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Virgin Martyrs : Legends of Sainthood in Late Medieval England / Karen A. Winstead.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Winstead, Karen A., author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Christian legends--England.
- Christian legends.
- Christian hagiography--History--To 1500.
- Christian hagiography.
- Virginity--Religious aspects--Christianity--History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500.
- Virginity.
- Christian women martyrs--Biography--History and criticism.
- Christian women martyrs.
- Christian women saints--Biography--History and criticism.
- Christian women saints.
- England--Religious life and customs.
- England.
- England--Church history--1066-1485.
- Genre:
- Electronic books.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (x, 201 pages) : illustrations
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018]
- Language Note:
- In English.
- Summary:
- Stories of the torture and execution of beautiful Christian women first appeared in late antiquity and proliferated during the early Middle Ages. A thousand years later, virgin martyrs were still the most popular female saints. 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.
- Contents:
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. Martyrdom, Marriage, and Religious Communities, 1100-1250
- 2. Unruly Virgins and the Laity, 1250-1400
- 3. Decorous Lives: Saints and Consumers, 1400-1450
- 4. The Politics of Reading
- Bibliography
- Index
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-195) and index.
- Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 20. Sep 2019)
- ISBN:
- 1-5017-1157-1
- OCLC:
- 1080550362
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