An Annotated Bibliography of Printed and Online Primary Sources for the Middle Ages

Kempe, Margery
lived c. 1373-1438

Margery Kempe was born Margery Brunham in King’s Lynn (then Bishop’s Lynn), England. She married at age 20 and had 14 children. After the birth of her first child, she had a vision of Jesus telling her to leave aside the vanities of the world. As a result of this vision, Margery undertook pilgrimages to holy sites of Europe. Her travels and mystical relationship to CHrist in particular are part of The Book of Margery Kempe, sometimes considered to be the first autobiography in English. TLM

OMSB Records by Kempe, Margery:

• Meech, Sanford B., ed.; Allen, Hope Emily, ed.; Butler-Bowdon, W., ed., The Book of Margery Kempe (Early English Text Society Original Series 212, 1940 [Rpt. 1997]).
• Amt, Emilie, ed., Medieval England 1000-1500: A Reader (Readings in Medieval Civilizations and Cultures, VI. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 2000).
• Spearing, Elizabeth, ed., Medieval Writings on Female Spirituality (New York: Penguin Classics, 2002).
• Petroff, Elizabeth Alvilda, ed., Medieval Women's Visionary Literature (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986).
• Windeatt, B. A., trans., The Book of Margery Kempe (New York: Penguin Classics, 1985).
• Staley, Lynn., The Book of Margery Kempe (TEAMS Middle English Text Series. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1996).
• Butler-Bowdon, W., trans., The Book of Margery Kempe, fourteen hundred & thirty-six: a modern version (New York: The Devin-Adair company, 1944).