Women of the Gilte legende

the long version

Prose translation of a selection of women saints' lives from the Gilte Legende, the Middle English version of Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda Aurea; the female saints lives are divided into: the 'ryght hooly virgins', who vocally defend their bodies against Roman persecution; 'holy mothers', who give up their traditional role to pursue a life of contemplation; the 'repentant sinners', who convert and voice their defiance against a society that demanded silence in women; and the 'holy transvestites', who cast off their gender identity to find absolution and salvation.