Authorship

The closest thing we have to a title page in this manuscript. This is the first page of the Middle English text; it is a short prologue referring to the author's translation and compilation of two other lives of St. Katherine and attributing the original story to the church father Athanasius.

This is the only paratext native to the manuscript that we have, and it's not even about the manuscript's production! It's a list of chapter summaries. Þhe lyf and martirdom of seynt kateryne virgyne and martir has 30 chapters, all neatly summarized here with illuminated letters and rubrication indicating the chapter numbers. 

The main issue with Þhe lyf and martirdom of seynt kateryne virgyne and martir (also known as MS Richardson 44) is that it does not include any information about who wrote it.[1] There is nothing in the manuscript that could be considered a title page, although we do have a “schort proloog” heading the first section of the text that includes a little information about the author’s writing process. That there is no attributed author or title page is not terribly unusual for manuscripts of this period (Karen A. Winstead gives the date of MS Richardson 44 as c. 1420, although the Hollis listing places it between 1425-1450).[2] The prologue claims that the 4^th century Alexandrian bishop Athanasius originally wrote this life of St. Katherine, as “he was one of the teachers of her youth,”[3] which is highly unlikely, as he was barely out of his teens at the time of her death.[4] Attributing the story to Athanasius definitely would have added credibility to this manuscript for the medieval reader, but it’s probably made up. Instead we ought to assume that this manuscript was written by a well-educated person, as the prologue claims that the text is a combination of another Middle English manuscript and a Latin version that was translated by the author. I am inclined to believe that it was written by a member of a religious order—male or female I am unable to say, as there is evidence that both wrote lives of St. Katherine prior to this manuscript’s production.[5]

This manuscript also has no dedication or reference to a patron, but it must have been financed by somebody, and probably that somebody was relatively wealthy, as the leaves of the manuscripts are gilt-edged and some of the illuminations have gold leaf. I believe that MS Richardson 44 was financed by a member of the nobility. The anonymous author takes time in chapter one to establish Katherine’s familial connections to the Roman emperors, and especially the ones rumored to have been born in Britain—why bother if not to create a link between the saint and the nobles in England in the 15^th century? Additionally, as Winstead suggests, the manuscript was written right around the time of Henry V’s success in conquering France and his marriage to Catherine of Valois. Nationalist feeling was high.[6] For a rich nobleman, financing a life of the saint associated with the new queen would have been both the patriotic thing to do and politically expedient.

MS Richardson 44 was also probably intended to be read by members of the nobility, most likely women. For one thing, it’s written in Middle English vernacular—not Latin, not Greek. As Katherine Lewis explains in her book on the cult of St. Katherine, in the early 15th century, vernacular literacy was on the rise, especially among lay noblewomen, and many other saints’ lives were commonly written in the vernacular specifically for household (female) use.[7] Also, the very last chapter of the manuscript focuses on St. Katherine’s “five prerogatives” or especial virtues: wisdom, eloquence, stability, chastity/purity, and special privileges from God. All of these were certainly attributes noblewomen were expected to cultivate. The section on her chastity is especially revealing: even though Katherine’s wealth, youth, beauty, and freedom should have led to unchaste behavior, the author explains, she remained pure. If that’s not directly implying that Katherine’s chastity is something other young, beautiful, and wealthy women (read: noblewomen) should emulate, I don’t know what would.