Record

Document ReferenceWLC/LM/37
TitleFragment of an English Life of St Zita; 1450-1475
Date1450-1475
Extent1 f
LevelItem/file
Access ConditionsAccess to the original item is restricted; microfilm or digital surrogates can be made available in the Reading Room.
Content DescriptionThis is a single paper leaf which is the only surviving evidence of a medieval English vernacular translation of the life of the Italian St Zita of Lucca, Italy (d. 1272), who was venerated by housewives and servants, and whose cult was introduced into England, particularly in the fifteenth century. This version is a fairly direct translation from the standard Latin biography of the saint.

This single sheet MS was found with other loose sheets bearing 17th-century natural history illustrations.

Dating is based on the most recent catalogue description: middle or third quarter of the 15th century (Reference: The Wollaton Medieval Manuscripts)
LanguageEnglish
Publication NoteReference: Image and Text, p [9]; The Wollaton Medieval Manuscripts
Published edition: Thorlac Turville-Petre, 'A Middle English Life of St Zita', Nottingham Medieval Studies, 35 (1991), 102-105
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