ABSTRACT
Middle English Lives of female virgin martyrs, such as Saints Katherine, Margaret, and Cecilia, generally follow the same pattern: a young woman (sometimes as young as twelve years old) dedicates herself secretly to Christ. Her beauty attracts the attention of an evil ruler, who tortures her in extreme and graphic ways. The saint is finally beheaded and ascends into heaven, converting many thousands of onlookers in the process. The end of St. Cecilia’s life, however, has an interesting plot twist: when the executioner tries to behead Cecilia, he strikes her neck with his sword three times, unsuccessfully. She lives for three more days with her neck gaping open, “she never ceased her holy teaching, exhorting the people she had won to Christianity to be steadfast to the faith” (Delany, trans., 1992:154). This scene illustrates the saint’s unwavering faith, to be sure–but it also reminds us that female virgin martyrs such as Cecilia are very much public figures, functioning within the public sphere. The virgin martyrs are deeply aware of being watched; of being on display. Through the repeated and strategic use of scenes of viewing within the narratives–crowds of fictional onlookers who witness both the sensational torture scenes and the saint’s imperviousness to injury–saints’ lives construct a platform for female leadership that both dismantles false power and ensures widespread conversion and adherence to spiritual truth. This essay will examine medieval lives of Saints Katherine, Margaret, and Cecilia, to show how the saints become powerful models for change to readers seeking inspiration from these unexpected sources of strength.
