Catherine of Siena

Catherine of Siena was in her own time and place reputed to bea genuinely holy woman. Precisely because of this her voice washeard where few women's voices would have gained an audiencein the fourteenth century. Because she was also the first womanto write and be published in any of the emerging Italian dialectsshe provides an early feminine perspective on and interpretationof the events culture and spirituality of her era-like ours an eraof crisis and transition for church and society. This is the womanwhose vision and voice this book evokes in view of feeding ourown twentieth-century insight and speaking. The essays in PartOne study various aspects of Catherine's vision in her theologyand spirituality. Part Two offers resources for further explorationof Catherine's person and thought of her world and of whatothers have written of her in English including an extensiveannotated bibliography of works in English up to the date of theoriginal publication of this book in 1996.