THE POWER OF TEARS: MARGERY KEMPE AND FEMALE EMPOWERMENT IN THE MIDDLE AGES
THE POWER OF TEARS: MARGERY KEMPE AND FEMALE EMPOWERMENT IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Summary/Abstract: The Gift of Tears granted to Margery Kempe, a medieval English mystic from Lynn, firmly set Margery onto the path of medieval spirituality. Her mystical experience has attracted controversy since the discovery of the full manuscript of her fifteenth century autobiography, The Book of Margery Kempe, in 1934. As her book illustrates, Margery was no less controversial in her own time, with many considering her not a mystic but a madwoman. Although scholars acknowledge the historical value of the Book as a document on medieval life and forms of worship, they cannot reach a consensus on Margery and the validity of her mystical experience, which started with a lengthy episode of postpartum psychosis after the birth of her first child. Margery’s sudden recovery from the illness is attributed to a vision of Christ, and her conversion from sinner to saint begins. Margery’s mystical experience is characterised by her “dalliances” with Christ, by her tears, which first occur in her mid-thirties, and by her crying, which begins on Mount Calvary when Margery is around forty. As Margery gets older, the cries intensify both in content and frequency. The Gift of Tears is, according to religious doctrine, a gift from the Holy Spirit. Tears are also a woman’s weapon.

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