Publisher's description:
This study offers a substantial introduction to the world of Catherine of Siena (1347-80), her works and the way her followers responded to her religious leadership and legacy. Although much scholarship has dealt with her visionary reputation, this volume, written by experts in Catherinian studies, highlights her image as a church reformer, peacemaker, preacher, author, holy woman, stigmatic, saint and politically astute person. Furthermore, it assesses the manuscript tradition of works by and about Catherine of Siena. Few overviews of the historical and cultural circumstances of Catherine of Siena exist in English. A Companion to Catherine of Siena, therefore, makes accessible hitherto elusive details of this Sienese saint's life and works.

Table of contents:
Acknowledgments
Notes on Contributors
List of Illustrations, Tables, and Appendices
Timeline for Catherine of Siena's Life
Introduction: A Companion to Catherine of Siena, Carolyn Muessig
Chapter One: The Historical Reception of Catherine of Siena, F. Thomas Luongo
Chapter Two: Female Urban Reclusion in Siena at the time of Catherine of Siena, Allison Clark Thurber
Chapter Three: Catherine of Siena and the Papacy, Blake Beattie
Chapter Four: Lacrime cordiali: Catherine of Siena on the Value of Tears, Heather Webb
Chapter Five: Denial as Action—Penance and its Place in the Life of Catherine of Siena, Maiju Lehmijoki-Gardner
Chapter Six: Catherine of Siena, Preaching, and Hagiography in Renaissance Tuscany, Beverly Mayne Kienzle
Chapter Seven: Mystical Literacy: Writing and Religious Women in Late Medieval Italy, Jane Tylus
Chapter Eight: The Processo Castellano and the Canonization of Catherine of Siena, George Ferzoco
Chapter Nine: Catherine of Siena in Late Medieval Sermons, Carolyn Muessig
Chapter Ten: Laude for Catherine of Siena, Eliana Corbari
Chapter Eleven: The Iconography of Catherine of Siena's Stigmata, Diega Giunta
Chapter Twelve: The Writings of Catherine of Siena: The Manuscript Tradition, Suzanne Noffke
Chapter Thirteen: The Legenda maior of Catherine of Siena, Silvia Nocentini
Manuscripts Cited
Bibliography
Index