(University of the Free State, 2007) Geldenhuys, Katharine
English: Saint Katherine was one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages and was renowned
for her exceptional education. John Capgrave wrote his Life of Saint Katherine
of Alexandria in East Anglia in the 1440s. The episode in Capgrave’s text in which
Katherine is converted to Christianity is set in a private garden. While Capgrave attempts
to associate Katherine with the Virgin Mary, the setting encourages associations with the
Garden of Eden, Eve and the Fall. Eve’s sin was seen as prime evidence for the rightness
of the subjection of women and of preventing them from preaching, teaching
and speaking in public. The underlying tensions regarding women alluded to by means
of the garden setting are explored.