The medieval English mystic Margery Kempe (c. 1373-c. 1439) is famous for having been given ‘the gift of tears’ – this caused her to cry, wail, scream, weep and sob uncontrollably and publicly.

This lecture will describe the ‘emotional geography’ of Kempe’s tears, and focus on providing a detailed account of two of Kempe’s moments of weeping during her pilgrimage to Palestine.