Today's focus is on a woman notable in several ways. Julian of Norwich (about 1342-1416) is often called "Dame Julian" out of respect, but the fact is, no one alive today knows her real name. She gained the name "Julian"--usually a man's name--because she was connected with St. Julian's Church. And even there, tradition is unclear: Was the church named after St. Julian the Hospitaller, or St. Julian of Le Mans? No one's really sure, though the church still stands today. Odd, considering that at the time she lived, Norwich was England's second largest city after London.

    Now, when we say Julian was "connected" to the Church, we mean literally. For an unknown number of years she lived in a small room (called a "cell") that was built against the side of the church. Here she was essentially walled in, and practiced austerities.

    A man who does such a thing is called an "anchorite" (from a Greek word meaning "one who has retired from the world," and unrelated to the word "anchor"); a woman is then called an "anchoress." Julian was not the only anchoress known from medieval England--the practice was widespread--but because she wrote a book called "Revelations of Divine Love," she is one of the best-known. This book establishes her second claim to fame: it is the first book known to have been written by a woman in the English language.

    Although isolated in her cell, Julian was consulted by people for spiritual advice. Indeed, her cell was located next to the busiest road in medieval Norwich.

    Most of what is known of Julian's life is derived from her book, though there is some independent testimony of her life, including the comment by the wandering holy woman and mystic Margery Kempe (author of England's first known autobiography) that she visited Julian around 1414.

    Alas, the church and the site of Julian's cell were destroyed in World War II. The reconstructed edifice shows a cell which most scholars agree is on the wrong side of the church. More mystery surrounds this mystic with the passage of years.

    Vocabulary: Which word above means:

    1. withdrawn (from), secluded

    2. asked advice from

    3. going aimlessly from place to place

    4. statement in support of a fact

    5. obtained, gotten

    6. common, done in many places

    7. person said to have visions of things beyond human knowledge

    8. severe religious practices

    9. things that have been revealed

    10. building, structure

    ANSWERS: 1. retired 2. consulted 3. wandering 4. testimony 5. derived 6. widespread 7. mystic 8. austerities 9. revelations 10. edifice