Margaret Kirkby, was an anchorite of Ravensworth in North Yorkshire, England.
11 Facts About Margaret Kirkby
1.
2.
Margaret Kirkby was the principal disciple of the hermit Richard Rolle, and the recipient of much of his writings.
3.
Information about her comes from a biographical office of Rolle written between 1381 and 1383, when Margaret returned to the Cistercian nunnery at Hampole some thirty-four years after Rolle's death.
4.
Margaret Kirkby's recollections were used to provide a biography of Rolle celebrating his sanctity.
5.
Margaret Kirkby was instrumental in the composition of a liturgical commemoration of the gift of canor, the mystical ecstasy that Rolle celebrated in his writings, which Evelyn Underhill relates to a song of joy.
6.
Margaret Kirkby presented her with a collection of his works made into a single treatise including: The Form of Living, The Commandment of Love, Ego dormio, prose pieces and lyrics beginning with a rubric reading 'a tract of Richard hermit to Margaret Kirkby recluse on the contemplative life'.
7.
The personal tensions that Margaret Kirkby felt when leaving Hampole are recounted in the biographical office.
8.
Margaret Kirkby suffered seizures that could be cured only by Rolle who would sit with her at her anchorage window until she slept on his shoulder.
9.
Margaret Kirkby was probably the medium through which Rolle's writings came to the attention of the Cambridge educated northerners in the service of Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, including Walter Hilton; this led to a pastoral response to Rolle's teachings that provided contemplative instructions for layfolk.
10.
Margaret Kirkby's brother, Sir Miles Stapleton, moved to Ingham, Norfolk and his son, Sir Miles, whose daughter became an anchoress, was a patron of Julian of Norwich.
11.
Margaret Kirkby was buried in the cemetery of Hampole near her master and her remains are presumably in the garden of the old schoolhouse of Hampole on the site of the convent.