Julian of Norwich, the late medieval English woman mystical writer, is one of the most popular and influential spiritual teachers of our times in the English‐speaking world. She has the capacity to inspire a wide range of people, whether they identify themselves as religious or not. Her message that the meaning of everything is “love” and also that, beyond our ability to understand, ultimately “all shall be well” speaks powerfully and paradoxically to our fragile human condition and to our often divided, dysfunctional, and violent world. Nevertheless, in this contextual‐theological study of Julian, I hope to demonstrate that this message of love is not comforting in a simplistic way but is profoundly challenging both theologically and spiritually.

Julian’s writings and teachings have had a significant influence on my own historical and theological studies of Christian spirituality over the last 30 years. I was first introduced to Julian in the early 1980s when I worked with the late James Walsh SJ as his assistant editor of The Way journal of Christian spirituality and its associated specialist supplements. In the 1970s James Walsh had been co‐editor with Edmund Colledge of a major scholarly edition of Julian’s texts as well as a modern translation in the on‐going Paulist Press series “Classics of Western Spirituality.” I am very grateful to James Walsh for his original inspiration and enthusiasm. In more recent years I was also in conversation with the late Grace Jantzen and with Joan Nuth, both of whom wrote insightful studies of Julian’s theology.

Since the late 1980s I have used Julian of Norwich’s texts in graduate courses at Heythrop College, University of London, at Sarum College (linked to the University of Wales), and in a range of MA and doctoral programs in the USA, most recently at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. Further insights have come from the lively exchanges with students that took place in seminars associated with these programs.

In recent years I have also led visits to Norwich focused on Julian for ordinands and staff at Westcott House in Cambridge, UK. In this context I am particularly grateful to Robert Fruehwirth, the former Director of the Julian Centre, to Christopher Wood, Rector of St Julian’s Church to which Julian’s anchorhold was originally attached, and to Peter Doll, the Canon Librarian at Norwich Cathedral. Peter Doll and Christopher Wood have also been helpful about contemporary perceptions in the city of Norwich and the nearby University of East Anglia about Julian’s life and context.

Finally, at various times while preparing this book I have been privileged to consult a number of scholars with an interest in Julian of Norwich. In particular, I would like to thank Bernard McGinn at the University of Chicago, Benedicta Ward at the University of Oxford, Rowan Williams at the University of Cambridge, Nicholas Watson at Harvard University, and Steven Chase at Oblate School of Theology and editor of Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality. All of these have been generous with their comments and advice. However, I take sole responsibility for final decisions while writing this book and for my overall interpretations of Julian.

It is important to underline that this book focuses specifically on the rich and complex theology of Julian of Norwich. Consequently, it makes extensive use of what is commonly known as her Long Text. This is the most theologically substantial of her writings. As we shall see, there are three surviving full manuscripts of this text and there have been extensive debates, often focused on linguistic questions, about which of them should be given priority. As a historian and theologian rather than a scholar of medieval English I am aware of these debates and make note of them in the Appendix to this book. However, I have tried not to become too focused on them in my analysis of Julian’s theology. I have therefore made prudential decisions in the light of mainly theological and contextual considerations about which scholarly edition and which modern translation to use for quotations.

Unless stated otherwise, all the quotations I cite in this book are from the Long Text. For Middle English quotations I have mainly chosen to use the hybrid scholarly edition by Nicholas Watson and Jacqueline Jenkins. For a modern translation I have used the still popular edition co‐edited by James Walsh and Edmund Colledge in the on‐going “Classics of Western Spirituality” series.

I am very grateful to Westcott House in the Cambridge Theological Federation for providing a friendly context within which I have been able to research and write this book. I am also grateful to Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio for the opportunity to work with MA and doctoral students with an interest in Julian. The book is also part of the research portfolio associated with my role as a Senior Research Associate of the Von Hügel Institute at St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge.

Finally, as always, I dedicate this book to Susie whose own thoughtful interest in spirituality as well as her partnership, love, and conversation have been such a great support throughout this project. In addition, Susie has played a significant role in the design of the cover. The use of the color azure blue echoes Julian’s parable of a Lord and a Servant and, in medieval times, symbolized the qualities of nobility, faithfulness and what is truly spiritual. The image of a young woman swinging on the letter Q is taken from the Claricia Psalter (Walters Ms. W.26) in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore MD. Q is the first letter of the Latin word “Quid”. In its interrogative form this suggests “Which?” or “What?” which reflects Julian’s persistent curiosity and questioning in her writings.