Catherine of Alexandria, also spelledKatherine,[a] was, according to tradition, a Christiansaint andvirgin, who wasmartyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperorMaxentius. According to herhagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became aChristian around age 14, converted hundreds of people toChristianity, and wasmartyred around age 18.
Some modern scholars consider that the legend of Catherine was probably based on the life and murder of the virgin SaintDorothea of Alexandria and theGreek philosopherHypatia, with the reversed role of a Christian andneoplatonist in the case of the latter.[7][8][9] On the other hand, Leon Clugnet writing in theCatholic Encyclopedia states "although contemporary hagiographers look upon the authenticity of the various texts containing the legend of St. Catherine as more than doubtful, it is not therefore meant to cast even the shadow of a doubt around the existence of the saint".[10]
According to the traditional narrative, Catherine was the daughter of Sabinella and Constus (or Costus), the governor ofAlexandria during the reign of the emperorMaximian (286–305).[11] She was ofGreek origin.[12] From a young age she devoted herself to study. A vision of theVirgin Mary and theChild Jesus persuaded her to become a Christian. When the persecutions began under the emperorMaxentius, she went to the emperor and rebuked him for his cruelty. The emperor summoned 50 of the bestpagan philosophers and orators to dispute with her, hoping that they would refute her pro-Christian arguments, but Catherine won the debate. Several of her adversaries, conquered by her eloquence, declared themselves Christians and were at once put to death.[10]
Icon of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with scenes from her martyrdom
The emperor gave orders to subject Catherine to terrible tortures and then throw her in prison.[11] Her legend tells that during the confinement she was fed daily by a dove from heaven, and Christ also visited her, encouraging her to fight bravely, and promised her the crown of everlasting glory.[13][14] Angels tended her wounds withsalve.
During her imprisonment more than 200 people came to see her, including Maxentius' wife,Valeria Maximilla; all converted to Christianity and were subsequentlymartyred.[15] Upon the failure of Maxentius to make Catherine yield by way of torture, he tried to win her over by proposing marriage.[16] Catherine refused, declaring that her spouse was Jesus Christ, to whom she had consecrated her virginity.[17]
The furious emperor condemned Catherine to death on a spikedbreaking wheel, but at her touch it shattered.[10] Maxentius ordered her to be beheaded. Catherine ordered the execution to commence. As per her legend, a milk-like substance rather than blood flowed from her neck.[18]
In the 6th century, the Eastern EmperorJustinian had established what is nowSaint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt, which had been originally built encircling the purportedburning bush seen byMoses. Countless people make the pilgrimage to the monastery to receive miracle healing from Catherine.[19]
Sometimes cited as a possible inspiration of Catherine,Eusebius wrote around 320 that Maximinus had ordered a young Christian woman to come to his palace to become his mistress, and when she refused he had her punished by having her banished and her estates confiscated.[20] Eusebius did not name the woman butRufinus of Aquileia names her Dorothea (Δωροθέα) in his translation of Eusebius' work. A sixteenth century Italian historian,Caesar Baronius (c.1538-1607), suggested that Catherine and Dorothea were the same person and that Catherine (Hecaterina) was her former pagan name while Dorothea (the gift of God) was the name given to her at the time of baptism.[21]
TheCatholic Encyclopedia, while not denying her historicity, states that most of the details that embellish the narrative, as well as the long discourses attributed to Catherine, are to be rejected as later inventions.[22] According to theEncyclopædia Britannica, no extant written mention of Catherine of Alexandria is known before the 9th century, and "her historicity is doubtful".[17]
Donald Attwater dismisses what he calls the "legend" of Saint Catherine, arguing for a lack of any "positive evidence that she ever existed outside the mind of some Greek writer who first composed what he intended to be simply an edifying romance."[23] Harold Davis writes that "assiduous research has failed to identify Catherine with any historical personage".[24][25]
Anna Brownell Jameson was the first to argue that the life of Catherine was confused with that of the slightly laterneoplatonist philosopherHypatia of Alexandria.[26] Hypatia was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who was murdered by theParabalani after being accused of exacerbating a conflict between two prominent figures in Alexandria, the governorOrestes and the bishopCyril.[27][28] The idea that Catherine's life was either based on or became confused with the life of the pagan Hypatia has become a popular theory among modern scholars since. However, while Christine Walsh accepts the many parallels between Catherine and Hypatia, she does not believe there is any evidence for or against the idea that Catherine was created based on Hypatia.[26][8][29]
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherina byAnthony van Dyck, 1618-20.
The earliest surviving account of Catherine's life comes around 600 years after the traditional date of her martyrdom, in theMenologium, a document compiled for EmperorBasil II in 976, although the alleged rediscovery of her relics atSaint Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai was about 800[30] and presumably implies an existing cult at that date (though the common name of the monastery developed after the discovery).
In her bookThe Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval Europe, Christine Walsh discusses "the historical Katherine":
As we have seen, the cult of St Katherine of Alexandria probably originated in oral traditions from the 4th-centuryDiocletianic Persecutions of Christians in Alexandria. There is no evidence that Katherine herself was a historical figure and she may well have been a composite drawn from memories of women persecuted for their faith. Many aspects of herPassio are clearly legendary and conform to well-known hagiographicaltopoi.
Her name appears in Greek asΑἰκατερίνη (Aikaterínē) orἙκατερίνη (Ekaterínē). The etymology is debated: it could derive fromἑκάτερος (hekáteros, "each of two"); it could derive from the name of the goddessHecate; it could be related to Greekαἰκία (aikía, "insult, outrage, suffering, torture"); or it could be from aCoptic name meaning "my consecration of your name". In theearly Christian era, it became associated with Greekκαθαρός (katharós, "pure"), and the Latin spelling was changed from Katerina to Katharina to reflect this.
Catherine was one of the most important saints in the religious culture of thelate Middle Ages and arguably considered the most important of the virgin martyrs, a group includingAgnes of Rome,Margaret of Antioch,Barbara,Lucia of Syracuse,Valerie of Limoges and many others. Her power as anintercessor was renowned and firmly established in most versions of herhagiography, in which she specifically entreats Christ at the moment of her death to answer the prayers of those who remember her martyrdom and invoke her name.[citation needed]
The development of her medievalcult was spurred by the alleged rediscovery of her body around 800 (about 500 years after her death) at Mount Sinai, supposedly with hair still growing and a constant stream ofhealing oil issuing from her body.[30] There are severalpilgrimage narratives that chronicle the journey toMount Sinai, most notably those ofJohn Mandeville and FriarFelix Fabri.[31] However, while the monastery at Mount Sinai was the best known site of Catherine pilgrimage, it was also the most difficult to reach. The most prominent Western shrine was the monastery inRouen that claimed to house Catherine's fingers. It was not alone in the west, however, and was accompanied by many scattered shrines and altars dedicated to Catherine throughout France and England. Some were better-known sites, such asCanterbury andWestminster, which claimed a phial of her oil, brought back from Mount Sinai byEdward the Confessor.[32][33] Other shrines, such asSt. Catherine's Hill, Hampshire were the focus of generally local pilgrimage, many of which are only identified by brief mentions in various texts, rather than by physical evidence.[34]
St. Catharine's College, Cambridge Gate Catharine Wheel
St. Catharine's College, Cambridge was founded on St Catharine's Day (25 November) 1473 by Robert Woodlark (provost ofKing's College, Cambridge) who sought to create a small community of scholars who would study exclusively theology and philosophy. Woodlark may have chosen the name in homage toCatherine of Valois, mother ofHenry VI of England, although it is more likely that it was named as part of the Renaissance cult of Saint Catherine, who was a patron saint of learning.St Catherine's College, Oxford, developed from the Delegacy for Unattached Students, formed in 1868.
Catherine also had a large female following, whose devotion was less likely to be expressed through pilgrimage. The importance of thevirgin martyrs as the focus of devotion and models for proper feminine behaviour increased during the Late Middle Ages.[35][36][37] Among these, St Catherine in particular was used as anexemplar for women, a status which at times superseded her intercessory role.[38] BothChristine de Pizan andGeoffrey de la Tour Landry point to Catherine as a paragon for young women, emphasizing her model of virginity and "wifely chastity".[39][40][41] This shows also for instance in the naming ofCatalina Tomas (Catalina being theCatalan version ofCatherine) whose family had a special veneration of Catherine of Alexandria.[42] From the early 14th century themystic marriage of Saint Catherine first appears in hagiographical literature and, soon after, in art. In the Western church, the popularity of her cult began to reduce in the 18th century.[43]
Saint Catherine of Alexandria Wood Statue at theKorpo Church inFinland.
Her principal symbol is the spiked wheel, which has become known as the Catherine wheel, and her feast day is celebrated on 25 November by most denominations. In many places, her feast was celebrated with the utmost solemnity, servile work being suppressed and the devotions attended by great numbers of people. In several dioceses of France it was observed as aHoly Day of Obligation up to the beginning of the 17th century, the splendour of its ceremonial eclipsing that of the feasts of some of theapostles. Many chapels were placed under her patronage, and nearly all churches had a statue of her, representing her according to medievaliconography with a wheel, her instrument of torture.[citation needed]
TheRussian,Serbian and BulgarianEastern Orthodox Churches celebrate it on 24 November. The origin of this tradition is not known. In 11th-centuryKievan Rus, the feast day was celebrated on 25 November.Dimitry of Rostov in hisKniga zhyty sviatykh (Book of the Lives of the Saints), T.1 (1689) places the date of celebration on 24 November. A story thatEmpress Catherine the Great did not wish to share her patronal feast with theLeavetaking of the feast of thePresentation of the Theotokos and hence changed the date is not supported by historical evidence. One of the first Roman Catholic churches to be built in Russia, theCatholic Church of St. Catherine, was named after Catherine of Alexandria because she was Catherine the Great's patron. A footnote to the entry for 25 November inThe Synaxarion compiled by Hieromonk Makarios of Simonos Petra states: "Until the 16th century, the memory of St Catherine was observed on 24 Nov. According to a note by Bartholomew of Koutloumousiou inserted in theMenaion, the Fathers of Sinai transferred the date to 25 Nov. in order that the feast might be kept with greater solemnity."
A carving of Saint Catherine of Alexandria from the O'Crean Tomb inSligo Abbey dating from 1506.
In France, unwed women who had attained the age of 25 were called"catherinettes". They would wear richly decorated bonnets on the day of her feast. This custom gave rise to the French idiom'coiffer Sainte-Catherine' ("don St. Catherine's bonnet"), to describe an unmarried woman between the ages of 25 and 30.[44]
In memory of her sacrifice in some homes, Egyptian and other Middle Eastern foods are offered for her feast, such ashummus ortabbouleh salads. Favourites also are melons cut into circles with sherbet "hubs", or cookies shaped as spiked wheels with icing.[citation needed]
Meanwhile, owing to several circumstances in his life,Nicholas of Myra was considered the patron of young bachelors and students, and Catherine became the patroness of young maidens and female students. Looked upon as the holiest and most illustrious of the virgins of Christ after theBlessed Virgin Mary, it was deemed appropriate that she, of all others, should be worthy to watch over the virgins of the cloister and the young women of the world. The spiked wheel having become emblematic of the saint,wheelwrights and mechanics placed themselves under her patronage. Finally, as according to tradition she not only remained a virgin by governing her passions and conquered her executioners by wearying their patience, but triumphed in science by closing the mouths ofsophists, her intercession was implored by theologians, apologists, pulpit orators, and philosophers. Before studying, writing, or preaching, they besought her to illumine their minds, guide their pens, and impart eloquence to their words. This devotion to Catherine which assumed such vast proportions in Europe after theCrusades,[19] received additionaléclat in France at the beginning of the 15th century, when it was rumoured that she had spoken toJoan of Arc and, together withMargaret of Antioch, had been divinely appointed Joan's adviser.[10]
Kaarina, Finland, is named after her.[49] One accepted origin of the namesake ofSt. Catharines, Ontario, is Saint Catherine of Alexandria, but there are other proposed explanations as "no definitive documentation exists to conclusively prove that the founders chose the unique spelling for any one particular reason".[50] St Catherine of Alexandria Parish and School in Oak Lawn, Illinois, is named after her.[51]
Countless images of Saint Catherine are depicted in art, especially in the lateMiddle Ages, which is also the time that the account ofSaint Catherine's Mystical Marriage makes its first literary appearance. She can usually be easily recognised as she is richly dressed and crowned, as befits her rank as a princess, and often holds or stands next to a segment of her wheel as anattribute. She also often carries either amartyr's palm or the sword with which she was actually executed. She often has long unbound blonde or reddish hair (unbound as she is unmarried). The vision of Saint Catherine of Alexandria usually shows the Infant Christ, held by the Virgin, placing a ring (one of her attributes) on her finger, following some literary accounts, although in the version in theGolden Legend he appears to be adult, and the marriage takes place among a great crowd of angels and "all the celestial court",[53] and these may also be shown.[citation needed]
^Also referred to asSaint Catherine of Alexandria,Saint Catherine of the Wheel andThe Great Martyr Saint Catherine (Coptic:Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲕⲁⲧⲧⲣⲓⲛ;Ancient Greek:ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς, "Holy Catherine the Great Martyr";Arabic:القديسة كاترين;Latin:Catharina Alexandrina).
^"Holy Great Martyr Katherine".Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Archived fromthe original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved11 December 2014.
^Çetinbaş, E., 2020. "A BRIDE OF CHRIST AND AN INTERCESSOR OF MUHAMMAD: COMPARATIVE SAINTS’CULTS OF ST CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA AND RABI’A OF BASRA IN THE MIDDLE AGES", MA Thesis in Late Antique, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Central European University, Budapest, 19-24
^Maria Dzielska:Hypatia of Alexandria, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1995, p. 21; Christian Lacombrade:Hypatia. In:Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, Bd. 16, Stuttgart 1994, Sp. 956–967, here: 966; Gustave Bardy:Catherine d'Alexandrie. In:Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, Bd. 11, Paris 1949, Sp. 1503–1505, here: 1504.
^abS. R. T. O d'Ardeene and E. J. Dobson,Seinte Katerine: Re-Edited from MS Bodley 34 and other Manuscripts (Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1981), xiv.
^John Mandeville,The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1964); Felix Fabri,The Wanderings of Felix Fabri (New York: AMS Press, 1971), 217.
^Otte, Stacey; Pedersen, Jeannine (2004)."Catalina Island History".A Catalina Island History in Brief. Catalina Island Museum. Archived fromthe original on 24 February 2008. Retrieved28 January 2008.
Lewis, Katherine J. (1999). "Model Girls? Virgin-Martyrs and the Training of Young Women in Late Medieval England". In Lewis, Katherine J.; James, Noe͏̈l Menuge;Phillips, Kim M. (eds.).Young Medieval Women. St. Martin's Press.ISBN978-0-312-22130-0.