page_title: Julian of Norwich
section_title: Life as an anchoress
hierarchical_section_title: Julian of Norwich / Life / Life as an anchoress
caption_attribution_description: English: Depiction of a bishop blessing an anchoress found in the manuscript, MS 079: Pontifical, held at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and dated c. 1400 and c. 1410.
context_page_description: Julian of Norwich, also known as Dame Julian or Mother Julian, was an English anchorite of the Middle Ages. She wrote the best known surviving book in the English language written by a mystic, Revelations of Divine Love. The book is the first written in English by a woman.
  She lived practically her whole life in the English city of Norwich, an important centre for commerce that also had a vibrant religious life. During her lifetime, the city suffered the devastating effects of the Black Death of 1348–50; the Peasants' Revolt, which affected large parts of England in 1381; and the suppression of the Lollards. In 1373, aged thirty and so seriously ill she thought she was on her deathbed, Julian received a series of visions or "shewings" of the Passion of Christ. She recovered from her illness and wrote two versions of her experiences, the earlier one being completed soon after her recovery, and a much longer version, today known as the Long Text, being written many years later.
  For much of her life, Julian lived in permanent seclusion as an anchoress in her cell, which was attached to St Julian's Church, Norwich.
context_section_description: As an anchoress, Julian 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 people's souls. Her solitary life would have begun upon the completion of an elaborate selection process. An important church ceremony would have taken place at St. Julian's Church, in the presence of the Bishop of Norwich. During the ceremony, psalms from the Office of the Dead would have been sung for her, as if it were her own funeral, and at some point Julian 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 for anchoresses. Two important sources of information about the life led by an anchoress have survived. De institutione inclusarum was written in Latin by Ælred of Rieveaulx in c. 1162, and the Ancrene Riwle was written in Middle English in c. 1200. Although originally made for three religious sisters to follow, The Ancrene Riwle became in time a manual for all female recluses. The work regained its former popularity during the mystical movement of the fourteenth century and may have been available to Julian in a version she could read and become familiar with. It stipulated that anchoresses lived a life of confined isolation, poverty, and chastity. However, some anchoresses are known to have lived comfortably, and there are instances in which they shared their accommodations with fellow recluses.
  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 led an entirely secluded life. She would have been permitted to make clothes for the poor, and she 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, advice and counsel to the people, 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 she was in her fifties and who may have influenced her writings in a small way.
caption: A bishop blessing an anchoress, from MS 079: Pontifical, held at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (c.1400–10)
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