Memoirs Of A Medieval Woman: The Life And Times Of Margery Kempe [Paperback]

Louise Collis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 19, 1983

For history and biography lovers, the 15th-century life and travels of the extraordinary Margery Kempe, who left her family to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Product Details

• Paperback: 269 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (January 19, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060909927
• ISBN-13: 978-0060909925
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #696,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You Are There, March 28, 2000

By 

George Weber (New Hampshire, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Memoirs Of A Medieval Woman: The Life And Times Of Margery Kempe (Paperback)

Ms. Collis has brought The Book of Margery Kempe to life by her fine renditions of the times in which the mystic lived. My interest was on the state of Christianity -- clerical and lay -- in those times, and I have in this book an instructive and enjoyable accounting, played out against the memoirs of Margery Kempe. It is well worth your attention, followed up by a visit to Britannica.com for other source material on Kempe. The footnotes and bibliography of Collis' book are also of great value.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Gal !, March 9, 2006

By 

Ex Libris GM (Heart of Dixie USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Memoirs Of A Medieval Woman: The Life And Times Of Margery Kempe (Paperback)

Being a lover of medieval history, when I bought this book and sat down to read it I was expecting perhaps, another somewhat dry and unexciting account of the daily life of a medieval woman living in a medieval town. Wow! Was I pleasantly surprised! This little book is a real gem as it recounts, in modern English and in biographical narrative fashion, the travels and tribulations of a truly remarkable, if a bit eccentric, Englishwoman of the 15th century. I especially enjoyed the description of her journey to and sojourn in the Holy Land and her stay in Rome. This woman, who was subject to visions of and visitations from the saints and Jesus, would likely be declared insane today, and she almost was burned as a heretic back then.
Her courage and fortitude are truly admirable. Ms. Collis has done a masterful job of weaving quotes from Margery's autobiography with modern English prose to present a lucid and most enjoyable account of this lady. Definitely a two thumbs up book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and informative biography, February 3, 2008

By 

Craig Shoemake "Craig S. Shoemake" (Malden, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Memoirs Of A Medieval Woman: The Life And Times Of Margery Kempe (Paperback)

I first heard about Margery Kempe from other books I was reading, and then read reviews of this book on Amazon. At that point I decided she would make an ideal fictional character and so I had to read this piece for story material's sake.

I was not disappointed. Margery Kempe, a real "live" medieval woman (dates 1373-c. 1438) was an ecstatic, a visionary, a far-traveled pilgrim, mother to fourteen children, and, in the opinion of many, a complete loon. She talked to Jesus and God Almighty on a regular basis, though the latter never got beyond the most domestic of advice and assurances. Some think she was epileptic or schizophrenic, though she displays far too much savvy and good health to convince me that either was the case. Let us just say she was "unique."

Most remarkably for an illiterate woman is the fact that she traveled so far while relying only on her own wit and resources (excepting the occasional begging) and before the end of her life managed to dictate her memoirs to a priest. As a result, there is possibly no medieval woman we know more intimately than Margery Kempe.

And what a life! Travels aside, she was hailed as a holy woman and hauled before the authorities for heresy (though she was vouchsafed orthodox time and time again). Everywhere she went she antagonized and irritated people, but this did not stop significant crowds of well wishers from showing up outside of her prison to support her. She was filled with contradictions--a would be martyr, saint and megalomaniac. In short, she was infinitely human and flawed.

This book is a well informed narrative based on her memoirs. It gives us a great idea of Margery's life and times, putting everything within its historical context. A must read for anyone interested in the Middle Ages.