Author Description

"In this new collection of essays, twelve historians and literary critics explore Margery Kempe, her Book, and the world around her. The chapters cover a multitude of themes, from charity to heresy, bodily piety to medieval masculinity, print culture to sainthood, literacy to civic politics, drama to prophecy. The authors both survey existing work and present new arguments, insights and ideas." "All the essays endeavour to historicise Margery, examining simultaneously the forces surrounding the constitution of the Book, the import and meaning of the events it describes, and the wider social, cultural and political currents through which Margery cut a swathe; together the collection provides an informative introduction both to its central figure, and to the world that surrounded her."--BOOK JACKET.