One of the most important medieval writers studied in historical and literary context.Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth/early fifteenth-century anchoress and mystic, is one of the most important and best-known figures of the Middle Ages. Her Revelations, intense visions of the divine, have been widely studied and read; the first known writings of an English woman, their influence extends over theology and literature. However, many aspects of both her life and thought remain enigmatic. This exciting collection offers a comprehensive, accessible coverage of the key aspects of debate surrounding Julian. It places the author within a wide range of contemporary literary, social, historical and religious contexts, and also provides a wealth of new insights into manuscript traditions, perspectives on her writing and ways of interpreting it, building on the work of many of the most active and influential researchers within Julian studies, and including the fruits of the most recent, ground-breaking findings. It will therefore be a vital companion for all of Julian's readers in the twenty-first century. Dr LIZ HERBERT MCAVOY is Senior Lecturer in Gender in English and Medieval Studies at Swansea University. CONTRIBUTORS: KIM M. PHILLIPS, CATE GUNN, ALEXANDRA BARRATT, DENISE M. BAKER, DIANE WATT, E.A. JONES, ANNIE SUTHERLAND, BARRY WINDEATT, MARLEEN CRE, ELISABETH DUTTON, ELIZABETH ROBERTSON, LAURA SAETVEIT MILES, LIZ HERBERT MCAVOY, ENA JENKINS, VINCENT GILLESPIE, SARAH SALIH

Introduction: `God forbade...that I am a techere': Who or what was Julian?Femininities and the Gentry in Late Medieval East Anglia: Ways of Being - Kim M Phillips`A recluse atte Norwyche': Images of Medieval Norwich and Julian's Revelati ons - Cate Gunn`No such sitting': Julian Tropes the Trinity - John Sexton, Book Reviews EditorJulian of Norwich and the Varieties of Middle English Mystical Discourse - Denise N BakerSaint Julian of the Apocalypse - Diane WattAnchoritic Aspects of Julian of Norwich - E A JonesJulian of Norwich and the Liturgy - Annie SutherlandJulian's Second Thoughts: The Long Text Tradition - Barry A Windeatt`This blessed beholdyng': Reading the Fragments from Julian of Norwich's Revelation of Divine Love in London, Westminster Cathedral Treasury MS4MS4 - Marleen CreThe Seventeenth-century Manuscript Tradition and the Influence of Augustine Baker - Elisabeth DuttonJulian of Norwich's `Modernist Style' and the Creation of Audience - Elizabeth RobertsonSpace and Enclosure in Julian of Norwich's A Revelation of Love - Laura Saetveit Miles`For we be doubel of God's making': Writing, Gender and the Body in Julian of Norwich - Liz Herbert McAvoyJulian's Revelation of Love: A Web of Metaphor - Ena Jenkins`[S]he do the police in different voices': Pastiche, Ventriloquism and Parody in Julian of Norwich - Vincent GillespieJulian's Afterlives - Sarah SalihBibliographyIndex