| The aim of this dissertation is to explore how Julian's thought might have appeared to her contemporaries, in light of the social, political and religious conditions of her time. Julian was part of an expanding discourse of piety which included an increasing number of lay voices. Just as her Showings help us to understand that wider conversation, an awareness of the circumstances to which she was responding help us more fully to understand her texts.; Knowledge of Julian's context is drawn from diverse sources, and recent studies bringing them to light. Chronicles and rolls of parliament indicate trends and events affecting England as a whole, while documents such as guild records and wills allow glimpses into local situations and individual lives. Pastoral manuals suggest not only how priests ministered, but how parishioners responded and what there own concerns were. Courtly poetry, mystery plays and other works exercising a more popular appeal reinforced and undermined clerical teaching by turn. In this complexity of voices, we see a time of great change and attendant anxiety. Divine judgment was a central theme in pulpit and confessional and lay people were urged to undertake rigorous self-scrutiny. These teachings were sometimes oppressive, but also did much to encourage the laity to become more directly and responsibly engaged in the cures of their own souls.; Against this background, the strong pastoral themes in Julian's texts become apparent. Regarding human nature in terms of its origins and ultimate redemption in God's love, she reclaimed the ultimate purpose of the Christian life as our healing and building up in Christ. Thus she implicitly critiqued any claim that overshadows perceptions of the love of God, and causes despair. The higher standard to which she pointed might free both the over-scrupulous and those hostile to institutions of the church for full and saving participation in its sacraments. She also provided a foundation for all the faithful to engage in contemplative practices usually reserved for the cloister or anchorhold. |
