The Shewings of Julian of Norwich

Fascinating first-person account of the visions experienced by the anchoress Julian of Norwich in May of 1373. This practical edition includes a gloss, an introduction, notes, and a glossary, making it valuable to students of Middle English and medieval mysticism alike.

Julian of Norwich was one of the most notable and influential Christian mystics of fourteenth-century England, renowned for her theological writing detailing her visions of divinity. In May of 1373, Julian experienced a number of vivid, dynamic, and even frightening spiritual visions on what she thought would be her deathbed. Of the two versions of the text that were made—the earlier, shorter version, and the longer version, written twenty years after the event—Georgia Ronan Crampton’s edition focuses on the longer version, which contains far more of Julian’s analyses and meditations about her experience. Presenting the full-length longer version, passages from the shorter version, and an account of a visit by Julian’s fellow mystic Margery Kempe, Crampton’s edition is a must-have for any medieval literature classroom, offering scholars and students alike the chance to read of Julian’s visions in her own Middle English.