Overview
- Connects the story and retellings of Saint Perpetua to larger discussions about gender and its relationship to sainthood
- Covers an expansive amount of time and research to show Saint Perpetua in her multiple roles
- Offers the first fully-fledged genealogy of Saint Perpetua’s story and her connection with memory.
Part of the book series: The New Middle Ages (TNMA)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (8 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
This study traces the genealogy of Saint Perpetua’s story with a straightforward yet previously overlooked question at its center: How was Perpetua remembered and to what uses was that memory put? One of the most popular and venerated saints from 200 CE to the thirteenth century, the story of Saint Perpetua was retold in dramatically different forms across the European Middle Ages. Her story begins in the arena at Carthage: a 22-year-old nursing mother named Vibia Perpetua was executed for being a Christian, leaving behind a self-authored account of her time in prison leading up to her martyrdom. By turns loving mother, militant gladiator, empathic young woman, or unattainable ideal, Saint Perpetua’s story ultimately helps to trace the circulation of texts and the transformations of ideals of Christian womanhood between the third and thirteenth centuries.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Margaret Cotter-Lynch is Professor of English, Humanities, and Languages at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, USA. Her previous work includes Reading Memory and Identity in the Texts of Medieval European Holy Women, co-edited with Brad Herzog.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Saint Perpetua across the Middle Ages
Book Subtitle: Mother, Gladiator, Saint
Authors: Margaret Cotter-Lynch
Series Title: The New Middle Ages
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46740-9
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-47963-1Published: 06 October 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-69374-0Published: 07 November 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-46740-9Published: 23 September 2016
Series ISSN: 2945-5936
Series E-ISSN: 2945-5944
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 170
Topics: Medieval Literature, Gender Studies, Postcolonial/World Literature, Literary Theory, Cultural Theory, European Literature