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The Early Latin Sources For The Legend Of St. Martha A Study And Translation With Critical Notes, Diane Peters

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation focuses on the legends surrounding St. Martha of Bethany. Four major Latin versions are extant, dating from the late twelfth to the mid-thirteenth centuries: the Vita Pseudo-Marcilia, the Vita Beatae Mariae Magdalenae et Sororis Eius Sanctae Marthae, and selected chapters in Vincent of Beauvais’ Speculum Historiale and Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda Aurea. In these lives of the saint, traditional material derived from Scripture is supplemented by descriptions of Martha’s legendary life as an early missionary in Provence. The substance of these legends proved extremely influential for art and vernacular literature in the later Middle Ages. The text which …