ABSTRACT
In the early fifteenth century a set of Latin prayers, each beginning with the invocation ‘O Jesu’, originated in England, spread throughout Europe and was translated into numerous vernaculars (including Swedish, Dutch, Middle French, German and Italian). These fifteen prayers were thought to have been written by, or revealed to, ‘a woman solitary and recluse’, who had desired to know the number of Christ’s wounds. Often this woman was named as Saint Bridget of Sweden (see pp. 88–9), and consequently the prayers are sometimes called ‘the Oes’ or ‘the Prayers of Saint Bridget’. The Swedish visionary was certainly not their author: nonetheless it is undeniable that in the Middle Ages these prayers were perceived as originating from a holy woman. The Middle English versions (of which there are several) therefore collectively constitute the single most widespread text in medieval England attributed to female agency.
