The fifteenth-century scholar and Augustinian friar John
Capgrave took as his subject the virgin martyr Katherine of
Alexandria, who was an anomalous cultural icon, a scholar, and a
sovereign whose story unsettled traditional gender stereotypes yet
was widely popular throughout Western Europe. Capgrave's "Life of
Saint Katherine of Alexandria "(ca. 1445) stands out among the
hundreds of surviving vernacular and Latin narrations about the
saint by its intricate plotting, its moral complexity, its
obtrusive Chaucerian narrator, and its attention to psychology,
history, and theology. The "Life of Saint Katherine"""is a bold
literary experiment that transforms the genre of the saint's life
by infusing it with conventions and techniques more often
associated with chronicles, mystery plays, fabliaux, and
romances.In Capgrave's hands, Katherine emerges as a sensitive and
studious young woman torn between social responsibilities and
personal desires. Her story unfolds in a vividly realized world of
political turmoil and religious repression that, as Capgrave's
readers were bound to suspect, had everything to do with the
England they inhabited and its recent past. Katherine's debate with
her lords anticipates arguments for and against female rule that
would be made in Tudor England, when the ascensions of Mary I and
then Elizabeth I made gynecocracy a political reality, while her
debate with the philosophers is a daring exercise in vernacular
theology that flouts the censorship then current. Winstead's
translation--the first into idiomatic modern English--brings to
life Capgrave's sharply drawn characters, compelling plot, and
complex, unsettling moral. Its promotion of an informed,
intellectualized Christianity during a period known for censorship
and repression illuminates the struggle over the definition of
orthodoxy that was excited by the perceived threat of Lollard
heresy during the fifteenth century. This volume also includes an
appendix with passages of Capgrave's original Middle English and
literal translations into modern English, providing a valuable tool
for teachers and students.
"Karen A. Winstead's translation of Capgrave's "Life of Saint
Katherine"is extremely well done. The text is elegantly simple,
nuanced, and serious in tone; graced as well with an excellent
introduction and complete bibliography of Katherine materials,
Winstead's edition is sure to inspire students to pursue further
studies in Middle English." --Maura Nolan, University of
California, Berkeley"Capgrave's work deserves a larger audience
than it currently has. "The Life of Saint Katherine of
Alexandria"is a lively and amusing work that intersects with may
aspects of late medieval culture and history: it addresses
important questions related to gender, theology, pedagogy, family
relations, religious institutions, and political power. I can
envision many uses for Winstead's translation in the contemporary
college and university classroom." --Theresa Coletti, University of
Maryland
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