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Letters — Catherine of Siena

Correspondence · Essential works

Letters

Lettere (Epistolario)

Santa Catalina, por Andrea Vanni (San Domenico, Siena)
byCatherine of Siena

Some 380 letters dictated between c. 1370 and 1380 (381 according to the most widely cited count; editions range between 373 and 383), addressed to two popes, cardinals, kings and queens, condottieri, city governments, friars, nuns, disciples, her mother and anonymous people. Almost all begin with the formula 'In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary' and end with 'Sweet Jesus, Jesus love'. They mix spiritual doctrine and concrete politics: the pope's return to Rome, peace with Florence, the crusade, the defence of Urban VI in the schism. Among them stand out the letters to Gregory XI, whom she calls babbo, the letter to Raymond on the execution of Niccolò di Toldo and the one recounting her experience of January 1380. Their vigour and imagery make them a monument of Italian prose.

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Authorship note

Dictated to secretaries and collected by her disciples after her death; a few are of disputed authenticity. First editions: Bologna, 1492; Venice, Aldus Manutius, 1500. Reference editions: Girolamo Gigli (1713), Niccolò Tommaseo (1860), Piero Misciattelli (1913–1922); critical edition in progress (Antonio Volpato).

Editions and translations

Editions in your language first, without hiding the others. Each with its cover and its store.

English

  • The Letters of Catherine of Siena, vol. I — Catherine of Siena

    The Letters of Catherine of Siena, vol. I

    Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2000

    Translation: Suzanne Noffke

    ISBN 9780866982443

    Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies 202; vol. II: ISBN 9780866982450 (2001); vols. III–IV: 2007–2008.

    Buy the book · Amazon (amazon.com)View in store · Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (editorial)

  • The Letters of St. Catherine of Siena, vol. I

    Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, SUNY Binghamton, 1988

    Translation: Suzanne Noffke

    ISBN 9780866980364

    Primera edición del primer volumen.

  • Saint Catherine of Siena as Seen in Her Letters

    J. M. Dent / E. P. Dutton, 1905

    Translation: Vida D. Scudder

    Selección.

Italiano

  • Le lettere di S. Caterina da Siena

    G. Barbèra, 1860

    Ed. Niccolò Tommaseo, 4 vols.; dominio público.

  • Le lettere di S. Caterina da Siena

    Giuntini-Bentivoglio, 1913

    Ed. Piero Misciattelli, 6 vols. (1913–1922); dominio público.

Other works by Catherine of Siena

Sources

  • Noffke, Suzanne (trad. y ed.). The Letters of Catherine of Siena. 4 vols. Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2000–2008.

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