Saints of the Christianization Age of Central Europe

The first of two books containing hagiographical narratives from medieval Central Europe. Saints' lives have gained recognition as a rich source of information on social and economic history, history of mentalities and everyday life, cultural history and, above all, as the genre of crucial importance and prevalence within medieval literature. The lives of the saints in this volume - Wenceslas, Adalbert, the Five Brethren (Poland), Zoerard and Benedict (Hermits), and Gaudentius - from the tenth to eleventh centuries, written not much later, are telling witnesses for the process of Christianization of Bohemia, Poland, Hungary and Dalmatia. Most of them became patrons of their region and highly venerated throughout the Middle Ages. The first complete English translation of a legend of each of these saints is presented, accompanied by prefaces discussing the textual tradition. The Latin originals are based on the most recent critical editions. The Latin on each even-numbered page faces the corresponding English text on the odd page. In an appendix the extensive hagiographical literature of the saints is critically surveyed.