The Book of Margery Kempe (18 page)

When she came to York, she went to an anchoress who had greatly loved her before she went to Jerusalem, in order to have knowledge of her spiritual progress; also desiring, for the purpose of more spiritual communication, to eat with the anchoress that day nothing else but bread and water, for it was on Our Lady's Eve.
¹
And then the anchoress would not receive her, because she had heard so much evil talked about her. So she went on to other strange folk, and they made her very welcome for our Lord's love.

One day, as she sat in a church in York, our Lord Jesus Christ said in her soul, ‘Daughter, there is much tribulation coming to you.'

She was somewhat depressed and dismayed at this, and so she remained sitting still, and did not answer. Then our blessed Lord said again, ‘What, daughter, are you displeased to suffer more
tribulation for my love? If you do not wish to suffer any more, I shall take it away from you.'

And then she replied, ‘No, good Lord, let me be at your will, and make me mighty and strong to suffer all that you ever wish me to suffer, and grant me meekness and patience as well.'

And so from that time forward, as she knew it was our Lord's will that she should suffer more tribulation, she received it gladly when our Lord would send it, and thanked him highly for it, being very glad and cheerful on that day when she suffered any distress. And in the process of time, that day on which she suffered no tribulation, she was not as cheerful and glad as that day when she suffered tribulation.

Afterwards, as she was in the Minster at York, a cleric came to her, saying, ‘How long will you stay here, woman?'

‘Sir,' she said, ‘I intend to stay for fourteen days.'

And so she did. And in that time many good men and women asked her to meals and made her very welcome, and were very glad to hear her conversation, greatly marvelling at her talk because it was spiritually fruitful.

And also she had many enemies who slandered her, scorned her, and despised her, of whom one priest came to her while she was in the said Minster, and taking her by the collar of her gown, said, ‘You wolf, what is this cloth that you have on?'
²

She stood still and would not answer in her own defence. Children of the monastery going past said to the priest, ‘Sir, it is wool.'

The priest was annoyed because she would not answer, and began to swear many great oaths. Then she began to speak for God's cause – she was not afraid. She said, ‘Sir, you should keep the commandments of God, and not swear as negligently as you do.'

The priest asked her who kept the commandments.

She said, ‘Sir, they who keep them.'

Then he said, ‘Do you keep them?'

She replied, ‘Sir, it is my will to keep them, for I am bound to do so, and so are you and every man who will be saved at the last.'

After he had wrangled with her for a long time, he slipped away before she noticed, so that she did not know where he went.

Another time a great cleric came to her asking how these words should be understood:
Crescite et multiplicamini
.
¹

She answering said, ‘Sir, these words are not only to be understood as applying to the begetting of children physically, but also to the gaining of virtue, which is spiritual fruit, such as by hearing the words of God, by giving a good example, by meekness and patience, charity and chastity, and other such things – for patience is more worthy than miracle-working.' And she, through the grace of God, so answered that cleric that he was well pleased. And our Lord, of his mercy, always made some men love her and support her.

And so in this city of York, there was a doctor of divinity, Master John Aclom,
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also a canon of the Minster, Sir John Kendale,
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and another priest who sang by the Bishop's tomb
⁴
– these were her good Mends among the ecclesiastics.

So she stayed in that city for fourteen days, as she had said before, and somewhat more, and on Sundays she received communion in the Minster with much weeping, violent sobbing, and loud crying, so that many people wondered very much what was wrong with her. So afterwards there came a priest – a worthy cleric he seemed – and said to her, ‘Woman, you said when you first came here that you would only stay fourteen days.'

‘Yes, sir, with your leave, I said that I would stay here fourteen days, but I did not say that I should neither stay here more nor less. But now, sir, I tell you truly that I am not leaving yet.'

Then he set her a day, commanding her to appear before him in the Chapterhouse.
⁵
And she said that she would obey his injunction with a good will.

She went then to Master John Aclom, the said doctor of divinity, begging him to be there on her side. And so he was, and he found great favour amongst them all. Another master of divinity had also promised her to be there with her, but he drew back till he knew how the cause should go, whether with her or against her.

There were many people that day in the Chapterhouse of the Minster to hear and see what would be said or done to the said creature. When the day came, she was all ready in the Minster to come and answer for herself. Then her friends came to her and urged her to be cheerful. Thanking them, she said that so she would.

And immediately a priest came and very kindly took her by the arm to help her through the press of people, and brought her before a worthy doctor, the one who had ordered her to appear before him in the Chapterhouse on this day in York Minster. And with this doctor sat many other very reverend and worthy clerics, of whom some had great love for the said creature.

Then the worthy doctor said to her, ‘Woman, what are you doing here in this part of the country?'

‘Sir, I come on pilgrimage to offer here at St William's shrine.'
⁶

Then he went on, ‘Do you have a husband?'

She said, ‘Yes.'

‘Do you have a letter recording his permission?'

‘Sir,' she said, ‘my husband gave me permission with his own mouth. Why do you proceed in this way with me more than you do with other pilgrims who are here, and who have no letter any more than I have? Sir, them you let go in peace and quiet, and undisturbed, and yet I may not be left alone amongst you. And sir, if there be any cleric here amongst you all who can prove that I have said any word otherwise than as I ought to do, I am ready to put it right very willingly. I will neither maintain error nor heresy, for it is my will entirely to hold as Holy Church holds, and fully to please God.'

Then the clerks examined her in the articles of the faith and on many other points, as they pleased, to all of which she answered well and truly, so that they might have no occasion in her words to harm her, thanks be to God.

And then the doctor who sat there as a judge summoned her to appear before the Archbishop of York – and told her what day -at a town called Cawood,
⁷
commanding her to be kept in prison till the day of her appearing came.

Then the secular people answered for her, and said she should not go to prison, for they would themselves undertake for her and go to the Archbishop with her. And so the clerics said no more to her at that time, for they rose up and went wherever they wanted, and let her go wherever she wanted – worship be to Jesus!

And soon after there came a cleric to her – one of the same that had sat against her – and said, ‘Woman, I beg you not to be annoyed with me, though I sat with the doctor against you; he kept on at me so, that I dared not do otherwise.'

And she said, ‘Sir, I am not annoyed with you for that.'

Then he said, ‘I pray you then, pray for me.'

‘Sir,' she said, ‘I will, very readily.'

There was a monk who was going to preach in York, and who had heard much slander and much evil talk about the said creature. And when he was going to preach, there was a great crowd of people to hear him, and she present with them. And so when he was launched into his sermon, he repeated many matters so openly that people saw perfectly well it was on account of her, at which her friends who loved her were very sorry and upset because of it, and she was much the merrier, because she had something to try her patience and her charity, through which she trusted to please our Lord Christ Jesus.

When the sermon was over, a doctor of divinity who had great love for her, together with many other people as well, came to her and said, ‘Margery, how have you got on today?'

‘Sir,' she said, ‘very well indeed, God be blessed. I have reason to be very happy and glad in my soul that I may suffer anything for his love, for he suffered much more for me.'

Shortly afterwards, a man who was also devoted to her
came with his wife and other people, and escorted her seven miles from there to the Archbishop of York, and brought her into a fair chamber, where there came a good cleric, saying to the good man who had brought her there, ‘Sir, why have you and your wife brought this woman here? She will steal away from you, and then she will have brought shame upon you.'

The good man said, ‘I dare well say she will remain and answer for herself very willingly.'

On the next day she was brought into the Archbishop's chapel, and many of the Archbishop's household came there scorning her, calling her ‘Lollard' and ‘heretic', and swore many a horrible oath that she should be burned. And she, through the strength of Jesus, replied to them, ‘Sirs, I fear you will be burned in hell without end, unless you correct yourselves of your swearing of oaths, for you do not keep the commandments of God. I would not swear as you do for all the money in this world.'

Then they went away, as if they were ashamed. She then, saying her prayers in her mind, asked for grace to behave that day as was most pleasure to God, and profit to her own soul, and good example to her fellow Christians. Our Lord, answering her, said that everything would go well.

At last the said Archbishop
¹
came into the chapel with his clerics, and he said to her abruptly, ‘Why do you go about in white clothes? Are you a virgin?'

She, kneeling before him, said, ‘No, sir, I am no virgin; I am a married woman.'

He ordered his household to fetch a pair of fetters and said she should be fettered, for she was a false heretic, and then she said, ‘I am no heretic, nor shall you prove me one.'

The Archbishop went away and left her standing alone. Then for a long while she said her prayers to our Lord God Almighty to help her and succour her against all her enemies both spiritual and bodily, and her flesh trembled and quaked amazingly, so that she was glad to put her hands under her clothes so that it should not be noticed.

Afterwards the Archbishop came back into the chapel with
many worthy clerics, amongst whom was the same doctor who had examined her before, and the monk who had preached against her a little while before in York. Some of the people asked whether she were a Christian woman or a Jew; some said she was a good woman, and some said not.

Then the Archbishop took his seat, and his clerics too, each according to his degree, many people being present. And during the time that people were gathering together and the Archbishop was taking his seat, the said creature stood at the back, saying her prayers for help and succour against her enemies with high devotion, and for so long that she melted all into tears. And at last she cried out loudly, so that the Archbishop, and his clerics, and many people, were all astonished at her, for they had not heard such crying before.

When her crying was passed, she came before the Archbishop and fell down on her knees, the Archbishop saying very roughly to her, ‘Why do you weep so, woman?'

She answering said, ‘Sir, you shall wish some day that you had wept as sorely as I.'

And then, after the Archbishop had put to her the Articles of our Faith – to which God gave her grace to answer well, truly and readily, without much having to stop and think, so that he could not criticize her – he said to the clerics, ‘She knows her faith well enough. What shall I do with her?'

The clerics said, ‘We know very well that she knows the Articles of the Faith, but we will not allow her to dwell among us, because the people have great faith in her talk, and perhaps she might lead some of them astray.' Then the Archbishop said to her: ‘I am told very bad things about you. I hear it said that you are a very wicked woman.'

And she replied, ‘Sir, I also hear it said that you are a wicked man. And if you are as wicked as people say, you will never get to heaven, unless you amend while you are here.'

Then he said very roughly, ‘Why you! … What do people say about me?'

She answered, ‘Other people, sir, can tell you well enough.'

Then a great cleric with a furred hood said, ‘Quiet! You speak about yourself, and let him be.'

Afterwards the Archbishop said to her, ‘Lay your hand on the book here before me, and swear that you will go out of my diocese as soon as you can.'

‘No, sir,' she said, ‘I pray you, give me permission to go back into York to take leave of my friends.'

Then he gave her permission for one or two days. She thought it was too short a time, and so she replied, ‘Sir, I may not go out of this diocese so hastily, for I must stay and speak with good men before I go; and I must, sir, with your leave, go to Bridlington and speak with my confessor, a good man, who was the good Prior's confessor, who is now canonized.'
²

Then the Archbishop said to her, ‘You shall swear that you will not teach people or call them to account in my diocese.'

‘No, sir, I will not swear,' she said, ‘for I shall speak of God and rebuke those who swear great oaths wherever I go, until such time that the Pope and Holy Church have ordained that nobody shall be so bold as to speak of God, for God Almighty does not forbid, sir, that we should speak of him. And also the Gospel
³
mentions that, when the woman had heard our Lord preach, she came before him and said in a loud voice, “Blessed be the womb that bore you, and the teats that gave you suck.” Then our Lord replied to her, “In truth, so are they blessed who hear the word of God and keep it.” And therefore, sir, I think that the Gospel gives me leave to speak of God.'

‘Ah, sir,' said the clerics, ‘here we know that she has a devil in her, for she speaks of the Gospel.'
⁴

A great cleric quickly produced a book and quoted St Paul for his part against her, that no woman should preach.
⁵
She, answering to this, said, ‘I do not preach, sir; I do not go into any pulpit. I use only conversation and good words, and that I will do while I live.'

Then a doctor who had examined her before said, ‘Sir, she told me the worst tale about priests that I ever heard.'

The Archbishop commanded her to tell that tale.

‘Sir, by your reverence, I only spoke of one priest, by way of example, who, as I have learned it, went astray in a wood through the sufferance of God, for the profit of his soul until night came upon him. Lacking any shelter, he found a fair arbour in which he rested that night, which had a beautiful pear-tree in the middle, all covered in blossom, which he delighted to look at. To that place came a great rough bear, ugly to behold, that shook the pear-tree and caused the blossoms to fall. Greedily this horrible beast ate and devoured those fair flowers. And when he had eaten them, turning his tail towards the priest, he discharged them out again at his rear end.

‘The priest, greatly revolted at that disgusting sight and becoming very depressed for fear of what it might mean, wandered off on his way all gloomy and pensive. He happened to meet a good-looking, aged man like a pilgrim, who asked the priest the reason for his sadness. The priest, repeating the matter written before, said he felt great fear and heaviness of heart when he beheld that revolting beast soil and devour such lovely flowers and blossoms, and afterwards discharge them so horribly at his rear end in the priest's presence – he did not understand what this might mean.

‘Then the pilgrim, showing himself to be the messenger of God, thus addressed him, “Priest, you are yourself the pear-tree, somewhat flourishing and flowering through your saying of services and administering of sacraments, although you act without devotion, for you take very little heed how you say your matins and your service, so long as it is babbled to an end. Then you go to your mass without devotion, and you have very little contrition for your sin. You receive there the fruit of everlasting life, the sacrament of the altar, in a very feeble frame of mind. All day long afterwards, you spend your time amiss: you give yourself over to buying and selling, bartering and exchanging, just like a man of the world. You sit over your beer, giving yourself up to gluttony and excess, to the lust of your body, through lechery and impurity. You break the commandments of God through swearing, lying, detraction and backbiting gossip, and the practice
of other such sins. Thus, through your misconduct, just like the loathsome bear, you devour and destroy the flowers and blossoms of virtuous living, to your own endless damnation and to the hindrance of many other people, unless you have grace for repentance and amending.” '

Then the Archbishop liked the tale a lot and commended it, saying it was a good tale. And the cleric who had examined her before in the absence of the Archbishop, said, ‘Sir, this tale cuts me to the heart.'

The said creature said to the cleric, ‘Ah, worthy doctor, sir, in the place where I mostly live is a worthy cleric, a good preacher, who boldly speaks out against the misconduct of people and will flatter no one. He says many times in the pulpit: “If anyone is displeased by my preaching, note him well, for he is guilty.” And just so, sir,' she said to the clerk, ‘do you behave with me, God forgive you for it.'

The cleric did not know what he could say to her, and afterwards the same cleric came to her and begged her for forgiveness that he had been so against her. He also asked her specially to pray for him.

And then afterwards the Archbishop said, ‘Where shall I get a man who could escort this woman from me?'

Many young men quickly jumped up, and everyone of them said, ‘My lord, I will go with her.'

The Archbishop answered, ‘You are too young: I will not have you.'

Then a good, sober man of the Archbishop's household asked his lord what he would give him if he would escort her. The Archbishop offered him five shillings, and the man asked for a noble.
⁶
The Archbishop answering said, ‘I will not spend so much on her body.'

‘Yes, good sir,' said this creature, ‘Our Lord shall reward you very well for it.'

Then the Archbishop said to the man, ‘See, here is five shillings, and now escort her fast out of this area.'

She, kneeling down on her knees, asked his blessing. He, asking her to pray for him, blessed her and let her go.

Then she, going back again to York, was received by many people, and by very worthy clerics, who rejoiced in our Lord, who had given her – uneducated as she was – the wit and wisdom to answer so many learned men without shame or blame, thanks be to God.