Catherine of Siena and Her Circle of Female Penitents
FAIN: FEL-262342-19
Mary Harvey Doyno
California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento, CA 95819-2694)
Research and writing a history of the lay religious community centered on St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380).
Catherine of Siena’s reputation as mystic, prophet, and papal advisor is well established. Less known is her membership in a community of female lay penitents. Catherine’s Daughters will offer a history of Catherine’s community and consider the influence such communities had on the creation of a Dominican institutional identity. Between 1400 and 1418, the Dominican friar Thomas Caffarini produced a dizzying amount of text that aimed both to earn Catherine’s canonization and to minimize her connection to her fellow penitents. By returning Catherine to her full religious context, this project explores how Dominican attitudes toward female lay penitents shaped the building of their order.