Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, and the tradition of affective piety

Abstract

The writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe attest to a common origin in the medieval devotional tradition known as affective piety. Chapter One suggests that to read either Kempe or Julian is to see the influence of this tradition in the affective responses of both writers to the passion of Christ in particular and to the “homely” love of God in general. In Chapter Two it is argued that Kempe’s record of her protagonist’s intimate encounters with the divine and of her various spiritual gifts speak to an effort to produce a work of auto-hagiography. As Chapter Three demonstrates, however, the Showings of Julian of Norwich takes the form of a theological treatise in which Julian addresses the retributive theodicies of Augustine and his medieval successors and seeks to offer her readers comfort and hope by assuring them of the capaciousness of God’s love for humanity.