[MR] History Blog: 15th C. Anchorite Manual

Garth Groff and Sally Sanford mallardlodge1000 at gmail.com
Thu Jan 16 03:37:45 PST 2020


Noble Friends,

Today the History Blog is reporting on the proposed export of a copy of a
15th century anchorites' manual, *Speculum Inclusorum* or "Mirror of the
Recluses". This manuscript was sold to an unmentioned overseas purchaser,
but has been blocked by the government from leaving Britain as a national
treasure:http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/57608 .

Until I read the History Blog post, I knew little about anchorites, being
most familiar with Julian of Norwich through reading a gloss of Marjery
Kempe's biography. Julian was something of mentor to the constantly weeping
Margery. She must have breathed a well-deserved sigh of relief inside her
cell when the very tiresome Margery went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Blessed peace at last! But such are the trials of saints.

According to the Blog, English anchorites were something of a minor growth
industry for the Church in the 13-15th century period. They were usually
educated, well-to-do people (mostly women) who allowed themselves to be
walled up in a cell attached to a church for the rest of their lives. Some
anchorites, like Julian, became quite famous and were pilgrimage
attractions in their own right, both in life and after their deaths.

I especially like the part about the hedgehog shirts, but you will have to
read the blog post to find out what that means.

More about anchorites can be found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorite .

Julian of Norwich rates her own Wikipedia page at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich .

A brief summary of the overly tearful Margery Kempe can be found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margery_Kempe . Although she was an
egotistical boor, her biography is certainly worthy of study.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆


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