Women committed themselves to living out their lives as anchoresses enclosed in cells attached to churches, monasteries, convents, sometimes even castles. Scholars Frances and Joseph Gies describe the ritual which began their service and how they then spent their lives: Once an anchoress had entered her cell, she was considered dead to the world. The fact that her mother was present during her illness also suggests she came from an upper-class family of wealth since such families were always allowed special privileges denied the lower class, and it is a certainty that no anchoress of modest means would have been allowed family visitations. She most likely came from a family of means who were able to support her at the anchorage for most of her life since bequests for her support do not appear until later, after 1394 CE (though one must consider the possibility that earlier bequests have been lost). One interesting aspect of Julian's life, as evidenced by Margery Kempe, is that she seems to have been allowed to speak to people face-to-face instead of through a small window in the wall (similar to that in a Catholic confessional booth). An anchorage generally consisted of two or three rooms beside the chancel of a church.
Many had cells in towns, where alms would be bestowed on them…Their primary work was prayer, though they might give spiritual counsel to those that sought it. Anchorites and anchoresses must have sufficient to support one or two servants, as they could not fetch food for themselves. Her account reads:īefore either hermit, anchor or anchoresses established themselves, they had to seek permission from the bishop, show that they had sufficient endowment, or some prospect of maintenance, and were suitable in character. She therefore went to Norwich where her visions told her to seek out Julian for validation. Kempe experienced visions and voices which she believed came from God but was routinely mocked and doubted. She is also mentioned, in glowing terms, by the mystic Margery Kempe in her autobiography (the first in English), The Book of Margery Kempe. One of these bequests mentions a maid named Sarah who served her and an earlier maid named Alice. Her historicity is established through bequests left her in wills between 1394-1416 CE. In reality, nothing can be claimed about Julian's life since all that is known is what she mentions in her work, and from that one learns that she lived in Norwich as an anchoress, experienced a near-fatal illness, had a mother who tended her while sick, and was served by a maid. These life stories variously depict Julian as a widow who lost her family to the plague and renounced the world, a scholar who turned her back on society, and a layperson who only became an anchoress after her visions, among other possibilities.
Nothing can be claimed about Julian's life since all that is known is what she mentions in her work.
0 kommentar(er)
