Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 5326
  • Author(s)/Creator(s):
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Margery Kempe and King’s Lynn [King’s Lynn, Kempe’s hometown in East Anglia, played a central role in shaping her self-image. Home, family, social networks, and domestic space are key concerns for Kempe, whose “Book” expresses a tension between the desire for inclusion (acceptance by the townspeople) and the simultaneous desire to be excluded by society (in order to have her special social status acknowledged). Kempe’s double perspective resolves the perceived opposition between her guarded, private married life and her highly active public life. The article includes two appendices (a list of the citizens of King’s Lynn and a list of Kempe’s neighbors) and a map of medieval King’s Lynn. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: Margery Kempe: A Book of Essays.  Edited by Sandra J. McEntire.  Garland Publishing, 1992.  Pages 139 - 163.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Domesticity Family Home in Literature Identity Kempe, Margery, Mystic King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England Literature- Prose Marriage Mystics Private and Public Spheres Women in Literature
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: British Isles
  • Century: 14- 15
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations: One Figure. Figure One Map of Medieval King’s Lynn. Map of the town gives the names and locations of the guildhall, all streets, market places, and churches. Numbered locations on the map correspond to the residence of each household listed in the Appendix. Appendix One lists the citizens of King’s Lynn during the fourteenth century. Lists the name of each citizen, the date he was admitted to Liberty of Lynn, and other information. Appendix Two lists Kempe's neighbors in King’s Lynn during the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. The chart gives the name and occupation (when available) of each resident; each household has a different number, which corresponds to a numbered location on the town map.
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  • Year of Publication: 1992.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0815303785