Editing Julian of Norwich (section)

== Background ==
[[File:Map of Norwich (c.1300) by Woodward.jpg|thumb | upright=1.5 |alt=map of 14th century Norwich |Map of Norwich ({{circa|1300}}) by [[Samuel Woodward]] (1847); [[St Julian's Church, Norwich|St Julian's Church]], towards the bottom of the map, is labelled with a '7'.]]
The [[Kingdom of England|English]] city of [[Norwich]], where Julian probably lived all her life, was second in importance to [[London during the 13th and 14th centuries]], and the centre of the country's primary region for agriculture and trade.{{sfn|Ramirez|2016|p=17}}{{refn|1=A lack of data about Norwich's population during this period in its history means that it is not known for certain that the city ranked as second in size after London, although Norwich was recorded as having 130 individual trades at the end of the 13th century, in comparison with 175 for London, and more than any other regional centre in England.{{sfn|Rawcliffe|Wilson|2004|p=158}}|group=note}} During her lifetime, the [[Black Death]] reached Norwich; the disease may have killed over half the population of the city, and returned in [[Second plague pandemic|subsequent outbreaks]] up to 1387.{{sfn|Ramirez|2016|p=24}} Julian was alive during the [[Peasants' Revolt]] of 1381, when the city was overwhelmed by rebel forces led by Geoffrey Litster. [[Henry le Despenser]], the [[Bishop of Norwich]], executed Litster after the peasant army was defeated at the [[Battle of North Walsham]].{{sfn|Ramirez|2016|pp=25{{ndash}}26}} Despenser zealously opposed the [[Lollardy|Lollards]], who advocated reform of the Church, and some of them were [[Death by burning#Medieval Inquisition and the burning of heretics|burnt at the stake]] at [[Lollards Pit]], just outside the city.{{sfn|Ramirez|2016|p=17}}

Norwich may have been one of the most religious cities in Europe at that time, with [[Norwich Cathedral|its cathedral]], [[Priory|friaries]], churches and recluses' cells dominating both the landscape and the lives of its citizens. On the eastern side of the city was the cathedral priory (founded in 1096), the Benedictine [[History of hospitals#Medieval European hospitals|Hospital]] of St Paul, the [[Carmelite]] monastery, [[Great Hospital|St Giles's Hospital]], and the [[Order of Friars Minor|Franciscan]] friary, known as Greyfriars. To the south stood a [[Benedictine]] [[priory]] of [[nun]]s known as [[Carrow Abbey]], which was located just beyond the city walls.{{sfn|Rawcliffe|Wilson|2004|p=88}} Its income was mainly generated from "[[Benefice|livings]]" acquired from the renting of its assets, which included the Norwich churches of [[St Julian's Church, Norwich|St Julian]], All Saints Timberhill, St Edward Conisford and St Catherine Newgate, all now lost apart from St Julian's. The churches with [[anchorite]] cells enhanced the reputation of the priory, as they attracted [[Financial endowment|endowments]] from across society.{{sfn|Rawcliffe|Wilson|2004|p=89}}