Title: Virgin martyrs
First published: 1997
Description: Stories of the torture and execution of beautiful Christian women first appeared in late antiquity and proliferated during the early Middle Ages, and virgin martyrs were still the most popular female saints in the late medieval period. Their legends, in countless retellings through the centuries, preserved a standard plot - the heroine resists a pagan suitor, endures cruelties inflicted by her rejected lover or outraged family, works miracles, and dies for Christ.

That sequence was embellished by incidents emblematic of the specific saint: Juliana's battle with the devil, Barbara's immurement in the tower, Katherine's encounter with spiked wheels.

Karen A. Winstead examines this seemingly static story form and discovers subtle shifts in the representation of the virgin martyrs, as their legends were adapted for changing audiences in late medieval England. The saints' portrayals participated in and were shaped by the cultural debates and contests for authority that marked an era of political instability, rapid social change, and increasing religious dissent.
Subjects: Biography, Christian Legends, Christian hagiography, Christian women martyrs, Christian women saints, Christianity, Church history, History, History and criticism, History of doctrines, Legends, Christian, Religious aspects, Religious aspects of Virginity, Religious life and customs, Virginity, Saints, biography, Martyrs, Virginity, religious aspects, England, social life and customs, Great britain, church history, 1066-1485
Places: England
Time periods: 1066-1485, Middle Ages, 600-1500, To 1500
LC classification: BX4659.G7 W56 1997