Margery_Kempe

Margery Kempe Margery Kempe was born into a middle class family of Lynn, England in the late twelfth century. She married John Kempe, a merchant in Lynn. Margery is most famous for writing the first autobiography in English. Her work is a reflection of what was going on in the world of popular religion in her lifetime like asceticism and mysticism. Margery’s autobiography also gives us a glimpse into the most precious aspect of her life: her relationship with God and Jesus Christ. Her religiosity took precedence in her life so much so that it was the focus of her autobiography. Others misunderstood her obsession and thought of her as a lunatic. However, Margery planned her life around religion and did not consider others in her plans. Margery thought of herself as a daughter of Christ. After the birth of her first child, Margery became very ill and started to have hallucinations. She feared she was in the grip of the devil. She even started to use her nails to inflict pain on herself. In the midst of her struggle, a vision of Jesus came to her, a man dressed in purple silk, the color of royalty. He said “Daughter, why has thou forsake Me, and I forsook thee margery, thought, others, christ, daughter, margery’s, life, herself, god, relationship, love, jesus, however, father, child, because, wanted, thy, thou, thee, sincere, religion, outbursts, god’s, contemplation, autobiography, worldly, world, through, things, started, righteous, please, part, mostly, lunatic