Sources for Julian's life Little of Julian's life is known. The few scant comments she provided about herself are contained in her writings, later published in a book commonly known as
Revelations of Divine Love, a title first used in 1670. The earliest surviving copy of a manuscript of Julian's, made by a
scribe in the 1470s, acknowledges her as the author of the work. The earliest known references to Julian come from four
wills, in which she is described as being an
anchoress. The wills were all made by individuals who lived in Norwich. Roger Reed, the rector of
St Michael Coslany, Norwich, whose will of 20March 1394 provides the earliest record of Julian's existence, made a
bequest of 12
shillings to be paid to "Julian anakorite". Thomas Edmund, a
Chantry priest from
Aylsham, stipulated in his will of 19May 1404 that 12
pennies be given to "Julian, anchoress of the church of St Julian, Conisford" and 8 pennies to "Sarah, living with her". John Plumpton from Norwich gave 40 pennies to "the anchoress in the church of St Julian's, Conisford, and a shilling each to her maid and her former maid Alice" in his will dated 24November 1415. The fourth person to mention Julian was Isabelle, Countess of Suffolk (the second wife of
William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk), who made a bequest of 20shillings to "" in her will dated 26 September 1416. As a bequest to an unnamed anchorite at St Julian's was made in 1429, there is a possibility Julian was alive at this time. to a
scribe, in which she mentions visiting "dame jelyan" (
British Library) Julian was known as a
spiritual authority within her community, where she also served as an adviser. In around 1414, when she was in her seventies, she was visited by the English
mystic Margery Kempe.
The Book of Margery Kempe, which is possibly the first autobiography to be written in English, mentions that Kempe travelled to Norwich to obtain spiritual advice from Julian, saying she was "bidden by Our Lord" to go to "Dame Jelyan[...] for the anchoress was expert in" divine revelations, "and good counsel could give". Kempe never referred to Julian as an author, although she was familiar with the works of other spiritual writers, and mentioned them.
Visions Julian wrote in
Revelations of Divine Love that she became seriously ill at the age of 30. She could have been an anchoress when she fell ill, although it is possible she was a
lay person living at home, as she was visited by her mother and other people, and the
rules of enclosure for an anchoress would not normally have allowed outsiders such access. On 8May 1373 a
curate administered the
last rites of the church to her, in anticipation of her death. As he held a
crucifix above the foot of her bed, she began to lose her sight and feel physically numb, but gazing on the crucifix she saw the figure of Jesus begin to bleed. Over the next several hours, she had a series of 15 visions of Jesus, and a 16th the following night. Julian completely recovered from her illness on 13 May; there is general agreement that she wrote about her "
shewings" shortly after she experienced them. Her original manuscript no longer exists, but a copy, now known as the
Short Text, survived. Decades later, perhaps in the early 1390s, she began a
theological exploration of the meaning of her visions, and produced writings now known as
The Long Text. This second work seems to have gone through many revisions before it was finished, perhaps in the 1410s or 1420s. Julian's
revelations seem to be the first important example of a vision by an Englishwoman for 200 years, in contrast with the Continent, where "a golden age of women's mysticism" occurred during the 13th and 14th centuries.
Personal life , Add MS 37790) The few autobiographical details Julian included in the
Short Text, including her gender, were suppressed when she wrote her longer text later in life. Historians are not even sure of her actual name. It is generally thought to be taken from the church in Norwich to which her cell was attached, but
Julian was also used in its own right as a girl's name in the Middle Ages, and so could have been her
Christian name. Julian's writings indicate that she was born in 1343 or late 1342, and died after 1416. She was six when the
Black Death arrived in Norwich. It has been speculated that she was educated as a young girl by the Benedictine nuns of Carrow Abbey, as a school for girls existed there during her childhood. There is no written evidence that she was ever a nun at Carrow. According to several commentators, including Santha Bhattacharji in the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Julian's discussion of the maternal nature of God suggests that she knew of motherhood from her own experience of bringing up children. As plague epidemics were rampant during the 14th century, it has been suggested that Julian may have lost her own family as a result. By becoming an anchoress she would have been kept in
quarantine away from the rest of the population of Norwich. However, nothing in Julian's writings provides any indication of the plagues, religious conflict, or civil insurrection that occurred in the city during her lifetime.
Kenneth Leech and Sister
Benedicta Ward, the joint authors of
Julian Reconsidered (1988), concluded that she was a young widowed mother and never a nun. They based their opinion on a dearth of references about her occupation in life and a lack of evidence to connect her with Carrow Abbey, which would have honoured her and buried her in the grounds had she been strongly connected with the priory.
Life as an anchoress Julian was an anchoress from at least the 1390s. Living in her cell, she would have played an important part within her community, devoting herself to a life of prayer to complement the
clergy in their primary function as protectors of souls. Her solitary life would have begun after the completion of an onerous selection process. An important church ceremony would have taken place at St Julian's Church, in the presence of the
bishop. During the ceremony,
psalms from the
Office of the Dead would have been sung for Julian (as if it were her funeral), and at some point she would have been led to her cell door and into the room beyond. The door would afterwards have been sealed up, and she would have remained in her cell for the rest of her life. Once her life of seclusion had begun, Julian would have had to follow the strict rules laid down for anchoresses. Two important sources of information about the life of such women have survived. was written in
Latin by
Ælred of Rieveaulx in around 1162, and the was written in
Middle English in around 1200. Originally made for three sisters, the became in time a manual for all female recluses. The work regained its former popularity during the mystical movement of the 14th century. It may have been available to Julian to read and become familiar with—being a book written in a language she could read. The book stipulated that anchoresses should live in confined isolation, in
poverty, and under a
vow of chastity. The popular image of Julian living with her cat for company stems from the regulations set out in the
Ancrene Riwle. As an anchoress living in the heart of an urban environment, Julian would not have been entirely secluded. She would have enjoyed the financial support of the more prosperous members of the local community, as well as the general affection of the population. She would have in turn provided prayers and given advice to visitors, serving as an example of devout holiness. According to one edition of the
Cambridge Medieval History, it is possible that she met the English mystic
Walter Hilton, who died when Julian was in her fifties, and who may have influenced her writings in a small way. ==
Revelations of Divine Love ==