Medievalists.net

Where the Middle Ages Begin

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Online Courses
  • Podcast
  • Patreon Login
  • About Us & More
    • About Us
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Films & TV
    • Medieval Studies Programs
    • Places To See
    • Teaching Resources
    • Articles

Medievalists.net

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Online Courses
  • Podcast
  • Patreon Login
  • About Us & More
    • About Us
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Films & TV
    • Medieval Studies Programs
    • Places To See
    • Teaching Resources
    • Articles
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Articles

Illuminating the Soul: Religious Enclosure and the Validation of Mystical Experience in The Life of Christina of Markyate and The Book of Margery Kempe

by Sandra Alvarez
February 25, 2011

Illuminating the Soul: Religious Enclosure and the Validation of Mystical Experience in The Life of Christina of Markyateand The Book of Margery Kempe

Roberts, Ruth R.

Marginalia, Vol. 3 (2006)

Abstract

The mind has a more extensive and expansive leisure within the six surfaces of a room than it could gain outside by traversing the four parts of the world. […] If no one prevents it, my mind leaps as high and as far and as deep as it wants; (where disputes and the causes of disputes have been put to sleep,) it does not fear obstructing complaints.

By positing an inverse relationship between the parameters of physical space and the expansiveness of the mind, the twelfth century monk Peter of Celle represents religious enclosure as the site of truly elevated visions. In the process, he represents a spiritual opposition between the confined figure and the pilgrim figure traversing the world. The Life of Christina of Markyate and The Book of Margery Kempe represent the two sides of this opposition: Christina was enclosed for four years before adopting a more relaxed form of religious life, and Margery was a married woman who lived her spiritual life as both mystic and pilgrim within society. I will demonstrate that the spiritual elevation of the confined figure is a concern both of Christina’s biographer, and of Margery. Christina’s biographer validates her mystical experience by emphasising that the conditions of her enclosure are part of a tradition that extends back to the desert fathers.

Click here to read this article from Marginalia

Subscribe to Medievalverse




Related Posts

  • Mysticism, Meditation, and Identification in The Book of Margery Kempe
  • The enigmatic threatening Margery Kempe
  • “[S]che was evry aferd”: Pilgrimage and Medieval Women in the Book of Margery Kempe
  • Performing The Love Of God And The Struggle With The Devil: The "Theatricality" Of Medieval Mystical Culture
  • Medieval mysticism or psychosis?
TagsBiography • Christina of Markyate • Fifteenth Century • Fourteenth Century • Later Middle Ages • Margery Kempe • Medieval England • Medieval Monasticism • Medieval Religious Life • Medieval Social History • Medieval Women • Mysticism in the Middle Ages • Twelfth Century

Post navigation

Previous Post Previous Post
Next Post Next Post

Medievalists Membership

Become a member to get ad-free access to our website and our articles. Thank you for supporting our website!

Sign Up Member Login

More from Medievalists.net

Become a Patron

We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model.

 

We aim to be the leading content provider about all things medieval. Our website, podcast and Youtube page offers news and resources about the Middle Ages. We hope that are our audience wants to support us so that we can further develop our podcast, hire more writers, build more content, and remove the advertising on our platforms. This will also allow our fans to get more involved in what content we do produce.

Become a Patron Member Login

Medievalists.net

Footer Menu

  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Copyright © 2025 Medievalists.net
  • Powered by WordPress
  • Theme: Uku by Elmastudio
Follow us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter