Editing Julian of Norwich (section)

=== 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.{{sfn|Baker|1993|p=148}}{{sfn|Windeatt|2015|p=lii}} 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.{{sfn|Baker|1993|p=148}}

The earliest known references to Julian come from four [[Will and testament|wills]], in which she is described as being an [[anchoress]].{{sfn|Baker|1993|p=148}} The wills were all made by individuals who lived in [[Norwich]]. Roger Reed, the rector of [[St Michael Coslany, Norwich]], whose will of 20{{nbsp}}March 1394 provides the earliest record of Julian's existence, made a [[bequest]] of 12{{nbsp}}[[Shilling#Kingdom of England|shillings]] to be paid to "Julian anakorite".{{sfn|Windeatt|2015|p=xiv}} Thomas Edmund, a [[Chantry]] priest from [[Aylsham]], stipulated in his will of 19{{nbsp}}May 1404 that 12{{nbsp}}[[Penny#England|pennies]] be given to "Julian, anchoress of the church of St Julian, Conisford" and 8 pennies to "Sarah, living with her".{{sfn|Windeatt|2015|p=xiv}}{{refn|1=It has been assumed by the historian [[Janina Ramirez]] that Sarah was Julian's maid, and her link to the outside world. According to Ramirez, she probably had access to Julian by means of a smaller adjoining room.{{sfn|Ramirez|2016|p=18}}|group=note}} 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 24{{nbsp}}November 1415.{{sfn|Windeatt|2015|p=xiv}} 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 20{{nbsp}}shillings to "{{lang|fr|Julian reclus a Norwich}}" in her will dated 26 September 1416.{{sfn|Windeatt|2015|p=xiv}} 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.{{sfn|Crampton|1994|p=11}}

[[File:The Book of Margery Kempe, Chapter 18 (excerpt).png|thumb|alt=manuscript of page of Kempe's book|Part of the manuscript ({{circa|1440}}) dictated by the mystic [[Margery Kempe]] to a [[scribe]], in which she mentions visiting "dame jelyan" ([[British Library]])]]
Julian was known as a [[Spirituality|spiritual authority]] within her community, where she also served as an adviser.{{sfn|Windeatt|2015|p=xiii}} In around 1414, when she was in her seventies, she was visited by the English [[Mysticism|mystic]] [[Margery Kempe]]. ''[[The Book of Margery Kempe]]'', which is possibly the first autobiography to be written in English,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/20/margery-kempe-first-autobiographer-digitised-british-library |title=Margery Kempe, the first English autobiographer, goes online |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=21 March 2014 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=4 February 2019 |archive-date=7 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015724/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/20/margery-kempe-first-autobiographer-digitised-british-library |url-status=live}}</ref> mentions that Kempe travelled to Norwich to obtain spiritual advice from Julian,{{sfn|Windeatt|2015|p=viii}} saying she was "bidden by Our Lord" to go to "Dame Jelyan{{nbsp}}[...] for the anchoress was expert in" divine revelations, "and good counsel could give".{{sfn|Butler-Bowden|Chambers|1954|p=54}} Kempe never referred to Julian as an author, although she was familiar with the works of other spiritual writers, and mentioned them.{{sfn|Crampton|1994|p=11}}