We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 June 2009
One of the devil's more ingenious interventions, as he laboured to impede the spiritual progress of Catherine of Siena, was the argument that she could well get married, since many married women were saintly.
Live the life that other women do. Take a husband. Be a mother of children. Bow to the law of human nature to increase and multiply. None of this can hinder the fulfillment of your desire of pleasing God. Have not saintly women been wives and mothers? Think of Sarah and Rebecca; think of Leah, too, and Rachel. Why should you make yourself an exception, taking on a kind of life in which you will never be able to persevere?
But Catherine was not fooled. She recognized this dangerous temptation for what it was, a means of compromising her status, effectiveness, and general credibility as a holy woman. Margery Kempe was not so lucky, having married long before her spiritual vocation became clear. Her claim that the Bible gave her leave to speak of God was met with doubt, downright hostility, and frequent accusations of heresy. This chapter will discuss the vernacular hermeneutics which Margery practised in respect of Luke 11:27–8 and Genesis 1:28, auctoritates which she recognized as being crucial for that claim. At its centre is a desire to transcend material, conventional marriage whilst remaining respectful of marriage as a sacrament and a normal life-choice for ordinary women.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
