman (that is not a nun) with whom they share a strong sense of religious devotion. Additionally, Margery once more causes meal-time conflict by talking about the Gospel despite her agreement not to. Margery then eats alone for six weeks (potentially a reason she originally mentions the length of her stay– in order to emphasize she ate alone for almost half of it).

Margery then describes falling “so ill that she thought she would die” (102). Margery does not mention the symptoms of her illness (though it is logical to think she fell ill due to her constant exposure to the difficulties of travel and new places). She instead emphasizes that she believes God made her ill then well again, perhaps to test her faith or as a form of penance. Margery also adds that her maid servant serves the other pilgrims instead of her while she is sick, building on this victim narrative where Margery is struggling, sick and alone, for God.

While Margery describes incredibly little about Bologna and Venice, her focus on herself, other’s opinions of her, and God, uplifts her as an astonishingly devout woman.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1HbuaCGSKFTQ6g2a401ydKwmg9ks_1mk&ll=43.03211994311013%2C18.638816449999965&z=5

Margery primarily describes what directly impacts her (such as conflict with her fellow pilgrims) and the strength of her connection to God. For each location, I have chosen an icon that represents something she emphasizes in her description of her time there. Additionally, I have color-coded these locations with yellow, green, or blue in order to depict how connected to God Margery feels at these locations (evaluated by the amount she weeps). Yellow locations are those in which Margery briefly discusses or mentions her feelings of religious passion. Green locations are those in which she depicts a strong, direct connection to God (with crying). Blue locations are those in which she feels so connected to God, her body is fully overtaken with excessive, passionate weeping.

Here is the link to my map:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1H-JXjjcZgqbywpIZ1ZGmH0vX1edEvaI&usp=sharing

Blue Line: Her travels from Norfolk-Norwich-Yarmouth-Zierikzee-Konstanz-Bologna-Venice-Jerusalem

Red Line: Her travels from Bethany-Jerusalem-Back to Venice-Assisi-Rome

Blue icons: Places she went to in Europe

Red Icons: Places she went to in Asia

Each icon is given with a symbol which shows her mode of transportation at each region

a descripition is given in each text box of each location

In chapter 27 Margery Kempe is still in Konstanz Germany separated from her group and her handmaiden. Within the city she meets a well respected Friar who acknowledges her tears are out of genuine love for God and not for show, and agrees to eat dinner with her and her previous companions in order to help her with her ordeal, all he asks is that she does not speak. 

      During the dinner, her companions attempt to convince the Friar that they can no longer allow her into the party unless she stops her weeping and fasting of meat. The Friar denies their arguments stating it would be incorrect if he were to command someone who had taken a vow to walk to Rome barefoot as a pilgrim, just the same it would be wrong if he commanded her to stop her fasting. Based on this phrase I would assume to some degree these types of religious vows are common during pilgrimages, such as virgins wearing white, fasting from foods, and in this case walking barefoot. This reminds me of, or is possibly due to, other religious practices in the Christian faith like fasting during Holy Lent, Nativity of Christ, or fasting on Wednesdays or Fridays. These types of fasts are important for removing oneself from indulging in the material world and humbling oneself before God and to be reminded of the necessity of spiritual prayer and humility by abstaining from material things. I think this would be especially important for someone like the Friar and Margey Kempe which is why I see why she would take such a fast for her journey and I see why the Friar would support it. Though I am quite surprised to see the other pilgrims upset at her fasting despite this being a common practice within the faith. 

    Eventually the group hand her to the Friar who provides her with money and a guide named William Werver. As the two make their way to Bologna in an unspecified manner, Margery describes again being hosted by people in their homes along the way and being fed by them; it does not specify that she had to pay for these acts of kindness. This makes me think this is a common practice of the era in which pilgrims are fed and hosted for free by people in their own homes along their journey maybe because the journey is a religious one for God. Eventually the two arrive in Bologna in which again she meets her former companions, in order to rejoin the group they permit her to eat meat but to at least stop her weeping. 

 They eventually arrived in Venice, where they remained for 13 weeks with Margery receiving Holy communion every Sunday. Eventually she speaks of the Gospel again to the dismay of the group and they begin to diverge again. When it is time to set sail for Jerusalem Margery opts to take a galley (a low ship with 1-2 sails) all the way from Venice to the Holy land. Eventually they arrive at the port, to get from the port to Jersualem, Margery chooses to ride a donkey. Possibly this may be because this is one of the cheaper or common forms of transportation to get to Jerusalem but I think this may also be Margery imitating Christ who also rode into Jerusalem with a donkey on Palm Sunday. This makes sense to me since Margery is an extremely religious Christian. She eventually visits important holy sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and weeps for Christ who was tortured, crucified, buried, and resurrected for humanity’s sake.  

Margery Kempe travels with her fellow pilgrims to Constance despite their disputes in Zierikzee. As the text does not specifically state how they travelled, it can be assumed that like most pilgrims, they walked. Margery does not provide the amount of time this journey took, however she does mention that her fellow pilgrims caused her “much shame and reproof as they went along” during the journey by making her wear a short gown and “some white canvas in a kind of sacking apron” so that “she would be taken for a fool” (98). This visual form of shaming through an outfit that is sexual (as implied by its length) and ugly suggests a cultural importance placed on female appearance in Margery’s society. Her group makes her dress a certain way so she is “taken for a fool,” directly connecting a woman’s visual appearance to how she would be treated (with signs of sexuality or aesthetically unappealing qualities leading to a woman being treated with less respect). Margery details that her group continues to shame her by making her sit at the end of the table when eating, “so that she scarcely dared speak a word” (98). This enforcement of her silence suggests another cultural expectation placed on Margery– for women to be quiet while the men speak.

However, Margery also describes that “the good man of the house where they were staying… would always do whatever he could to cheer her up before them all and sent her what he had from his own meal” (98). Practically, this description implies that Margery and her group of pilgrims were housed and fed (seemingly generously) by a man of Constance, perhaps suggesting an emphasis on religious obligation in Constance. Further, this man’s kind treatment of Margery, despite her group’s annoyance, may suggest kinder or more polite treatment of women in Constance. 

Interestingly, while in Constance, Margery describes her experiences with an English friar rather than depicting the religious community in Constance (though the English friar’s presence infers a Catholic presence). Margery shares her strained relationship with her group and the legate offers her religious comfort. The group invites the legate to dinner, where they ask him to command Margery to eat meat like the rest of them and stop weeping so much. The legate responds that he will not order her to not eat meat when “our Lord gives her strength to abstain” or restrain her weeping when “it is the gift of the holy ghost” (100). He adds that “As for her talking I will ask her to stop until she comes somewhere that people will hear her more gladly than you do” (100). These words from the friar/legate once more suggest that in Margery’s culture, she can draw some forms of power and personal autonomy through religion, however, the expectation to remain silent if men do not want to hear her speak is fairly constant, even if she is discussing religion. 

The text continues to state that the pilgrims “gave Margery over to the legate,” wanting nothing more to do with her (100). This phrasing that Margery can be “given” to someone like an object reflects another way she lacks control in her society. The primary way the group transfers Margery over to the legate is by taking charge of her money (implying that women for the most part were not meant to hold their own money). The legate “organized for her the exchange of her English money into foreign money,” also suggesting that Margery is reaching territory where English money is no longer accepted as much. Additionally, Margery describes the legate as treating her “as though she had been his mother” (100). This comparison suggests the type of control or responsibilities (monetary) a son might have had over his mother in Margery’s society. 

Overall, the near complete lack of detail Margery offers about Constance (including how long she is there) emphasizes that Margery is recording her journey for very personal and religious reasons. While her stop at Constance provides us with little information about the culture there, it does offer insight on Margery’s culture (and its treatment of women). Further, this stop demonstrates a consistent tension throughout Margery’s traveling between patriarchal control and her ability to draw power from religion.

The author of this travel narrative – this book can certainly be called a narrative due to its form (storytelling, plot) – is extremely interested in telling the story of her travel through a religious lens. In Chapters 28 and 29, she travels to the greatest locations in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, including Jerusalem and Bethlehem. She makes a point to visit the most critical sites here: the location of Jesus Christ’s (one member of the Christian Holy Trinity) tomb, the crucifixion site, Mount Zion (where miracles and moral lessons occurred), other burial sites for major biblical people, and where Jesus was born.

She notes her own emotional responses to these locations, stating, “she wept, she sobbed, she cried out so loudly that it was amazing to hear it (107).” She continuously describes herself as this over-emotional creature, a nuisance to her traveling mates because of her excessive love for the Lord and inability to keep quiet on her devotion and religious beliefs.

The beginning of this chapter details the mode of travel Kempe uses to reach these Holy Grounds. They were to set sail for Jerusalem, but Kempe convinces the traveling party to take a different kind of boat, as God told her to avoid sailing in the other one. The party she was traveling with was full of people Kempe did not particularly like, and in addition to goading her and excluding her, would also simply act pettily towards her. On the ship, Kempe recalls that one of the members stole her bedsheet; these antics reinforce the idea that Kempe’s extreme devout demeanor was not well-received by her companions. Once they left their ship, Kempe states that she rode an ass to Jerusalem and later to Bethlehem. There is no specific timeline of Kempe’s travels in these chapters, but she seems to move from place to place quite often.

Kempe is obviously an outsider among her party. Something I find especially noteworthy is her profound episodes of devout prayer and emotion. They are obviously observed as strange, annoying, and contemptuous, and as a woman of this time period, her motives for drawing even more attention to herself are certainly interesting. She notes having visions and discussions with God, often yelling or crying during the episodes. We may be able to assume that although Christianity is a followed religion at this point, most believers are more discrete with their shows of belief, and may not follow as many of the rules as Kempe does, including eating meat.

Kempe explains that if others are weeping or crying over more common earthly griefs, such as losing a loved one, no one would tell them to stop, and, therefore, her episodes of grief and mourning over Jesus are no different. Perhaps her attention-grabbing episodes are actually an attempt at conversion or overt reminders of the horrors believed to have occurred in the Christian faith. On page 107, Kempe says that those on Earth to easily forget the sacrifices Jesus made for them – therefore, her episodes of grief and apparent conversations with God are a constant reminder to those witnessing that God is watching and listening, and that they, too, should be practicing their faith more openly and devoutly. She ends Chapter 29 with a supposed message from God, saying, “Daughter, I shall make the whole world wonder at you, and many men and women shall speak of me for love of you, and honour me in you (107).” This reinforces the idea that Margery Kempe’s attention-grabbing episodes make people remember and honor God when they have perhaps forgotten their religious duties.

    In chapter 26 Margery Kempe, who is located in Norfolk England, is finally granted approval for her travel to the Holy Land by the archbishop and her husband. It appears she is a middle class woman and not a part of religious order like nuns but is extremely religious (catholic) herself. She is commanded by Christ to adorn white clothing which is specifically for consecrated virgins but this decision is most likely due to her vow of a chaste marriage with her husband and her return to faith from doubt. She says in her dialogue with God that she is afraid to be ridiculed on her journey for “hypocrisy” but ultimately decides her faith and servitude to Christ’s command is more important than ridicule (which is seen later in this chapter as something she will endure heavily). 

  She initially travels to Norwich and Yarmouth to receive blessings and give offerings to God and the Virgin Mary where at Yarmouth she boards a ship to arrive at a large town called Zierikzee which is located in modern day Netherlands. It is not stated whether it was some sort of routine ferry between the two places (which I assume it is due to her being middle class) or a privately chartered boat. She states she does not eat meat as a sort of fast despite her confessor granting her permission to (which insinuates that travel is known to be very harsh and food like meat, despite fasts, is permitted and urged for travellers)   

 From Yarmouth to Zierikzee she follows the typical practice for medieval travel of travelling in groups, the group she is with are labeled her “companions” and she also brings along one personal maid servant. Eventually her group along with her maid servant grow discontent with her weeping for God and depart from her. The next day one of her remaining companies approaches her and offers to travel in another group as fellow pilgrims up to Konstanz Germany (southern Germany) which is also typical in medieval traveling. Because of how easy it was for her to find another group the next day I assume this route that she is taking is a very popular route for pilgrims to get to Jerusalem for pilgrimages from England. 

   She was shamed by her pilgrim group and made to wear outfits to make her appear as a fool, which may have something to do with her previous all white outfit but it’s not mentioned. Maybe it is because she is not only a solo female traveler, but also because she is an outspoken religious/Christian woman, something typically seen as reserved for men in this period. 

    Its stated along their journey they stayed at the house of another person to eat supper and who fed the pilgrims, which insinuates that some medieval people would offer than homes to allow pilgrims to stay the night and feed them as well, most likely because their journey was a Holy one and not for frivolous or political reasons. 

  Eventually she arrives in Konstanz Germany, though it is unspecified if it was entirely by foot or another method, where she immediately attends Church to pray to Christ, which shows her religious dedication in this journey.

The Book of Margery Kempe states that Margery, traveling with a group of other pilgrims that including her confessor and her maidservant, arrived at Zierikzee on a ship from Yarmouth. While the text does not provide a specific length of time she was in Zierikzee, it says that “she received communion every Sunday,” implying that she was there for at least a few weeks (96). Her receiving communion also suggests that Zierikzee had Catholics and Catholic churches. Zierikzee is described as a “large town,” though no other straightforward descriptions of the city are given (96). Due to Zierikzee’s proximity to water, it is possible that it played a major role in their economy and its people’s daily life, but Margery did take note of it, implying she did not care much about the environment of Zierikzee.

While in Zierikzee, Margery’s confessor becomes extremely angry with her for not eating meat. This dispute may suggest that the easiest and most fulfilling foods that her group could obtain in Zierikzee contained meat, and therefore Margery’s refusal to eat meat caused an issue for the group when getting their meals. Margery largely focuses on this dispute between her and her travel group when describing the rest of her time at Zierikzee. Her group refuses to stay with her for a night, giving her a noble and angrily telling her to “go where she likes and shift for herself as well as she could” (97). Margery does not describe her previous lodgings (with the group) or if she was able to obtain lodgings for the night she was on her own. However, based on the frequency with which Margery describes she suffers, the absence of a description detailing a night of suffering implies that she was likely able to secure lodgings. Therefore, the noble was likely able to cover her necessary costs (either because nobles were an accepted currency in Zierikzee or because they were at least considered to have some value there).

While Margery spends some time describing how “cruelly” her fellow pilgrims treated her, she spends one line describing how she thinks the people of Zierikzee perceived her: “she received communion… with much weeping and violent sobbing, so that many people marveled and wondered at the great grace that God worked in his creature” (96-97). By using the words “marveled and wondered” and framing her tears as a great gift from God, the text implies that some people in Zierikzee may have found her tears to be a wondrous sign of religious devotion and connection to God. However, considering how often people become frustrated with Margery for her constant crying, this view may also just be reflective of how Margery wanted to be perceived, rather than how she was actually perceived. Either way, her crying seems to have been very noticed by people, suggesting few if any people in Zierikzee rivaled the frequency and drama with which Margery Kempe cried.

Rather than describing Zierikzee and its people/culture, Margery Kempe focuses on recording her feelings, her relationship with God, and the suffering she is experiencing for God while at Zierikzee. These focuses suggest that her purpose in having the Book of Margery Kempe written was to gain religious admiration from her journey,  not unlike an attempt at an autobiographical hagiography.