Women of the Gilte legende
Subtitle: a selection of Middle English saints lives
By: translated from the Middle English with introduction, notes, and interpretive essay [by] Larissa Tracy.
Contributors: Tracy, Larissa, 1974-
Series: Library of medieval women,
Publisher: D.S. Brewer
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Cambridge, UK; Rochester, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 149
Subjects: Christian women saints -- Biography.
Genres: Biography.
Description: Prose translation of a selection of women saints' lives from the Gilte Legende, the Middle English version of Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda Aurea; the female saints lives are divided into: the 'ryght hooly virgins', who vocally defend their bodies against Roman persecution; 'holy mothers', who give up their traditional role to pursue a life of contemplation; the 'repentant sinners', who convert and voice their defiance against a society that demanded silence in women; and the 'holy transvestites', who cast off their gender identity to find absolution and salvation.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [129]-146) and index.