Margery (Burnham) Kempe was a fifteenth-century Englishwoman known in her own time as a mystic and exemplar of the apostolic life of contemplative prayer and charitable works. Her life story, The Book of Margery Kempe (circa 1436-1438), recorded in two volumes by two priests during her lifetime, is a rich and controversial document that has provided literary, social, and religious historians with insights on medieval spirituality, the role of literacy in regard to authorship, and the role of women in late-medieval society.

Born in Bishop's Lynn (now King's Lynn), Norfolk, a prosperous, mercantile town, Margery belonged to a prominent family. Her father was mayor five times, an alderman of the merchant guild, coroner, justice of the peace, and a member of Parliament six times. Margery does not mention her mother in her Book. Around 1393, at the age of twenty, Margery married a burgess of Lynn named John Kempe...