Panel: RULES, NORMS, AND DISCIPLINE IN MEDIEVAL RELIGION



229.3 - "INTER STELLAS MICANTES VELUTI MATUTINUS SYDUS": CATHERINE OF SIENA, THE DOMINICAN ORDER, AND INSTRUMENTS FOR PROMOTING HER CULT

AUTHORS:
Zangari M. (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin ~ Berlin ~ Germany)
Text:
This paper aims to reconstruct a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary geo-devotional map that allows for a general analysis of the expressive codes inherent in the devices used by the Friars Preachers to promote the cult of the Dominican nun Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) in the years preceding her canonization on June 29, 1461. Under the category of "expressive codes" I include texts, images, and objects. From the moment after her death—it is well known—Catherine became a symbol of the perfect embodiment of the ideal of life advocated by the sons of Saint Dominic (devoted to the organization of a Christian society), as well as the highest expression of the sanctity of the universal Church. As a result, by examining the textual traditions, artistic images, and other physical objects connected to Catherine, the scholar can see how Catherine's person and life was presented as normative and, through the representation in these texts, images, and objects, designed to instill an ideal of life oriented toward good. All of this can be traced back to the spirit of Christiana societas and the Dominican pastoral practice of its origins. At the same time, the acquisition of new findings will shed new light on the still partially nebulous history of the Observances and the reforms advocated by the Order of the Sons of Saint Dominic.