Final Remarks

Summary

In this book I have suggested that the vernacular corpus of Gertrude’s visions challenges the long-standing idea that translations do not bear the same literary or historical weight as the supposed originals upon which they are based. Instead, the independent value and depth of redactions, especially those in other languages, has been highlighted, contributing to debates on vernacularity and manuscript culture. Hagiographic texts that have been redacted, especially when viewed in context of the reform movement, elicit a shadow history of late medieval piety wherein material culture infused mystical devotion. With redactors assimilating hagiographic traditions of rewriting saints’ dossiers,¹ they offer us a better understanding of the social history of text production; we may speak of a social history here because we can observe the behaviour of scribes in a milieu united by common interests in matters concerning devotion. Practices of text production shaped reading practices in return, as many devotees became active redactors in the reception process. Studying the variety of manuscript transmission brings out the creative collaboration that medieval textuality entailed. It also shows how mystical devotion operated within a lifeworld in which material objects were charged with sacred power.