The Saintly Politics of Catherine of Siena

Luongo, F. Thomas

doi:10.7591/9781501728297

Cited by 85 publications

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“…60 Celestial celebrities such as Catherine of Siena are being reassessed for their involvement in secular politics, even as the saintly princess, who is paradigmatically described as rejecting her royal background, is being examined for the political work she achieves on behalf of her noble kin. 61 Moreover, in the realm of the imaginary, many of the spectral enigmas such as Pope Joan, whether construed as protofeminist exemplars or sorry products of clerical misogyny, have finally been exorcised, and subsequently received last rites as myths. 62 The first age of women's history, the "Age of the Mother," was grounded in the conviction that the act of rendering women visible would transform history altogether.…”

Section: It Is Reprinted In Her Book Fragmentation and Redemption: Esmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Three Ages of Joan Scott

Elliott¹

2008

AM HIST REV

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Section: It Is Reprinted In Her Book Fragmentation and Redemption: Esmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Three Ages of Joan Scott

Elliott¹

2008

AM HIST REV

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“…He notes the extent to which, unlike the portrait of the saint's religious life we are given in Raymond of Capua's Legenda maior, an earlier source for Catherine's life, the Miracoli di Caterina di Iacapo di Siena, written in 1374 by an anonymous Florentine, presents the Sienese saint as having participated in an active independent lay religious vocation (in the midst of other independent religious laywomen) throughout much of her young-adult life. 17 Luongo writes that Raymond must have seen Catherine's community of mantellate (as Catherine and her companions were often called) living uncloistered lives within the city as an 'unpromising position from which to launch a new saint' and instead chose to portray Catherine as having lived as a recluse for much of her early life in order to make her more palatable to a Dominican notion of female sanctity. 18…”

Section: Religion and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…17 Luongo writes that Raymond must have seen Catherine's community of mantellate (as Catherine and her companions were often called) living uncloistered lives within the city as an 'unpromising position from which to launch a new saint' and instead chose to portray Catherine as having lived as a recluse for much of her early life in order to make her more palatable to a Dominican notion of female sanctity. 18…”

Section: Religion and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Religious Life in the Italian Communes: The State of the Field

Doyno

2011

History Compass

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The independent citizen‐governed civic communes of medieval Italy have long been a popular focus of scholarship. However, that scholarship has tended to focus either upon the political or the religious history of the cities. A new wave of work has insisted that historians consider the birth and development of these cities from the late eleventh through the fourteenth centuries as both a political and religious phenomenon. These works have encouraged historians to see the institutional history of religion and everyday religious observance as integral aspects of the ongoing articulation of communal identity. Moreover, recent work focusing on lay religious life in the communes has identified promising new paths for historians interested in the connection and dependence of political and religious issues in the communes.

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“…Finally, the recovery of the Holy Land would offer the possibility of salvation to those 'unbelievers' who could be converted. Catherine, then, advocated for a policy that was at once political and religious because she believed the cause was important to salvation; her intent was religious while 4.For instance, Luongo (2006) in his influential recent work argues that Catherine exercised political agency and refers to her involvement in the crusade (see also Vauchez 2018:39-43, 50). See Luongo (2012) for a history of the reception over time of accounts regarding Catherine's advocacy for ecclesiastical policies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catherine of Siena’s crusade letters: Spirituality and political context

Villegas

2021

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

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Catherine of Siena has been credited with original views regarding the crusade as political policy and with influencing Gregory XI to carry this out. In this article, I argued that while Catherine of Siena did not succeed in furthering the crusade – nor did she initiate this policy – her crusade correspondence leaves us a legacy that reveals significant aspects of her spirituality. Over 40 letters to ecclesiastical authorities, Kings, Queens, leaders of city states, knights and her own followers reveal a religious intent, although addressing a policy with both religious and political consequences. The latter were important to Catherine because she considered political-cultural context vital for salvation and transformation; she advocated for the crusade because she considered that the crusade pilgrimage and holy war to recover the Holy Land would be critical for the salvation of many. Her epistles further witness to the prophetic, missionary nature of Catherine’s spirituality, and we see how she crafted her own version of crusade spirituality out of the wisdom on transformation learned through her union with God, fused with early Christian martyr spirituality and early crusade spirituality preached in medieval Europe. This thematisation of Catherine’s crusade letters is based on textual analysis of all crusade related letters in the 2002 critical text, on the most complete dating of Catherine’s letters (finished in 2008); and in dialogue with literary and other historical advances, making it an innovative study.Contribution: Catherine of Siena’s crusade letters reveal significant aspects of her spirituality rather than contributions to crusade politics. The letters evidence her prophetic-missionary spirituality and her conviction that socio-political context is significant for a journey of transformation; as well, this analysis details the importance of early Christian martyr spirituality for Catherine’s crusade spirituality.

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The Saintly Politics of Catherine of Siena

Cited by 85 publications

References 0 publications

The Three Ages of Joan Scott

The Three Ages of Joan Scott

Urban Religious Life in the Italian Communes: The State of the Field

Catherine of Siena’s crusade letters: Spirituality and political context

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