MEMOIRS OF A MEDIEVAL WOMAN: The Life and Times of Margery Kempe

by Louise Collis

This unique biography tells the story of an extraordinary fifteenth-century woman who journeyed all over Europe from England to the Holy Land. A vigorous and passionate woman, Margery Kempe was married and had fourteen children when she deserted her family to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to expiate a 'secret sin' in her early life. Along the way she meets many famous prelates and dignitaries, gets into all sorts of scrapes, and survives a feverish voyage in the stinking galleys of a Venetian boat.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Medieval, Classics, Womens, Biography Memoir

Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Book Concierge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Margery Kempe was an extraordinary 15th century woman who traveled from England to Jerusalem (and a number of spots in between). She was convinced she had been chosen by God to be his servant, and, though married with 14 (!) children, she undertook to take His message to the faithful. More importantly to her, she had a “secret sin” in her early life, which she felt she could only expunge by this pilgrimage.

Collis used Kempe’s own autobiography – the first ever written in English. (She was illiterate, but dictated her memoirs to a priest near the end of her life.) Thank God for Collis’s “interpretation.” The frequent quotes were enough to give me nightmares of a high-school English teacher who specialized in Middle English. As an example: “oon of hem specyaly” = “one of them, specially.” I also got tired of Margery, herself, pretty quickly. She was certainly committed to her cause, but I sympathized with her fellow travellers who wanted to abandon her (she was really insufferable).

In fairness, I did learn quite a lot about the history of this period. Though Chaucer was alive during this period, she probably didn’t know of him (remember, she was illiterate) ; still, I couldn’t help but recall Canterbury Tales (it seems written with “hyr in mynd”).

[John David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louise Collis' book stands of the interesting tradition of "books that are about books." While Kempe (c. 1373 - 1438) wrote what is quite possibly the first autobiography in the English language - and quite a fascinating book in its own right - Collis' re-telling of the story adds the occasionally much-needed and very helpful narrative voice of a twentieth-century historian. At the same time, her voice is never intrusive, always letting Margery's story shine through any additional insight she might have.

Margery Kempe was born in or around the year 1373 to one John Brunham, the long-time mayor of Lynne (now King's Lynn) in Norfolk. In 1393, she would marry John Kempe and have her first child quickly thereafter. It was around this time when Margery had her first ecstatic religious vision when, according to her, Jesus appeared to her in a purple robe. Thirteen more children would follow over the years.

One day, while lying in bed with her husband, she has another vision, she tells John that she has decided to give up her sex life with him in order to give herself fully to God. This was one of the larger decisions that was made on the way to her becoming a fully repentant saint, whose spiritual ablutions and contrition would irritate many of the people that used to love her the most. In 1414, she took a dangerous trip to the Holy Land (the threats of vagabonds and brigands made long-term travel much more of an adventure than we could ever imagine it today), returning home a year later; in 1417, she took a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. Both of these trips are beautifully detailed in the text. During her travels, she was hardly able to control her grippingly emotional visions. While today we would imagine that everyone would admire her for such religious fervor, many of the people that she would encounter on her travels thought that she was either being histrionic and sanctimonious, or possessed by the devil.

There is absolutely no doubt that Margery was a brilliant woman. While unlettered, she knew enough about Church dogmatics to defend herself when she was accused by some of being a Lollard (a follower of John Wycliffe). On other occasions, she was accused of being a heretic of other stripes, but always received commendations from those in a position to say what was orthodox and what wasn't.

While the comparatively secular modern mindset might find Margery's religious devotion neurotic or overly compulsive, Collis' careful and considerate explication enables the reader to approach the text with more cultural and sociological sensitivity. No one would ever accuse Margery of being an uncomplicated woman. She was strong-willed and adamantine. But her sincerity, selflessness, and refusal to compromise those values which she found most important make her oddly likeable, and one of the more interesting religious figures to come out of early fifteenth century English religious history.

This book comes highly recommended for those interested in religious (auto)biography, the history of the Catholic Church, or English history on a larger scale.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margery Kempe was born in 1373 in the town of Bishop's Lynn (now King's Lynn, not far from Norwich. She was the mayor's daughter, a privileged woman but nonetheless illiterate, who married a remarkably affectionate and understanding man, John Kempe, who at the time was a successful merchant. And soon a baby was born - but the birth was difficult and she was haunted by a fear of death, which in her case might mean her damnation, since she had committed a sin (still unknown) which she feared to confess to any priest. She plucked up her courage and decided to confess, but when the priest began to reprove her, was unable to complete her confession and went out of her mind - hallucinations of devils tormenting her, suicide attempts, self-harm. And then, lo, it all passed with a vision of Christ, bringing peace and sanity - a miracle. She proceeded to enjoy life again, spending too much money, deciding to set up a brewery and then a mill (both of which failed), and ultimately deciding that her calling was to follow Christ, no matter what the leading.

The stage is set. She took it as her duty to convert sinners and found no lack of them. Her spirituality could not be ignored because she expressed it constantly in loud, emotional descriptions of her visions, in such a way that she was frequently suspected of being a Lollard. This heretical sect did not emphasize orthodoxy but defended the spiritual freedom of each believer to discern the truth for themselves. However, Margery was indeed an orthodox believer, although she expressed this faith in a strikingly unorthodox manner, falling down in fits, crying out loudly whenever she was affected in church. She began a quest to find mentors and supporters among recognized church authorities, and in 1413 embarked on a pilgrimage to York and other celebrated shrines. Along the way, she decided that her purpose was to set out for Jerusalem. She bargained with her husband - she would pay off his bills with her inheritance from her father, and he would take a vow of chastity so that they could have separate beds on the journey. She had already borne him 14 children and I guess she'd had enough - but holiness was her only avowed motivation. Probably wisely, her husband chickened out, and she boarded the ship at Yarmouth alone in midwinter 1413/14.

Well! This book is a fascinating glimpse of the religious climate of these years, not only in England but on the continent and in Venice (where there was an entire industry of tour guides and ships devoted to taking pilgrims to the Holy Land!). Margery's transports make a nuisance of her over and over again, and occasionally she compromises but not too often, because she's convinced that God approves and is guiding her in all this. And indeed, who knows? Her autobiography is the first to be dictated by a woman in English. I'd recommend this book because Louise Collis puts Margery in the context of her time and assembles all sorts of interesting facts about those who supported her, sometimes at cost to themselves, and the attention that her pilgrimage received. The glimpses of the Holy Land and what a pilgrimage was like in the 15th century are irreplaceable. Travel on pilgrim ships for a middle class sounds not much different than later slave ships. Arrival in the Holy Land opened one to exploitation by the Saracens who were second to none in their ability to gouge tourists.

I could go on but you get the idea. It's pretty funny at times too! But we owe Margery a great debt for persisting in dictating these experiences. She actually did mellow a bit toward the end of her life but she remained a charismatic figure, impossible to ignore, and her recital of her experiences has endured. This book within a book gives you the idea of it and I think it is probably less overwhelming than reading her own words with no commentary. For anyone interested in medieval religion and daily life for travelers to the Holy Land, it's a must read!

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very, very interesting!

From back cover:

"This unique biography tells the story of an extraordinary fifteenth-century woman who journeyed all over Europe from England to the Holy Land. A vigorous and passionate woman, Margery Kempe was married and had fourteen children when she deserted her family to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to expiate a "secret sin" in her early life. Along the way she meets many famous prelates and dignitaries, gets into all sorts of scrapes, and survives a feverish voyage in the stinking galleys of a Venetian boat.

Drawing on the chronicles of her contemporaries and on her own clear-eyed autobiography - dictated to a priest near the end of her life and said to be the first written in English - these memoirs reveal a woman who has strange ideas about such things as sin and sainthood, dress, diet, and sex, and provides a colorful and detailed picture of everyday medieval life in England and around the rim of the Mediterranean. Part-time historian Louise Collis brings a novelist's flair to this fascinating, well-researched story."

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting in small doses. It is based on the account of an actual woman who lived in England in the 1400s. As was apparently fashionable in the day, she was flamboyantly devout and made many pilgrimages, including to Rome, Jerusalem and parts of Spain. She would have fit right in with the crowd from the Canterbury tales.

Her tale puts some misconceptions about history on their heads. She began her travels fairly late in life, after having raised 14 children. Her husband was uninterested, so she left him behind, giving herself a common-law divorce or sorts. She traveled with various pilgrim groups, and sometimes found herself on her own, hiring beggars and others as escort.

I must have spent more than a year reading this book bit by bit. The quotes in the original middle English are particularly difficult, but most of the book is in modern English.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating biographical of a woman who would was attempting to become a saint. It shows the zealot moment into hysteria of the martyrdom of early Christians. How they were obsessed with the pain and blood of the Crucifiction of JC, the tales of woe of the early saints but more importantly - the charlatism of those out to make a profit on so-called relics. One is left to wonder ... what is real in the church at all!

It was definitely a book to read - I want to read the original work of M. Kempe - those pamphlets she authored, to see just what message she was attempting to give.

The author paints one side more heavily than the other of faith...its up to you to figure out which one you choose.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book about 12 or so years ago. It was an amazing look at the life of a remarkable (and remarkably odd) woman. I was fascinated at how different the medieval mindset is from that of today -- and it goes way beyond the technology. :) Cool book.

[Nick Carraway LLC · Rating 3 out of 5]

1) "Margery Brunham, or Burnham, was born about 1373 in Bishop's Lynn, as King's Lynn was then called, in Norfolk. When an old woman, she dictated the memoirs on which this book is based. Her autobiography is remarkable in many ways. It is the first to be written in English. Though she wished to depict herself as, above all, a saintly woman on familiar terms with God, many of the conversations with friends and enemies are recorded in a thoroughly down to earth spirit. These are real people speaking to a real woman. They say the kind of things anyone would in similar circumstances. They are bored by continual piety. In some cases, they laugh scornfully at religious excesses. In others, they become suspicious and denounce the writer to the authorities as a detestable heretic. Yet others were fully convinced of her sanctity, declaring that a place was reserved for her in heaven. There were also those who believed in spite of themselves: if in trouble, they desired her prayers; if not, they avoided her. They may not have used the very words reported, but one can't help feeling the sense is true enough."

2) "A young monk stepped forward, taking his tone from the other, and said: 'Eythyr thow hast the Holy Gost or ...a devyl wythin the, for that thu spekyst her to us, it is Holy Wrytte."
Still not realizing the danger, Margery retorted: 'I pray you ser, geve me leve to tellyn yow a tale.'
The monks seem to have hesitated to prolong the scene, for the crowd which had collected cried: 'Late hir sey what sche wyl.'
This was the sort of invitation Margery never could resist. She addressed the audience in a parable of her own composition about a man who, as a penance for his sins, paid others to abuse him and was always very glad to meet disagreeable people, because it enabled him to get through a part of his punishment free of charge. In her own case, she thanked them for the disgraceful treatment she had received, since the more she suffered for the love of God, the sooner she'd go to heaven.
This tactless oration can scarcely have conciliated the monks; and to the congregation it proved her a heretic. As she marched out of the church they followed, shouting: 'Thow shalt be brent fals lollare. Her is a cartful of thornys redy for the and a tonne to bren the wyth.'"

3) [Aboard ship] "After eating, one might doze for a time, being careful to secure one's money to one's person; it was unsafe to lay down even a pen on board ship, if one hoped to see it again. There were days when everyone seemed to be in a happy dream and an almost celestial harmony to descend on the decks. On other days, tempers were lost on the smallest provocation, knives snatched up and damage done. The crew did not intervene in really fierce fights. It was not wise to do so. Never make enemies at sea, advise experienced travellers, the memory of these fatal disputes before them as they write. Never occupy another man's place unless he has expressly allowed it, or you will be taken for a thief and dealt with accordingly. Make yourself agreeable even to slaves, for you can't tell when you may have need of help. The prudent man, who hopes to survive the perils of the sea, is always watchful, not sitting down anywhere without first testing for soft pitch, keeping away from ropes, above all, not fancying his skill as a sailor and offering to help during storms. On the other hand one should be manly and not spend one's days miserably taking every medicine recommended by the doctors and poking suspiciously at food in the fear of being poisoned. Moderation and tact are the supreme virtues in these circumstances. One wonders that Margery came through alive."

4) "After they had gone too far to put back into port, suddenly 'it began waxin gret tempestys and dyrke wedyr'. The bark wallowed alarmingly. The passengers thought they would surely sink. 'Than thei cryed to God', repeating the most efficacious prayers they knew. Luckily, it was only the tail end of the last week's storms and did not last long: 'anon the tempestys sesyd and thei had fayr wedyr' for the rest of the crossing. The next day, in the evening 'thei cam to londe' in East Anglia.
Now a great feeling of relief and joy overcame her. How many times in the past year had it seemed likely that she would not reach home again? She might have died in the Alps with William Weaver; or in Venice where she was so ill and her maid refused to nurse her; or in the Holy Land of exhaustion and fever; or on the Italian roads from attack by bandits; or in Rome of starvation. All these dangers she had triumphantly passed, for her courage had never failed. She 'fel downe on hir knes kyssyng the grownde'."

5) "'And so (they) went hom togedyr to Lynne', Margery, we must presume, talking at a great rate of the wonders she had seen; of the fire of love and celestial music; of life on shipboard; of vendetta; of how she had always got the better of everyone in the end. She must have asked him [husband John Kempe] to give an account of himself, particularly in regard to his religious observances. His replies were, evidently, not sufficiently interesting to remain in her memory. We only know, from subsequent events, that he had still not been successful in business. As Margery had spent her inheritance, they were very poor. In spite of this, and the vow of celebacy, they remained on good terms. Once, they had been deeply and satisfyingly in love and the bond was never entirely broken."

6) "Perhaps her philosophy could even have embraced her book's curious posthumous adventures. Evidently quite popular, it was copied, it may be more than once. In the early sixteenth century short extracts were printed as a pamphlet. These, by their selection and owing to their being given out of context, lent a spurious air of wisdom and holiness to Margery's thought. All self-esteem, all excess, were removed by the editor with remarkable effect. These seemed to be the broodings of a holy anchoress.
At some later date, the original manuscript, no longer read or consulted, disappeared. For hundreds of years it lay forgotten in one library or another. The holy anchoress, Margery Kempe, passed into oblivion until 1934, when she was suddenly discovered in a country house in Yorkshire. There was great excitement: a major writer of the fifteenth century had been found. There was equal disappointment: she was not a saint after all, nothing like one.
But many saints have written books, whereas only one member of the medieval public has had the industry, self-confidence and will-power to describe for us the everyday life and vicissitudes of a mayor's extraordinary daughter.
[...]
Though shrewd enough in other matters and penetrating in her judgements, about her connection with the divine she remained obdurate. She knew how to be tactful. She was alert, intelligent and a woman of the world in many respects. But when the religious mood came on her, she lost all control and could not be persuaded by any number of dangerous misadventures that some, at least, of her critics might be justified. Her story thus descends from the heights on which she intended it to rest and becomes the tale of a woman we can understand and with whom we can sympathize across the gap of five hundred years."

[Beattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so wish I can give half stars on here, because this book is actually a 4.5 for me.

This is an incredible look into the life of a 15th century woman. But it’s also a wonderful look into how women were viewed and treated by the church of the 15th century. This was enlightening and insightful for me as a modern day Protestant to see how this women (regardless as to how annoying she may have been as indicated by the author) navigated politics, personalities, and uncertainty in the church and her world as a whole.

This book was (overall) very well written and easy to follow. It was both informative and entertaining, something that isn’t always easy to do. It’s easy to access so you don’t absolutely have to be a trained historian to get it.

Now, my only complaint. Dear Louise Collis (not sure if you’re still around, but oh well), please lay off Margery! Wow, the backbiting comments that are written are off putting sometimes!

Collis seems to be intent on dragging Margery down a few pegs. Was Margery most likely a bit self righteous? I’m sure she was. But there’s no need to use that as a reason to take away from the importance of Margery or the incredible things she went through and recorded for posterity.

Aside from the downright rude comments from Collis, this book is wonderful. I loved it and I’m so thankful to have read it! If you are even mildly interested in 15th century English life, please read this!

[Marcy Rae Henry]

truly fascinating look at a medieval woman who was eccentric and advanced for her time. she abandoned home and family to travel from england to israel and was focused on her spiritual journey more than history or the politics of the time. --can't blame her for that. women didn't have much play or say in either during her day.

[CJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

A summarization of the memoirs of Margery Kempe of Lynn, England. She was a very ambition and trying woman determined to achieve sainthood in the 1400s.

The author did a nice job of summarizing the rambling book dictated by Margary to two priests near the end of her life. She also added background information as to what else was going on at the time.

[MET · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all need a hero!

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her autobiography, on which this book is based, doesn't say and we don't know, but I'm convinced that Margery Kempe must have been a redhead. She began as a lively, curious well-to-do young woman--daughter of a mayor, wife of a mid-level merchant--with a joy for life that included have 14 (!) children. Something in her brain changed, though, when she had a life-threatening illness, and she became fixated on living a life that would guarantee her sainthood. This included very loud and obnoxious displays of religious emotion at the slightest provocation, and the uncontrollable urge to lecture any and everyone around her on their sinful ways, and to recount her own spiritual ecstasies whenever she had a talk with God, which was often. It's really easy to understand why her husband was easily convinced to let her go wandering for months at a time on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Rome, and Spain--the silence at home must have been a blessed relief. Wherever she went, she was always in trouble with the local civil and ecclesiastical authorities for her outbursts and preaching.

Margery was born in England in the late 1300s and, having never learned to read or write, dictated the story of her life between 1432 and 1436. Interestingly, all through her autohagiography (I like to think I invented that word) she refers to herself in the third person, often as "that creatur" [sic], possibly reflecting her humility--if in fact it was humility and not a sneaky way of self promotion.

Some scholars have claimed that Margery was a skilled rhetorician; others that she had some mental illness like postpartum psychosis. I'm inclined towards the latter, but she was able to escape the clutches of the law so many times, and she made (at least by her own account) so many predictions that came true that I have to wonder if maybe she wasn't a favorite of God's, who protected her and guided her.

I'll be honest, I find Margery obnoxious and overbearing, and I certainly would not have wanted to spend any time around her. If that were all there was to this book I probably wouldn't even have finished it. But the hidden gem here is the lavish descriptions of the world through which Margery moved--the society, culture, and outlook of the people. We get to see facets we don't normally think of, like the complex logistics of long-distance travel; the deep superstitions of even educated people; the way the Moslem Saracens treated Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land as tourists in a theme park, treating them brusquely while fleecing them for money at every opportunity; how so much travel was by foot, and the subsequent importance of inns or even just private residences who would rent rooms to travelers; and the complex and protean webs of law and punishment weaved by both church and state which brooked almost no deviation... except in Margery's case, over and over. I put up with her weeping and shouting antics just so I could get a glimpse into her world.

I also enjoyed the lavish use of quotes in her original Middle English, which were fun to decipher.

[christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Margery Kempe, the Karen of the Medieval world.

Many reviewers have made comments on Margery's penchant for self-righteousness, self-absorption, her dictatorial attitude on what is regarded as right and good behaviour, her fanatical assumption of her singularity, and her arrogant presumptions of others: which I am in full agreement with.

But perhaps what is more revealing than a woman who initially uses her privilege to network and make outrageous claims about herself or her utter lack and unwillingness to cultivate empathy is actually how insignificant she was. Yes, she met with two groups throughout her lifetime: ones that deemed her god's instrument and ones that deemed her annoyingly artificial -- but none of these groups actually appear to see Madge as a person.

Every encounter Mazza has is as an object in motion: if someone is nice to her, it's because they can get something out of her (god's favour); if someone denounces her abilities, it's because they want to paint her as the devil's instrument and raise their own respectability. Mads even does this to herself: she is god's bride, she is a saint, she is a walking embodiment of god's will but never, ever is there any touch of warmth or compassion for herself or others.

And yes, her life is "exciting" but are we excited because we see an independent woman traversing the continent, facing down detractors and nearly being charged to the point of being executed for her beliefs or are we excited because she's funny to laugh at, she's easy to poke at, she's just a silly woman who did and said silly things.

The answer, I think, is best represented in silence -- and I don't mean her Memoirs, obviously -- I mean her death. No one even bothered to acknowledge how she ended her time in this world; Karen or no, an erasure of any life, however it's led, is still a tragedy.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louise Collis created this book from text dictated by Margery, who could not write, to an unknown scribe at the end of her life. Thus, this book is a third-hand account of her life and in fact the author cites other sources to describe the times in which she lived, 1373-1438, and the numerous places she visited. She was a mystic, but not a quiet one. She would be overcome emotionally and have fits of weeping and screaming in the presence of “holy” places or objects. Her enthusiasm for holy relics was typical of her time, and with other pilgrims she went on a trip to Rome and Jerusalem and the surrounding area and, years later, to Santiago de Compostela. Her antics did not make her popular with her fellow travelers, many of whom thought she was a fraud or a hypocrite. Her beliefs were orthodox, however, which kept her in the good graces of the religious authorities, who in England at that time were on the lookout for Lollards and other heretics.

Evidently, she liked to travel, which she did without her long-suffering husband John, requiring her to travel with others or hire chaperones. Late in her life she sailed to the Baltic, to Dantzig in particular, where her son (the only one of her fourteen children mentioned in the book) was engaged in trade through the Hanseatic League. Her daughter-in-law was no doubt glad when she departed for home, overland in a journey filled with difficulties. Margery was a remarkable woman, with an excellent memory, robust health, and, on occasion, capable of kindness, but a person many of us today would regard as mentally unstable. Read this for a peek into the medieval world away from the kings and queens and famous battles of most histories.

[Simon Crum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, Margery is quite a character. And you get to read all about her, here, in her own memoirs. It reads like a travel book as she goes on pilgrimage to the Holy Lands. There are boats and donkeys to arrange, food and money to manage, and relationships with other people in her tour group to navigate. There are people trying to take her money, people trying to sell her relics, people trying to ditch her. Crappy accomodations. Bad weather. It's a road trip. Things don't always go as planned. However, things on a medieval road trip can go very badly indeed. Especially for someone who claims she talks to Christ and hears back. Ask Joan of Arc.

The amazing Margery, still revered in the Anglican church, had 14 children (which really SHOULD qualify her for Sainthood). It was after the 13th birth (possibly suffering through post-partum depression) that she has visions, imagining demons tormenting her. On the verge of suicide, she is visited by Jesus and is convinced to stay celibate. After 13 children, I don't think it took much convincing, though her husband thought otherwise. Talks with Jesus continue. She begins her pilgrimage to Jerusalem where tests of her faith and her new life in the service of God abound.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this memoir very interesting. At first I thought Margery was an extremely obnoxious religious fanatic. But as I read I learned she was very much a product of her times and perhaps had epileptic seizures that she interpreted as religious visions. Her journeys are fascinating as are all her trials and tribulations. You get a good look at a Catholic Church suffering from corruption and a society having the first stirrings of Protestantism, at that time considered heretics. Margery tries hard within the context of what she knows to become a saint but others who don't like her for understandable reasons think she was a heretic. She made an epic religious pilgrimage made difficult by the fact that she was a woman and not a very likable person. This book was fun history reading and a bit funny.

[Jordie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the most engaging story, but this is a well-written account of Margery's life (interpreted from the protagonist's own autobiography), through which I gained knowledge of fifteenth century medieval life, particularly the pilgrimage "industry", a big deal at the time. Margery herself is fascinating for her extreme ability to annoy her fellow travelers. She never failed to inspire her companions to abandon her; they always did so desperately. Or if she was lucky, pawn her off on other unsuspecting pilgrims, who after a day in her company would have to do the same. This happened so often through the course of this book that I was truly amazed, and would love to have been able to experience her myself (for five minutes only). I appreciated the tone of this author: knowledgeable, respectful, and unassuming.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you interested in the medieval England and travels in that time, this book is for you. It is a story of a very strong minded Margaret Kempe. For reasons not fully explained, she desired to change her life radically and she did not accept opposition. A true feminist without knowing anything about feminism. Her fight was a fight for her own religious belief against cardinals, inquisitors and circumstances and she prevailed. In my opinion she would be acknowledged as true pioneer of feminist movement if she would have have fought for any other, no matter how trivial a reason.

[Denise Tamayo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dry reading! Most people in my book group started it but never finished it. The only reason I rated it 3 stars was not for “enjoyment” nor for the writing. It was rated on the basis of what it was: the 1st autobiographical book of a woman in the 14th-15th centuries and I found the topics (religion, the papacy and tourism in those days) very interesting. It’s not for everyone ... a student of the Middle Ages, of Catholicism at that time, of the Papacy. It is the study of a woman aiming for sainthood.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reads like a novel but is actually a transcription of a medieval journal/autobiography. Margery is a pilgrim taking a journey from England to the holy land. There are many quotes in old English, which I found I had to read out loud and hear the sound of them to know the meaning. This is why I kept putting it down and picking it up over several months, even though the story was gripping. The author also adds a few paragraphs in each chapter to explain the climate of the times and some historical facts that fit within the timeline of the adventure.

[Troy S · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciated the additional political and social history this book brought to Margery Kempe's story, I do wish I simply read the primary article. Louise Collis adopted the tone of a high school history teacher, overly didactic and sardonic at times. This wasn't bad per se, but was noticeable and grating at times.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a good time with this book. Margery is not a likeable person at all. She must have been so annoying to interact with, but she seems very real. If she lived today, I'm sure she would be a youtuber. I've known women like her. The honest glimpse into medieval day to day is something I find fascinating. If medieval British history is a hobby, this one's neat.

[Sarah Coller · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my second read of this story. It's ok in small doses but doesn't take long before it becomes repetitive and boring. She’s traveling, people don’t like her, she thinks too highly of herself but blames it on God… repeat.

[Ginger Poulsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book surprisingly interesting.

[Marilyn Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating memoirs of a would be saint. Almost a rock star or celebrity of her time. Must have been somewhat charismatic to make so many things happen for herself in those times.

[Jo-Elle Perkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very interesting, if more than a little dry.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting woman and what a trial to her friends!

[Rebecca Olshanitsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

she was having the first ever brat summer

[David Morton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating account of an extraordinary woman of the Middle Ages, 14 children, and who undertook pilgrimages to the Holy Lands and other places in Europein the early 1400s. The book is full of colourful detail, not only of Margery Kempe, but of the period and the circumstances of her travels, life as a middle class woman. Despite being illiterate, Kempe dictated her memoirs to a scribe and was later transcribed by a priest who fixed much of the grammatical and spelling errors. Some claim it as the first autobiography written in the English language.

Collis' book takes Kempe's accounts and fills in details from other medieval texts. It was a little unsatisfying to my taste, though. What she has done is write a biography of an autobiography and added her own suppositions and observations about Kempe and her time. Collis' asides did not add much to her accounts and I found myself drawn to read the original Margery Kempe manuscript, crazed as it is.

Memoirs of a Medieval Woman is a good overview of Kempe's life, though, and some of the additional sources quoted add some dimension to this rather flat biography.

For anyone interested in reading Kempe's original manuscript -- in Middle English -- it is available online here.