The Spanish “Santa Catalina de Alejandría” The Many Lives of a Saint’s Life
by Margaret Parker

The legend of St. Catherine of Alexandria was enormously popular in Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and her story was told many times in verse and prose narratives in several languages, and in painting and sculpture. Spanish redactions of her story are numerous and varied but have received much less attention than those in other languages. They appear in santorales but also in independent versions, some by well-known authors. In Spain, the transmission of the story begins in the late Middle Ages and extends to the twentieth century.

The Preface describes the adventure of collecting a representative sample of St. Catherine narratives, and the General Introduction explores the genre of hagiography and traces the development of the story from its origins to its manifestations in several languages in medieval Europe. An example of the category of hagiographic narrative known as the virgin martyr story, St. Catherine’s has elements common to the other legends, but features several that are distinctive.
An Anthology of Texts presents reading editions of prose versions of the St. Catherine story from santorales and early printed editions; a chapter of a catalogue of illustrious women by Alvaro de Luna; two anonymous romances; poems by Teresa de Jesús, Lope de Vega, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz; excerpts from a lengthy prose life; one scene from each of the five acts of a beautiful Jesuit tragicomedia; and a cuadro religioso of Emilia Pardo Bazán. The final section, Reading the St. Catherine Story, is a survey of extensive critical treatment of the legend. A Glossary provides modern Spanish equivalents of words that may puzzle those who are unaccustomed to reading medieval texts.

The various Spanish retellings of the legend of St. Catherine of Alexandria have different emphases, and some feature elements that appear to be unique. In all of them, the story is colorful, dramatic, and compelling and has appeal for diverse audiences.

ISBN 978-1-58871-174-8, (HB) Est. de lit. med. #7