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The practice of anchoritism - religious enclosure which was frequently solitary and voluntarily embraced, very often in a permanent capacity - was widespread in many areas of Europe throughout the middle ages. Originating in the desert withdrawal of the earliest Christians and prefiguring even the monastic life, anchoritism developed into an elite vocation which was popular amongst both men and women. Within this reclusive vocation, the anchorite would withdraw, either alone or with others like her or him, to a small cell or building, very frequently attached to a church or other religious institution, where she or he would - theoretically at least - remain locked up until death. In the later period it was a vocation which was particularly associated with pious laywomen who appear to haveopted for this extreme way of life in their thousands throughout western Europe, often as an alternative to marriage or remarriage, allowing them, instead, to undertake the role of 'living saint' within the community.

This volume brings together for the first time in English much of the most important European scholarship on the subject to date. Tracing the vocation's origins from the Egyptian deserts of early Christian activity through to its multiple expressions in western Europe, it also identifies some of those regions - Wales and Scotland, for example - where the phenomenon doesnot appear to have been as widespread. As such, the volume provides an invaluable resource for those interested in the theories and practices of medieval anchoritism in particular, and the developmentof medieval religiosity more widely.

Dr LIZ HERBERT MCAVOY is Senior Lecturer in Gender in English and Medieval Studies at Swansea University.

CONTRIBUTORS: Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker, Gabriela Signori, M. Sensi, G. Cavero Dominguez, P. L'Hermite-Leclercq, Mari Hughes-Edwards, Colman O Clabaigh, Anna McHugh, Liz Herbert McAvoy.

Christian spirituality --- anno 500-1499 --- Europe --- Hermits --- Christian life --- Church history --- History --- Conduct of life --- Eremitic life --- Conduct of life. --- 271.791 --- -Anchorites --- Eremites --- Persons --- Hermitages --- Recluses --- Anachoreten. Stylieten. Kluizenaars. Eremieten. Reclusen --- -Christian life --- -Anachoreten. Stylieten. Kluizenaars. Eremieten. Reclusen --- -271.791 --- 271.791 Anachoreten. Stylieten. Kluizenaars. Eremieten. Reclusen --- -271.791 Anachoreten. Stylieten. Kluizenaars. Eremieten. Reclusen --- Anchorites --- Monastic and religious life --- Christianity --- Christians --- Discipleship --- Religious life --- Theology, Practical --- Middle Ages, 600-1500 --- Hermits - Europe - History - To 1500 --- Christian life - Europe - History - Middle Ages, 600-1500 --- Hermits - Europe - Conduct of life --- Church history - Middle Ages, 600-1500 --- Ermites --- Anchoritic traditions. --- Anchoritism. --- Living saint. --- Medieval Europe. --- Medieval anchoritism. --- Medieval religiosity. --- Permanent capacity. --- Pious laywomen. --- Reclusive vocation. --- Religious enclosure. --- Solitary life. --- Western Europe. --- Civilization, Medieval.

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The writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe show an awareness of traditional and contemporary attitudes towards women, in particular medieval attitudes towards the female body. This study examines the extent to which they make use of such attitudes in their writing, and investigates the importance of the female body as a means of explaining their mystical experiences and the insight gained from them; in both writers, the female body is central to their writing, leading to a feminised language through which they achieve authority and create a space in which they can be heard, particularly in the context of their religious and mystical experiences. The three archetypal representations of woman in the middle ages, as mother, as whore and as 'wise woman', are all clearly present in the writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe; in examining the ways in which both writers make use of these female categories, McAvoy establishes the extent of their success in resolving the tension between society's expectations of them and their own lived experiences as women and writers. LIZ HERBERT MCAVOY is Lecturer in Medieval Language and Literature, University of Leicester.

Julian of Norwich --- Kempe, Margery --- Authority in literature. --- Christian literature, English (Middle) --- English literature --- Human body in literature. --- Mysticism in literature. --- Mysticism --- Women and literature --- Women in literature. --- History and criticism. --- Women authors --- History --- 248.2-055.2 --- 248.2 <420> "04/14" --- Mystieke theologie. Mystiek. Mysticisme--055.2--Vrouwen --- Mystieke theologie. Mystiek. Mysticisme--Engeland--Middeleeuwen --- 248.2 <420> "04/14" Mystieke theologie. Mystiek. Mysticisme--Engeland--Middeleeuwen --- Authority in literature --- Human body in literature --- Mysticism in literature --- Women in literature --- Woman (Christian theology) in literature --- Women in drama --- Women in poetry --- Body, Human, in literature --- Human figure in literature --- British literature --- Inklings (Group of writers) --- Nonsense Club (Group of writers) --- Order of the Fancy (Group of writers) --- History and criticism --- Women authors&delete& --- Julian, --- Kempe, Margery, --- I︠U︡liana, --- Juliana, --- Knowledge --- Human anatomy. --- JULIAN DE NORWICH, 1343-? --- KEMPE (MARGERY), 1373-CA 1436 --- LITTERATURE ANGLAISE --- MYSTICISME DANS LA LITTERATURE --- LITTERATURE CHRETIENNE ANGLAISE --- MYSTICISME --- FEMMES ET LITTERATURE --- CORPS HUMAIN DANS LA LITTERATURE --- AUTORITE DANS LA LITTERATURE --- FEMMES DANS LA LITTERATURE --- CONNAISSANCE --- ANATOMIE HUMAINE --- 1100-1500 (MOYEN-ANGLAIS) --- HISTOIRE ET CRITIQUE --- FEMMES ECRIVAINS --- ANGLETERRE --- HISTOIRE --- MOYEN AGE, 600-1500 --- GRANDE-BRETAGNE --- JUSQUE 1500 --- Mysticism.

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Religious studies --- anno 1200-1499 --- Christian literature, English (Middle) --- Hermits --- Mysticism --- Church history --- Anchorites --- Eremites --- Persons --- Hermitages --- Recluses --- History and criticism --- History

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Translation and facing text of an important female-authored work from the late middle ages.

Purgatory --- Early works to 1800. --- Anchoress. --- Revelation. --- female author. --- female. --- gender studies. --- history. --- literature. --- medieval history. --- middle ages. --- purgatory. --- religion. --- translation. --- visions.

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One of the most important medieval writers studied in historical and literary context. Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth/early fifteenth-century anchoress and mystic, is one of the most important and best-known figures of the Middle Ages. Her Revelations, intense visions of the divine, have been widely studied and read; the first known writings of an English woman, their influence extends over theology and literature. However, many aspects of both her life and thought remain enigmatic. This exciting new collection offers a comprehensive, accessible coverage of the key aspects of debate surrounding Julian. It places the author within a wide range of contemporary literary, social, historical and religious contexts, and also provides a wealth of new insightsinto manuscript traditions, perspectives on her writing and ways of interpreting it, building on the work of many of the most active and influential researchers within Julian studies, and including the fruits of the most recent,ground-breaking findings. It will therefore be a vital companion for all of Julian's readers in the twenty-first century. Dr Liz Herbert McAvoy is Senior Lecturer in Gender in English and Medieval Studies at Swansea University. Contributors: Denise M. Baker, Alexandra Barratt, Marleen Cr©♭, Elisabeth Dutton,Vincent Gillespie, Cate Gunn, Ena Jenkins, E.A. Jones, Liz Herbert McAvoy, Laura Saetveit Miles, Kim M. Philips, Elizabeth Robertson,Sarah Salih, Annie Sutherland, Diane Watt, Barry Windeatt.

Julian, --- Criticism and interpretation. --- I︠U︡liana, --- Juliana, --- RELIGION / History.