    julian of norwich (c. 8 november 1342 â c. 1416) was an english anchoress who is regarded as one of the most important christian mystics. she is venerated in the anglican and lutheran churches, but has never been canonised or beatified. written around 1395, her work, revelations of divine love, is the first book in the english language known to have been written by a woman. == personal life == very little is known about julian's life. even her name is unknown; the name "julian" simply derives from the fact that her anchoress's cell was built onto the wall of the church of st julian in norwich. her writings indicate that she was probably born around 1342 and died around 1416.beer, f., women and mystical experience in the middle ages, page 130. boydell press, 1992she was certainly still alive in 1413, since the introduction to the short text written in the amherst manuscript, which is preserved in the british library, names julian and refers to her as alive; margery kempe visited her around 1414, indicating she was still alive then. she may have been from a privileged family that lived in norwich, or nearby. norwich was at the time the second largest city in england. plague epidemics were rampant during the 14th century and, according to some scholars, julian may have become an anchoress whilst still unmarried or, having lost her family in the plague, as a widow. becoming an anchoress may have served as a way to quarantine her from the rest of the population. 
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