Read complete books and articles on: St. Catherine of Siena

Catherine of Siena, Saint - sēĕnˈə, 1347–80, Italian mystic and diplomat, a member of the third order of the Dominicans, Doctor of the Church. The daughter of Giacomo Benincasa, a Sienese dyer, Catherine from early childhood had mystic visions and practiced austerities; she also showed the devotion to others and the winning manner that characterized her life. At age 16 she entered the Dominican order as a tertiary and lived at home. In 1370, in response to a vision, she began to take part in the public life of her time, sending letters to the great of the day. She went to Avignon and exerted decisive influence in inducing Pope Gregory XI to end the "Babylonian captivity" of the papacy and return to Rome in 1376. She helped bring about peace between the Holy See and Florence, which had revolted against papal authority. In the Great Schism, she supported the Roman claimant, Pope Urban VI, and worked vigorously to advance his cause. She also advocated a crusade against the Muslims. In 1375 she is supposed to have received the five wounds of the stigmata, visible only to herself until after her death. She became the center of a spiritual revival and a formidable family of devoted followers gathered around her. Though she never learned to write, she dictated hundreds of letters and a notable mystic work, commonly called in English The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena or A Treatise on Divine Providence (or both as title and subtitle), which has been much used in devotional literature. She was canonized in 1461 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970. Feast: Apr. 29. The accounts of her life collected by her followers were used in a biography by her confessor, Fra Raimondo da Capua (1398).

See Saint Catherine as Seen in Her Letters (ed. by V. D. Scudder, 1905); biographies by A. Curtayne (1929), S. Undset (tr. 1954), and J. M. Perrin (tr. 1965); F. P. Keyes, Three Ways of Love (1963); S. Noffke, ed., Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue (1980); R. Bell, Holy Anorexia (1985).

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10 of the Best Books and Articles on: St. Catherine of Siena

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Saint Catherine of Siena: A Study in the Religion, Literature, and History of the Fourteenth Century in Italy » Read Now
by Edmund G. Gardner. 442 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
2.

The Dialogue » Read Now
by Saint Catherine of Siena. 398 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
3.

Women's Writing in Middle English (Chap. 7 "Catherine of Siena: From The Orchard of Syon") » Read Now
by Alexandra Barratt. 328 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library
4.

Dear Sister: Medieval Women and the Epistolary Genre ("Io Catarina: Ecclesiastical Politics And Oral Culture in the Letters of Catherine Of Siena" begins on p. 87) » Read Now
by Karen Cherewatuk, Ulrike Wiethaus. 222 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library
5.

Medieval Women's Visionary Literature (Ch. VI "Women and Spirituality in Medieval Italy: St. Clare of Assisi, St. Agnes of Assisi, St. Umilita of Faenza, Blessed Angela of Foligno, and St. Catherine of Siena") » Read Now
by Elizabeth Alvilda Petroff. 402 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Literature, Entire Library

These pages capture a thousand years of devotional and visionary writing by medieval women. The writers come from all different backgrounds and traditions, and they include founders of religious communities, hermits and recluses, wives and mothers, wandering teachers, heretics and reformers. What...
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These pages capture a thousand years of devotional and visionary writing by medieval women. The writers come from all different backgrounds and traditions, and they include founders of religious communities, hermits and recluses, wives and mothers, wandering teachers, heretics and reformers. What they all had in common was a belief that they had been chosen to speak, and here we have the evidence of their visions and experiences of the divine. Covering a span of time from late antiquity to the 15th century, the writings include examples of lyric poetry, drama (including the first play written by a woman), epics, saints' lives, and letters. as well as some newly invented genres such as the spiritual autobiography, the guide to prayer, progression of visions, and in Inquisition depositions. A new portrait of the female writer in the Middle Ages emerges, a more accurate portrait than was ever before possible, as many of these texts have either been out of print or are here translated for the first time. We see women writers of the Middle Ages doing what they did best: writing devotional, visionary, and erotic literature from a very personal viewpoint, and what they say to the modern reader has much to do with nature of creativity and the creative experience of women.
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6.

Margery Kempe and Translations of the Flesh (Chap. 2 "The Text as Body And Mystical Discourse") » Read Now
by Karma Lochrie. 256 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Literature, Entire Library
7.

Sisters in Arms: Catholic Nuns through Two Millennia » Read Now
by Jo Ann Kay McNamara. 754 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library

SISTERS IN ARMS is the first definitive history of Catholic nuns in the Western world. Unfolding century by century, this epic drama encompasses every period from the dawn of Christianity to the present. "An engrossing and challenging work . . . McNamara gives us a history of women's rights--and the...
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SISTERS IN ARMS is the first definitive history of Catholic nuns in the Western world. Unfolding century by century, this epic drama encompasses every period from the dawn of Christianity to the present. "An engrossing and challenging work . . . McNamara gives us a history of women's rights--and the lack of them--by focusing on religious women since the birth of Christ. . . . "--Antonia Fraser, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW.
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8.

Discernment in Catherine of Siena, in Theological Studies » Read Now
by Diana L. Villegas. 13 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Literature, Entire Library
9.

Biographical Dictionary of Christian Theologians ("Catherine of Siena" begins on p. 119) » Read Now
by Patrick W. Carey, Joseph T. Lienhard. 589 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

The last 20 centuries of Christian history have witnessed the emergence of numerous theological traditions. This reference provides alphabetically arranged entries for more than 450 Christian theologians. Included are entries for those individuals whose work was primarily in systematic and spiritual...
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The last 20 centuries of Christian history have witnessed the emergence of numerous theological traditions. This reference provides alphabetically arranged entries for more than 450 Christian theologians. Included are entries for those individuals whose work was primarily in systematic and spiritual theology, or who were church historians chiefly concerned with theological matters. Whenever possible, each entry provides basic biographical information, a brief account of the theologian's education and career, and a summary of the person's most important contributions to theology. The entries end with bibliographies of primary and secondary sources, while the volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography.
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10.

Extraordinary Women of the Medieval and Renaissance World: A Biographical Dictionary (includes "Catherine of Siena") » Read Now
by Carole Levin, Debra Barrett-Graves, Jo Eldridge Carney. 327 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Aside from a few famous queens, warriors and religious leaders, little information is available about the many extraordinary women of the medieval and Renaissance world. This resource brings together engagingly written biographical profiles of 70 women, most of whom are "unsung," but all of whom are...
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Aside from a few famous queens, warriors and religious leaders, little information is available about the many extraordinary women of the medieval and Renaissance world. This resource brings together engagingly written biographical profiles of 70 women, most of whom are "unsung," but all of whom are remarkable for their courage, initiative, and accomplishments in a world where the conventional wisdom was for women to be "chaste, silent, and obedient." The women profiled here represent 18 countries and excelled in 19 fields of endeavor. They include artists, builders, mystics, political leaders, religious activists, diarists and dramatists, poets and writers, and scholars.
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