T&F Proofs: Not For Distribution 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 9 “I Wolde I Wer As Worthy to Ben Sekyr of Thy Lofe As Mary Mawdelyn Was” The Magdalene As an Authorizing Tool in the Book of Margery Kempe 1 Juliette Vuille Imitation of well-established, authoritative models for the purpose of establishing one’s own legitimacy is an instinctive and natural process, particularly in such a “profoundly mimetic” period as the Middle Ages. 2 However, the emulation of certain precedents may be considered more problematic than others, carrying with them the potential to lead the imitator to legitimacy or condemnation in equal measure. Hagiographic archetypes are some of the most potentially disruptive models to emu- late: not only do they enjoy tremendous authority and prestige because they are anchored in a distant and sacred, sometimes even biblical, past, but they also continue to live on in popular cults and legends, providing them with an immediacy and an accessibility that renders them di icult to control. 3 This is especially true in the case of medieval women mirroring the actions of widely known female saints such as Katherine of Alexandria or Cecilia. These women’s holiness permitted them to breach traditional gen- der boundaries in order to teach and to preach. Their actions may appear to be safely relegated to a remote, legendary, and pagan antiquity, render- ing them examples to be admired but never imitated. Yet the dynamism of their cults, and their ubiquitous representation in religious literature and art, ofers them up as fitting models for the daring woman to emulate. 4 Nevertheless, the virginal purity of Katherine or Cecilia would have made them di icult ideals to reach for many a medieval woman who not only routinely sinned, but had also sometimes been required by society to marry and beget children. Mary Magdalene, on the other hand, is a more acces- sible model for such women, as she embodies the potential of every sinner to rise above his or her fallen status and reach the highest rank of holi- ness in heaven. Further, with the shift in the later medieval period from the Hieronymian notion of physical virginity to Augustine’s definition of true virginity as spiritual, “ultimately defined by the will,” 5 the Magdalene comes to represent many a non-virginal woman’s hope to become an honor- ary virgin and a Bride of Christ, despite her sexual past. 6 Loewen & Waugh 1st pages.indd 208 Loewen & Waugh 1st pages.indd 208 10/23/2013 1:40:22 PM 10/23/2013 1:40:22 PM