Self-Liberated Women of the later Middle Ages: Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, the Paston Women, and the Early History of Feminism

Fifteenth-century East Anglia was a historic time and place in the history of feminism. The regional culture, while overtly patriarchal, allowed the subjects of this paper to achieve greater influence in matters of secular leadership (both feudal and familial), religious authority and interpretation, trade and commerce, land ownership, the planning and execution of marriages, and the negotiation of social codes such as sumptuary laws. Second wave feminist thought often critiques the ways in which individuals attempt to achieve autonomy (meaning, the idea that freedom of personal choice will lead to a fulfilling and satisfying life) through subversive activity. However, there is indeed merit to self-empowerment through subversive activity, as the case studies of this paper prove. This paper focuses upon East Anglian medieval contemplatives and gentry matriarchs: Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, and the Paston women. Analyzing the lives and works of Julian, Kempe, and the Paston women from a subversive-feminist perspective reveals different ways in which women could indeed lead liberated lives in fifteenth-century East Anglia, in spite of the many challenges they faced.Bachelor of Art