Is Margery Kempe a Mystic?

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Margery Kempe, the main topic of this essay, was a controversial person during her lifetime. People had polarized opinions about her. She was in many conflicts with mostly clerical authorities and was a conspicuous person. While some contemporaries looked up to her, many others did not know how to deal with her and her extraordinary behavior. Today, some credit her as a mystic, while others condemn her as crazy. This essay will attempt to answer the question of whether she was a mystic or not. One approach could be to look at definitions of the terms "mystic" and "mysticism." However, these definitions seem inaccurate. Therefore, the essay will not primarily concentrate on these definitions but will focus on the life and work of Margery Kempe. Her book "The Book of Margery Kempe" is the only book she ordered to be written and is her autobiography. The essay will give a short survey of important events of her life and try to characterize her religious and spiritual perceptions. In this first step, the essay will also look at the problems she had to accomplish and highlight why her behavior could be seen as extraordinary. The essay will use sources such as "The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church," "Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics," and works by Julian of Norwich, Richard Rolle, and Walter Hilton.

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