Virgin Lives and Holy Deaths: Two Exeplary Biographies for Anglo-Norman Women

by Jocelyn Wogan-Browne (editor)

In Anglo-Norman Britain, women were important consumers and patrons of literature; some, like Clemence of Barking, composed their own work. Her biography Life of St. Catherine is here translated for the first time in 800 years. This fascinating account of a virgin's martyrdom skewed the representation of women customary to the genre and offered alternative role models for Clemence's female community.

Genres: Medieval, Biography

106 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1996

Reviews

[M F]

My Goodreads shelves are so relatable and normal. Full of saints' lives and whatnot. I LIVE SUCH A FUN LIFE.

(Seriously though I've done more work so far today than I did most of the rest of the week put together and now my brain is melted and I have to go visit ANOTHER library.)

Anyway: Catherine is definitely more interesting than Alexius because she actually, like, does stuff occasionally? And even if her 'debating' skills are only really applicable if you subscribe to the Christian beliefs they depend upon (they don't exactly go in for objective or provable evidence), it's still fun to see a woman talking back to a bunch of condescending old men in medieval literature.

Lawrence is clearly a masochist who likes to combine his BDSM with puns and sass, which, you know, I can respect even if I think he needs to chill out a bit.

[nat]

(Only reading The Life of St. Catherine out of this...for now!)