Julian of Norwich, Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love

Darragh Greene (University College Dublin)

Ed. by Sebastian Sobecki, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1373

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Anthology/ Collection
Religion and Spirituality (any)
- Prayer

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A Revelation of Love

by Julian of Norwich (1342-after 1416) is a Middle English prose account of a series of sixteen

shewinges

, that is, visionary and mystical experiences which the author claims happened after a week of serious illness and when she thought she was on the brink of death at the age of “thirty yere old and a halfe” on the thirteenth of May 1373 (Watson and Jenkins, 129). It is the first writing in English by an identified female author. Even so, not much is known about Julian, including whether this, indeed, is her original name.

Before or after her visions, Julian may have been a nun in the Benedictine convent at Carrow outside Norwich (Watson and Jenkins, 4). Four wills are extant that mention her. The first is that of Roger Reed, rector of St Michael Coslany,

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2769 words

Citation: Greene, Darragh. "Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 June 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2032, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Julian of Norwich, Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love

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