The Life of Saint Katherine

Augustinian friar John Capgrave’s Middle English Life of Saint Katherine is possibly the longest and most intricate Katherine legend written during the Middle Ages. Written in the middle of the fifteenth century, The Life of Saint Katherine is a prime example of hagiography, or writings about the saints. Katherine’s legend follows that of the virgin martyr legend, a popular hagiographical formula, in which she is depicted as the young, learned Christian queen of Alexandria who confronts Emperor Maxentius as he presides over pagan ceremonies in her capital. The legend depicts Katherine’s ability to thwart Maxentius’s brutal series of torments, most notably upon a spiked wheel, until her eventual execution. Capgrave’s Life of Saint Katherine stands apart from other known Katherine narratives for his inclusion of complex social and philosophical issues in an attempt to reach a broad audience, including characters and plot details of interest to women.