4 deyneth, deigns; nobeley, nobleness.
7 hynderawnce, hinderance; be, by.
10 charytefully, charitably; whech, which.
13 lech, like; reedspyr, reed stalk.
17 repref, reproof; this creatur, i.e., Margery.
18 gon wyl, become wayward; parfythly, perfectly; steryd, stirred.
21 in party the levyng, in part the life.
26 leyd on syde, put aside; worshepd, honored; sythen, then.
34 cheden, chided; indued, endued.
36 dysese, anxiety; lofe, love.
45 wysten, knew; homly, familiar.
52 ankrys, anchorites; hem, them.
56 mevynggys, movings; steringgys, stirrings; trustly, with faith, trustingly.
63 er than sche ded any wryten, before she committed any to writing.
73 comownd, talked the matter over.
74 evel wretyn, badly written.
74-75 cowd lytyl skyll theron, hardly understand it.
85-86 schuld cun best rede the booke, should best be able to read the book.
88 bewreyn, betray, speak ill of, divulge.
110 lyth, light; qwayr, quire.
114 sythen, afterwards; schamis, shames; reprevys, reproofs.
118 clef, cleaved; or, before.
129 Mary Maudelyn, Mary Magdalene. July 22 is the day of Mary Magdalene.
131 worschepful, honorable; kynde, nature.
132 accessys, attacks of illness.
134 dyspered, despaired; wenyng, thinking.
140 dedys, deeds; saf, except.
142 schrevyn, shriven; defawt, lack, sin.
148 to, toward, i.e., toward-side.
151 her, their; lowys, flames.
152 rampyng, ramping, adopting a threatening stance; thretyng, threatening.
154 thretyngys, threats; bodyn, bade.
160 a fordon hirself, have committed suicide; steryngys, anxieties. See note.
163 agen, against; spetowsly, grievously.
164 a don saf, have done except.
166 wend, thought; a skapyd ne levyd, have escaped nor relinquished.
175 levyn, lightning; stey, rose; eyr, air; esly, easily.
186 Whan men wenyn . . . fro hem, When men think he is far from them.
191 befortym, before that time.
193 gold pypys on hir hevyd, gold pipes as part of a fashionable headdress.
194 hodys, hoods; typettys, tippets; daggyd, ornamented with points and incisions.
198 kenred, kindred; hym semyd nevyr forto a weddyd hir, i.e., he did not seem like the sort of person to have married her.
199 town N, see note, line 462; hey Gylde of the Trinyté, the Guild of the Trinity was the most powerful of the town of Lynn's parish fraternities.
200 savyn the worschyp, preserve the honor.
208 fayr standyng undyr berm, fair standing under the barm, the yeast formed on brewing liquors.
211 punched, punished; war, wary; eftsons, again.
216 huswyfré, household occupation; horsmille, horse mill; tweyn, two.
219 craske, fat, lusty; lykand, in good condition.
221 drawe no drawt, draw no load.
223 don this hors drawyn, make or cause this horse to draw.
233 venjawns, vegeance; seyd on, said one (thing).
235 clepyd, summoned; kallyd, called.
252 governawnce, manner of life.
256 to komown fleschly, to have intercourse.
256-57 dette of matrimony, debt of matrimony (a conventional way of speaking of marital relations).
258 wose, ooze;comownyng, intercourse.
265-66 be her bothins wylle and consentyng of hem bothyn, by both their wills and (by) mutual consent.
273 conselyd and curyd, concealed and covered.
277-78 an hayr of . . . dryen on malt, a haircloth from a kiln such as men used for drying of malt.
278 kyrtylle, woman's gown; prevylich, secretly.
286 dyspite, contempt;ches, chose.
291 compunccyon, remorse, penitence; boystows, violent.
296 contwnyng, continuing; wepyn and levyn whan sche wold, weep and leave off whenever she wanted to
297-98 wept for the world for socowr and for wordly good, wept for the world in order to gain comfort and worldly goods.
306-07 the crucifix, i.e., the figure on the cross, or Christ.
311 for no drede, for doubtless.
313 freel , frail;sufferawns, sufferance; snar, snare.
322-23 Seynt Margaretys Evyn, St. Margaret, whose feast day was July 20, was the virgin martyr tortured and killed for her espousal of Christian chastity by Olybrius, ruler of Antioch. When at home, Margery worshipped in the church of St. Margaret's in Lynn, one of the town's main churches. It was attached to a priory of Benedictines.
329 labowrd, labored, afflicted.
330 Pater Noster, Our Father, the Lord's Prayer.
332 levyd, believed; suasyons, persuasions.
339 leful, lawful, permissable.
340 was labowrd, was afflicted.
341 inoportunyté, inopportunity.
344 levar, rather; hewyn, hewn.
350-52 Sche thowt . . . was so fals unto hym, She thought she was deserving of no mercy, for her consenting was so willfully done, not worthy of doing him (i.e., God) service, for she was so false unto him.
363 wer so wondyrful . . . far wyth hem, were so wonderful (astonishing) that she could hardly deal (fare) with them.
373-74 that have . . . schreve therof, who has brought your sins to your memory and made you to be shriven thereof.
378 derworthy, precious; that, what.
380-81 sacrament of the awter, Eucharist.
383-84 raton knawyth the stokfysch, rat gnaws the stockfish.
386 wel, well-being, good fortune; wo, woe.
389 leve, leave off; byddyng of many bedys, bidding of many beads (saying of many prayers).
393 ankyr, anchorite; Frer Prechowrys, Dominican Priory at Lynn; prevyteys, secrets.
397 ye sowkyn . . . Crysts brest, you suck even on Christ's breast (The nutritive or "female" attributes of Christ were conventional figures in late medieval devotional literature. See Bynum [1987], pp. 270-76.).
398 ernest peny of hevyn, earnest penny (pledge-penny) of heaven.
402 geve hir, devoted herself; bodyn, bidden.
406 sche saw Seynt Anne gret wyth chylde, she saw Saint Anne great with child, i.e., pregnant with the Virgin. For the importance of extra-Biblical fictions relating to the private lives of Saint Anne and the Virgin in late medieval spirituality, see Ashley and Sheingorn.
418-19 potel of pyment and spycys, two quart vessel of sweetened and spiced wine.
422 toke hym up fro the erthe, took him up from the earth (where he lay after birth).
428 Bedlem, Bethlehem; purchasyd hir herborwe, purchased her lodging.
429 beggyd owyr Lady, begged for our Lady.
434-35 I schal not byndyn yow soor, I shall not bind you (swaddle you) tightly.
443 purveyng hir herborw, purveying her lodging.
449-50 for sche was so long dyfferryd therfro, for she was so long deferred therefrom.
456 chastyse us her how thow wylt, chastise us here however you will.
466-67 executor, executor (of her spiritual estate).
473 even cristen, fellow Christians; dubbyl, double.
476 er Whitsonday, before Whitsunday, the Feast of Pentecost; sle, kill.
478 knowlach, knowledge;was wone befor, was accustomed to before;gan neygh hir, came near her.
480 Whytson Evyn, Whitsunday Eve. Whitsunday is the Feast of Pentecost.
482 astoyned, bewildered; voys, voice.
485 party, part; vowte, vault.
485-86 the fote of the sparre, the foot of the rafter.
487-88 sche ferd as . . . a lytyl whyle, for a little while she fared (acted) as though she had been dead.
489 whech hygth, who was called; wondyr cas, wonderful case.
490 gretly dysesyd, greatly distressed.
491 hol, whole; cher, demeanor.
495-96 Maystyr Aleyn, the Carmelite friar, Alan of Lynn.
498 way, weighted; treys, tree's.
506 gostly, spiritual; mygth not, might not.
515 voys, voice; levyng, living.
520 bere, beer; cake, cake, loaf.
522 smyte of, smite off; les than, unless; comown kendly, lit., common naturally, i.e., have intercourse with. See note.
524 medele, meddle, have intercourse with.
525 why meve ye this mater, why do you bring up this matter.
526 For I wyl wete, For I will know.
536 mede, meed, reward; hayr, haircloth; haburgon, jacket of mail (next to your skin).
537-39 "Nay," he seyd . . . not so.", "Nay," he said, "that will I not grant you, for now I may use you without mortal sin and then I might not." (By taking a vow of wedded chastity, John and Margery would sacramentally eliminate the physical element of their marriage.)
541-42 to Brydlyngtonward, toward Bridlington; fornseyd, aforesaid.
557 contraryen, go against; mekyl, great; les, unless.
577 ankrys, anchorites; reclusys, recluses.
580 wetyn, know; dysseyt, deceit.
584 save, except; bar gret offyce, had great office (duties); set hir at nowt, disparaged her.
585 at mete, at the midday meal; of, during.
588 dalyawns, daliance; gan gretly enclyne to hirward, began greatly to incline toward her.
597-98 in letthery . . . kepyng, in lechery, in despair, and in the keeping (hoarding) of worldly goods. (These are the three classic vices of lust, pride -- of which despair is a type -- and avarice.)
603 schreve, shriven; wythowtynforth, without, outside.
610 Sorwyth, Sorrow (be sorry).
624 aloon, alone; cheys hir as sche cowde, lit., choose her as she could, i.e., make her own way.
625 eld, old; an eld monk, whech had ben tresowrer wyth the Qwen, probably John Kynton, chancellor of Queen Joanna, wife of Henry V.
637 in party, as part; that he schuld o yer hyer men, that he should for one year hire men.
642 lawhyst thu, do you laugh; brothel, wretch.
650 lollare, Lollard, a follower of the beliefs of John Wyclif, the late fourteenth-century theologian, whose ideas were judged heretical. These included renunciation of the cult of images and saints, of the doctrine of transubstantiation, and of the church's involvement with temporal goods or offices. For the relevance of Wycliffite thought to the Book, see Staley (1994); tonne, tun, large barrel.
653 tremelyng and whakyng, trembling and quaking; erdly, earthly.
657 tweyn, two; eretyke, heretic.
660 Dewchmannys, German man's.
667 eyne, eyes; lestyn, last, survive.
673 ne were . . . grace, were not my grace alone.
675 chedyn and fletyn, chided and scolded.
676 comownyng in, talking about.
680 for dred of inpacyens, for fear of (her) lack of endurance.
681 stokke, piece of timber; ex, ax; lofe, love.
682-83 that thow woldyst for my lofe, what you would do for my love.
688 cun no skyl of the, will be able to have no knowledge of you.
701 sekerest, most certain; les, unless.
711-12 at thi lyst, at your wish.
714-15 `He that doth . . . unto me', Mark 3:35.
726 Seynt Jamys, the shrine of St. James at Compostella in Spain.
732-33 I wyl that thu were clothys of whyte, I will that you wear clothes of white (a sign of virginity).
746 commensowr in dyvinyté, doctor of divinity.
747 steryng, stirring, guidance.
754 dysese, trouble; boystows, unmannerly.
759 Bysshop of Lynkoln . . . Philyp, Philip Repingdon, Bishop of Lincoln from 1405 to 1419, when he resigned his see.
774-75 the mantyl . . . in whygth, the ceremony by which Margery would officially be granted the clothing of married chastity.
784 us, us, we, These are the only times Kempe uses first person pronouns in the Book.
786 er, before; mete, the midday meal; powyr, poor.
790 meny, household; hyr eyled,ailed her.
792 gentylly, graciously; mees, mess.
795 pregnawntly, pregnantly, significantly, insightfully.
800 abyden, abide, wait; prevyd, proved, tested.
804 sey the Bysshop, tell the Bishop.
810 Archbusshop of Cawntyrbery, Arundel, Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1397, 1399-1414.
812 dyocyse, diocese. As an East Anglian, Margery is technically under the rule of the Bishop of Norwich; Lincoln is north of King's Lynn; feyned, fained, pretended.
818 Lambhyth, Lambeth, in London, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
820 rekles, reckless; swyers, squires; yemen, yeomen.
822 undyrname, rebuked; dampnyd, damned; sweryng, swearing.
823 pylche, pilch, an outer garment of skin trimmed with the fur.
824 forschod, reviled; bannyd, banned.
825 Smythfeld, Smithfield, in London where the first two Lollards were burnt, William Sawtre in 1401 and John Badby in 1410.
829 auctoryté, authority; chesyng, choosing.
830 howselyd, houseled, be given the Eucharist. This is more frequent than was ordinary in the late Middle Ages when most people received the Sacrament once a year.
842 alderes Lord, Lord of us all; gon, given.
843 tretowrys, traitors; hem, those.
852 Lenne, Lynn, Margery's town.
853 Frer Prechowrys, Dominican priory.
857 ther is behyte, there is promised.
858 frenschepys, friendships wyth condycyon, upon condition.
866 Norwych, Norwich, some twenty miles southeast of Lynn.
868 vykary of Seynt Stefenys, Richard Caister, vicar of St. Stephens in Norwich.
882 aport, deportment, bearing.
883 evyn cristen, fellow Christians.
896 Secunde Persone in Trinyté, i.e., Jesus.
899 Hyltons boke, Walter Hilton's Scale of Perfection; Bridis boke, Liber Revelationum Celestium S. Birgitte; Stimulus Amorys, a fourteenth-century mystical text falsely attributed to St. Bonaventure; Incendium Amoris, a fourteenth-century mystical work by the English hermit Richard Rolle.
903 Seynt Kateryn, St. Katherine of Alexandria, legendary fourth-century virgin martyr.
910 grutchyng, grudging, complaining.
919 howsyld, houseled, administered the Eucharist to.
920 moneschyd, admonished; artyculys, articles.
927 Whyte Frer. . .Wyllyam Sowthfeld, Carmelite friar (d. 1414) known for his devotion; whech hyte, who was named.
933 gremercy, gramercy (an exclamation).
933-34 dredyth ye not, dread ye not.
944 fawt, fault; soget, subject.
955 ankres . . . Dame Jelyan, Julian of Norwich, anchorite mystic and author of the Revelations of Divine Love.
966 contraryows, contrarious, at cross purposes.
975 owyth to levyn, should (or ought) to believe.
991 perseverawnt, perseverant.
1000 sekyr, true, spiritually safe.
1004-05 Than is my bodily . . . wher to have, Then is my bodily comfort gone, and spiritual comfort from any confessor such as you I will not know where to find.
1012-13 tryfelys and japys, trifles and jokes.
1038 departyd, parted; war, aware.
1067 les than he had bettyr frendys in erthe, unless he had better friends on earth.
1079 schok and flekeryd, shook and flickered.
1082 sacre, consecration of the sacrament.
1085 Bryde, St. Bridget of Sweden (ca. 1303-73), whose reknown in England was particularly high, owing to the influence of the Brigittine Order; say, saw.
1086 wyse, manner; betokenyth, means.
1103 pestylens, pestilence; bataylys, battles; famynyng, famine.
1114 longyth, belongs; holy maydens, i.e., to virgins.
1119 let me to, hinder me from.
1129 Mary Mawdelyn, Mary Magdalene.
1129-30 Mary Eypcyan, Mary the Egyptian.
1139 schuld a brostyn, should have burst; Aswythe, quickly.
1143 maystres, mistress; wyse, manner.
1146 he cowde most skyl in, he was
most learned in.
Primus liber
11 oure. MS: added above Savyour in red.
92 yyf. MS: 3yf. With this construction, I have converted all yoghs to y.
105 of. MS: added in red above peyr.
129 Mary Maudelyn. As a penitent, lover of Christ, mourner, chief witness of the Resurrection, missionary, and mystic seer, the Magdalene was a key figure in the literature of affective devotion. The numerous references to the saint throughout the Book of Margery Kempe seem designed to indicate a particular identity for Margery who, like the Magdalene, would see herself as one of Jesus' intimate friends or lovers. For a discussion of the role of the Magdalene in the late medieval literature of devotion, including further bibliographical references, see Johnson (1979) and (1984, pp.146-68).For a study of the Magdalene in relation to the late medieval and probably East-Anglian play, the Digby Mary Magdalene, see Davidson. By noting that the text of Margery's life began to take a written form on July 23, the day after the saint's feast day, Kempe suggests that Margery, like Mary, was a potent witness to the new life, that her visions inspired others to "see."
146 gan. MS: be in superscript correction above gan in red.
160 steryngys. Stirrings, from the verb stirren, is a term frequently used by Richard Rolle, the enormously popular and influential mid-fourteenth-century devotional writer, to describe the physical symptoms of his passionate spiritual ecstasy. It became a "key word" for those writing about or talking about devotion and/or subjectivity. The word itself could indicate either spiritual or physical arousal. Stirren could also mean to set in motion, to turn aside, to rouse, to trouble, to exhort or coax, to inspire or prompt, and to incite. Kempe's uses of it should be seen as one more instance of her self-conscious use of language. For a consideration of Hilton's proscriptive use of the term, see Staley, "Julian of Norwich and the Late Fourteenth-Century Crisis of Authority," in Aers and Staley, Powers of the Holy, pp. 107-78.
183 sche. Not in MS. Meech's emendation.
205 gan. MS: be in superscript above gan in red.
233 seyd on. Meech mistranscribes as seyden and emends by adding [o thyng], which is unnecessary since on supplies the "one thing" sense.
306 wownd of. MS: vy crossed out after of.
309 temptacyon. MS: tamptacyon, with e in superscript above the first a.
332 suasyons. MS: suasynons with the first n expuncted and crossed out.
332 gan. MS: be in superscript above gan in red.
341 and. MS: k crossed out after and.
392 to. to in superscript between gefe and the.
398 ernest peny of hevyn. It is worth noting that Hugh of St. Victor wrote a treatise on the earnest penny as a metaphor of Christ's love of his bride. See his Soliloquy on the Earnest Money of the Soul, trans. Kevin Herbert (Milwaukee: Marquette Christianity Press, 1956).
406 than. MS: than in superscript between And and anoon.
442 ob. of is occasionally written ob in anticipation of words beginning with b.
462 N. Meech reads this letter as an R (see the note to Meech, p. 20), but it looks more like an N. This usage is consistent with the widespread habit (including that of the scribe of this manuscript) of using the letter N as a "wildcard character." See, for example, the beginning of Chapter 2, where Kempe identifies her father as mayor of the town of N.
462 mor. MS: thow in superscript above mor in red.
486 hir. k crossed out after hir and before bakke.
503 rathyr. Meech transcribes as rathar.
522 comown. Comown, from the verb comowmyn, has come down to us as "commune," but our word seems to me far less allusive than the medieval term. "Common," though it is now used only as an adjective, more closely captures the complicated association encoded in the medieval verb. Comown could be used to describe the act of sharing or entering into a partnership, of acting jointly, of having sexual intercourse, of communicating, or of receiving or administering Holy Communion. Like her equally elastic use of medelyn, Kempe's word-play hints at the many types of communities she considers in her Book.
571 to. Though the word is almost illegible, it looks like to.
622 a. Marked with a caret, in superscript between al and day.
626 mech. the expuncted after of; mech marked with a caret and in superscript between the and pepyl.
626 toke. ke in superscript above to.
629 thow. tho expuncted after wold; thow in superscript above.
682 woldyst. The words suffer deth are added in very dark ink in large letters in the outer margin. The caret after the phrase corresponds to the caret after woldyst in the text.
692 watyr. fro, which is expuncted in red, follows watyr. wasch it. MS: waschit.
697 hem. MS: to in superscript above hem in red.
700 compunccyon. MS: compuccyon.
711 Thowgh. MS: th, with a caret afterwards, owgh in dark letters above.
714 owyr Lord. MS: crossed out in red. hys. MS: crossed out in red.
722 hir. as crossed through and expuncted after hir.
731 I. l crossed through after I.
804 mend. MS: soull in superscript above mend in red.
810 the. archsh crossed out after the.
813 to. MS: ty. o written in red on top of original y.
829 hir. to crossed out after hir.
838 dalyawns. Lower right corner of the folio has been destroyed.
857 behyte. hyte partially destroyed.
863 The chapter break is followed in the MS by a directive note in red. It runs from the chapter into the margin. It reads: it begynnes thus in the tyme the vj lefe efter.The reference directs a reader to chapter 21, which recounts events (the beginning of Margery's special relationship with her confessor) prior to those in chapter 16. See also Introduction, p. 5, for a discussion of these lines.
880 sowle. owl partially destroyed, e completely destroyed.
899 The Latin titles refer to key works of affective piety that link Margery to the concerns of late medieval lay devotion. See Introduction, pp. 5-6.
902 sumtyme. sumty completely destroyed.
925 had. h and d partially destroyed. There was probably one more word at the end of the line. of is written in the lower margin under she.
949 helde. The word itself is obliterated, but there appears to be space for a four-letter word. Only the upper part of d, about two letter spaces from the left-hand margin, remains. Helde is Meech's suggestion.
972 muste. uste completely destroyed. At the end of the line, there is further space for either a two- or a three-letter word.
979 For a discussion of this attribution to Jerome (which seems not to belong to him but reflects pious popular tradition), see Meech, p. 279, n. 43/7.
982 sete. seet, perhaps in the original hand, is written above sete.
996 and causyd. Only syd is legible; the rest is completely destroyed. Meech's emendation.
1012 levyn. MS: be in red followed by a red hyphen in the margin.
1019 bryte. MS: yte partially destroyed.
1020 dyrke. One, or perhaps two, words may have been destroyed here at the end of the line. the mor. This is Meech's emendation. The lower right-hand corner of the manuscript has been destroyed, and on this final line there is space for perhaps seven to nine more letters.
1046 eraend. Altered from erden. d changed to a, and d fitted in at the end of the word.
1055 wyth. many expuncted after wyth.
1068 Yyf ye. MS: 3yf ye completely destroyed; 1068 messys. The tops of two letters (perhaps ss) are visible. See also Meech. There is space on the line for another word.
1092 grace. gr completely destroyed.
1093 I prevyd. Only the d survives. Meech suggests I lovyd here, but the sense seems to indicate God's intent to test those he loves. There are about seven generous letter spaces here in the lower right-hand corner of the folio.
1093-94 that evyr men. Meech's suggestion; the words are completely destroyed.