Author

Julian of Norwich

English anchoress and author of the Revelations of Divine Love.

c. 1343–after 1416

Biography

Julian of Norwich is the author of the first book in English known to have been written by a woman. Her own name is unknown: she is called after the church of St Julian in Norwich, where she lived as an anchoress, enclosed in a cell attached to the church. She was born around 1343, and in May 1373, during a severe illness in which she was thought to be dying, she received a series of sixteen “showings”, visions centred on the suffering of Christ and the love of God.

She wrote a short account of the showings soon after, and over the following twenty years or more a much longer version, reflecting on their meaning. The longer text is known as the Revelations of Divine Love. Margery Kempe, who visited her around 1413, records her as a respected counsellor. Bequests to her in wills show that she was still alive in 1416.

Her theology is remarkable for its confidence in God’s love, its daring image of God and Christ as mother, and its refusal to see wrath in God. Rediscovered in the twentieth century, she is now one of the most widely read Christian mystical writers.

Major works

Revelations of Divine Love: Recorded by Julian, Anchoress at Norwich, Anno Domini 1373Book, 1901Grace Warrack’s modernized edition of the long text of Julian’s Revelations, which did much to make her known. It includes the sixteen showings, the vision of the hazelnut, the parable of the lord and the servant, and the teaching that all shall be well.

Philosophical ideas

Scholarship

God’s love is the meaning of everything: in a vision of a small thing like a hazelnut, she understood that all that is made lasts because God loves it.

Sin is “behovely”, it has its place, but all shall be well; there is no wrath in God, and Christ is our mother as well as our brother.

Cite this entry

Chicago (bibliography): “Julian of Norwich.” Author. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/authors/julian-of-norwich.
Chicago (note): “Julian of Norwich,” author, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/authors/julian-of-norwich.
MLA: “Julian of Norwich.” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/authors/julian-of-norwich.
BibTeX: @misc{authors-julian-of-norwich, title = {{Julian of Norwich}}, howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society}, note = {Author. Last modified November 7, 2026}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/authors/julian-of-norwich} }

Related authors

Contemporary of: The author of The Cloud of Unknowing

Related concepts

Related traditions

Christian MysticismTraditionThe contemplative and mystical currents of Christianity, East and West, centred on union with God in love.