ABSTRACT
On the feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in the year 1512, Barbara has become one of the beneficiaries of the last will issued by her sister-in-law. Barbara and Ursula belonged to the Transylvanian urban elite and in as much as their lives can be reconstructed, they were typical within the late medieval world of family and devotion. At the microhistorical level, the example of patronage and devotion Barbara and Ursula illustrate encapsulates the characteristic features of religious life in Transylvania: enrolment into devotional associations, support provided to the churches and local clergy, and an assiduous search for salvation that appealed to various intercessors. Urban growth, demographic increase, stronger interest, and involvement of the urban leading elite in mercantile activities characterize the dynamic development of Sibiu, Brasov, Bistrita, and Cluj between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.
