A Female Apostle in Medieval Italy - (Middle Ages) by Jacques Dalarun & Sean L Field & Valerio Cappozzo (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This book centers on a fascinating woman, Clare of Rimini (c. 1260 to c. 1324-29), whose story is preserved in a fascinating text. Composed by an anonymous Franciscan, the Life of the Blessed Clare of Rimini is the earliest known saint's life originally written in Italian, and one of the few such lives to be written while its subject was still living. It tells the story of a controversial woman, set against the background of her roiling city, her star-crossed family, and the tumultuous political and religious landscape of her age.

Twice married, twice widowed, and twice exiled, Clare established herself as a penitent living in a roofless cell in the ruins of the Roman walls of Rimini. She sought a life of solitary self-denial, but was denounced as a demonic danger by local churchmen. Yet she also gained important and influential supporters, allowing her to establish a fledgling community of like-minded sisters. She traveled to Assisi, Urbino, and Venice, spoke out as a teacher and preacher, but also suffered a revolt by her spiritual daughters.

A Female Apostle in Medieval Italy presents the text of the Life in English translation for the first time, bringing modern readers into Clare's world in all its excitement and complexity. Each chapter opens a different window into medieval society, exploring topics from political power to marriage and sexuality, gender roles to religious change, pilgrimage to urban structures, sanctity to heresy. Through the expert guidance of scholars and translators Jacques Dalarun, Sean L. Field, and Valerio Cappozzo, Clare's life and context become a springboard for readers to discover what life was like in a medieval Italian city.

Review Quotes

"Written in an engaging and accessible style, this volume would make a welcome addition to any college course on saints, medieval and Renaissance women, or Italy in the age of Dante. . . .scholars more broadly would do well to ponder the benefits gained by the authors' innovative presentation of their material."-- "Renaissance Quarterly"

"This highly readable, first-ever English translation of Clare's life is much more than a translation...[An] elegant, probing analysis of a complicated medieval woman who in one of her arresting visions saw herself building a bridge on which others could cross--anticipating Catherine of Siena's similar metaphor, and characteristic of the work the editors have done in enabling us to return to fourteenth-century Rimini."-- "Sixteenth Century Journal"

"Dalarun, Field, and Cappozzo have, for the first time ever, translated the medieval hagiography of Clare of Rimini into English. This alone is a remarkable service to the field of medieval Italian hagiographic literature, though their way of doing so deserves additional praise. The fact that few scholars (let alone students) know much, if anything, about this holy woman is a central motor for the development of this edition of the text. This is a volume aimed at increasing accessibility, not only to the life of this remarkable medieval woman, but to the study of the middle ages more broadly."-- "GENDER/SEXUALITY/ITALY"

"Clare of Rimini (ca. 1260-ca. 1324), beatified by the Church in 1785, was an Italian holy woman of exceptional activity. She has been scarcely mentioned, however, in the 'scholarly canon of medieval female figures' created by the first wave of feminist scholarship of the '1970's and 1980's.' This work, therefore, which presents both a clear English translation of her Life--La vita della beata Chiara da Rimino la quale fo exemplo a tucte le donne vane and a detailed analysis thereof, is a welcome study...[The work's] maginative approach makes it essential reading for several constituencies, including experts."-- "The Catholic Historical Review"

"Both experts and students will find a wealth of value in this translation of and extended commentary upon The Life of Clare of Rimini. Dalarun, Field, and Cappozzo bring needed attention to Clare of Rimini...[The book's] structure allows the authors to navigate brilliantly between introducing students to many aspects of late medieval religious history as well as to the challenges and rewards of close primary source analysis. But, at the same time, the contextual essays also provide more expert readers with a deep understanding of how Clare's life and vita stand as a complex navigation of apostolic ideals amid the growing institutional church and mendicant orders. This text is essential for those teaching and studying the rich historical moment."-- "Church History"

"

[A] very engaging and multifaceted book where no stone is left unturned to provide the reader with a
multilayered portrayal of this unique figure of medieval religiosity....[A] captivating read, very accessible while
never predictable.

"-- "Annali d'Italianistica"

About the Author

Jacques Dalarun is a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and the former director of the Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes (CNRS).

Sean L. Field is Professor of History at the University of Vermont.

Valerio Cappozzo is Associate Professor of Modern Languages at the University of Mississippi.