Introduction

Summary

THE LEGEND OF ST CATHERINE: ORIGINS AND SOURCES

St Catherine of Alexandria was one of the most popular saints of the European Middle Ages, but she probably never existed. Nonetheless, medieval people thought of her as a historical figure who lived and died during the Late Roman Empire when Christians were frequently martyred for their faith; more importantly, she was for them a living and vibrant presence in their own lives – a friend, supporter, and intercessor with God. She was an inspiration to men and women, kings and commoners, the laity and the clergy. Although Catherine was supposedly martyred in Alexandria in 307 CE, the story of her passion first occurs in a Greek text composed in the Byzantine empire; this version was translated and adapted into Latin in southern Italy in the tenth century, whence her story found its way to Normandy in the eleventh century. Catherine's cult in Russia coincided with the conversion of Rus’ (the earliest Russian state, with its capital in Kiev) to Christianity in the late tenth century and later became an important aspect of imperial politics in eighteenth-century Russia. Catherine's western cult originated in the monastery of Sainte-Trinite-du-montde- Rouen in Normandy, founded around 1130 by the nobleman Goscelyn and his wife Emmeline; Catherine's cult was introduced when the monastery acquired some of her relics in the form of three finger bones, probably in the 1030s. Catherine's cult became widespread throughout Europe, as reflected in numerous vernacular accounts of her life and even more scenes from her life depicted in panel paintings, church murals and statues.

The earliest Latin version of the legend formed the basis of the account in the massively popular Legenda Aurea (The Golden Legend) by Jacobus de Voragine, a series of saints’ lives composed in Italy in the 1260s. The tale of Catherine's passion, as attested in the Golden Legend, describes Catherine, the eighteen-year-old daughter of King Costus, learning of the Emperor Maxentius's command that the people of Alexandria should make sacrifice to his pagan gods. Catherine tries to persuade the emperor to renounce his worship of idols and uses her great erudition to defeat him in debate.