Talk:Julian of Norwich

Dates of her visions
The current article says that her visions occurred on 13-14 May, 1373, but I have yet to find an authoritative reference that agrees with these dates. The closest I've come is an Encyclopedia Britannica profile that says 13 May was the end of the illness during which her visions occurred, which means that they had to happen before the stated dates (or at least no later than 13 May). I found a University of St. Thomas course webpage on her, written in first-person, that says, "God came to me on May 13, 1373 with “showings” or “revelations” that brought with them complete healing." This seems to be taking literary license with the material, so I have doubts of its attention to accuracy. The Roman Catholic Church commemorates her on 13 May, but I haven't found an explanation of whether it's because that's when they peg the date(s) of her visions or what. (The Anglican Church commemorates her on 8 May, again with no explanation that I've found. Perhaps this is the start of her illness, or of her visions?) Does she perhaps make the timing clear in Revelations of Divine Love? I would appreciate any citable source for information that anyone can provide. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 07:55, 13 June 2006 (UTC)


 * It has been some time since I last read Julian and created the article, and I don't recall all the details of the visions and her sickness that I had gathered, but she does state in Chapter 2 of the primary translation used here: "These Revelations were shewed to a simple creature unlettered, the year of our Lord 1373, the Thirteenth day of May." and if I am remembering right, the final vision she gave any description of was after the most extensive ones, and I think it occured the morning after her illness broke. ~ Kalki 14:53, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Date of Julian of Norwich's Revelations
There are two major manuscripts of the "Long Version" of Julian's book: one in the British Museum and the other the Paris Library. One of these MSs gives the date of her revelations on "viii May" and the other on "xiii May" _- obviously one scribe made a mistake between an "x" and a "v".

However, I have researched Julian for six years, and have found evidence (too detailed to account here) that the May 13 date is very probably the accurate one - in spite of the commemoration on May 8 in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church. Also, Julian is NOT included in the Roman Catholic Calendar.

Fr. John-Julian, OJN Founder: The Order of Julian of Norwich Author: "A Lesson of Love: The Revelations of Julian of Norwich" and "The Complete Julian" -