The Book of Margery Kempe Freedom and Confinement Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Page)

Quote #7

Then the Mayor called her to him, saying, "I will not let you go from here in spite of anything you can say, unless you go to my Lord Bishop of Lincoln for a letter [...] so that I may be discharged of responsibility for you." (I.48.154)

The Mayor of Leicester really does not like Kempe, though we never fully understand why. Kempe wants us to know that this man is willing to behave unjustly if he has to in order to keep her locked up. It is possible that the Mayor feels some kind of political pressure to keep her in custody so that she won't make more mischief and get him in trouble.

Quote #8

When she had crossed the River Humber, she was immediately arrested as a Lollard and led towards prison. (I.55.174).

Although Kempe has proved herself innocent more than one time, she pretty much gets arrested wherever she goes in England. This time, she's pretty nearly home when it happens. Lollardy is a heresy against the Roman Catholic Church, and it had many principles that appealed to women—that's why Kempe is so often accused of it.

Quote #9

When she was there, she sent into Bishop's Lynn for her husband, Master Robert, her confessor, and for Master Aleyn, a doctor of divinity, and told them in part of her tribulations. And afterwards she told them that she could not come home to Bishop's Lynn until such time as she had been to the Archbishop of Canterbury for his letter and seal. (I.55.175)

Kempe makes it nearly home but doesn't want to set foot inside her town, because she has many enemies there and doesn't want to be taken into custody again. Her only hope of peace is to head back to London, to the Archbishop of Canterbury's residence at Lambeth Palace, to get ecclesiastical approval for her way of life. Even so, the clergy will never be uniform in its response to Kempe's brand of spirituality.