Even centuries ago in male-dominated Europe, there were occasionally women who exerted their influence in politics and religious matters openly rather than behind the scenes. Caterina di Jacopo di Beincasa was one of those. She was born March 25, 1347 in Siena, which is now in Italy. Her father owned a cloth dyeing business, and her mother was well known locally as the daughter of a poet. Caterina had a twin sister, and together they were the 23rd and 24th children in the family, which even for those days was quite a lot. They were born prematurely, and Caterina’s sister Giovanna died as an infant. Infant mortality was very common, though, Caterina’s parents conceived a 25th child two years later and named that baby — also a daughter — Giovanna.
Caterina’s parents wanted her to marry the widower of an older sister who had died in childbirth, but she was determined not to. She started a hunger strike and cut off her long hair in protest, and won the day. In fact she refused to marry at all. The normal procedure in those days for a woman who didn’t want marriage was to become a nun, but Caterina rejected that too and chose to live single and independent. Her parents eventually gave up trying to talk her into anything, and let her live as she wished — which was to live independently but still in the family home. The family had a lot to put up with; she mostly refused to speak to any of them, wouldn’t eat with them, and constantly gave away food and clothing, costing them a significant amount of money.
She was devoutly religious, and joined a local association of like-minded women, the Mantellate. Admidst that group she learned to read, but probably not to write. She began dictating letters constantly. Many of the letters have survived and are why we know so much about her. Although she was not technically a nun, she declared (perhaps based on a dream) that she was married to Jesus and wore an invisible ring. She devoted herself to charity, helping the poor, sick, and incarcerated people of Siena — often through the resources of her long-suffering family. By her early 20s he began to be known in the area as a santa donna (holy woman).
Her local reputation led to an invitation to Florence, which may not have been entirely friendly; she may have been summoned to an interview to determine whether she was being heretical. But if she was interviewed, they evidently decided she was on the right side of the orthodoxy. After her trip to Florence, she and a group of followers began traveling throughout the region, advocating changes in the clergy and supporting the Pope, who at the time was Gregory XI. She and Gregory became frequent correspondents. By comparing her letters to his official announcements, it’s clear that he was actually listening to her and following her advice.
Her reputation as a holy woman continued to spread, and in addition to her invisible wedding ring she was said to have invisible “stigmata” as well — wounds matching those suffered by Jesus when he was crucified. Being invisible, these claims were difficult to validate, but Caterina evidently encouraged them.
When she was about 30 the Pope named her the Ambassador to Florence, where her mission was to calm the many disputes between the Pope’s territories (the Papal States) and the Republic of Florence. The officials in Florence refused to work with her, though, so she returned to Siena and founded a women’s monastery. While there she finally learned to write, and wrote The Dialogue of Divine Providence, which she published in 1378. That book, as well as her letters, are still considered great works of literature from that time and area. Nearly 400 of her letters have survived — and her letters to the Pope are particularly relevant historical documents. They also show that she and the Pope were personal friends; rather than using the formal address “Your Holiness,” she called him “Babbo.”
Caterina kept up with the fasting she began during her childhood hunger strike, and it probably ruined her health; she died at 33 of a massive stroke. Her mother, who lived to be 89 in spite of bearing at least 25 children, helped write her daughter’s biography, and a later Pope, Pius II, declared her a saint in 1461. In the Catholic tradition she’s known as Catherine of Siena. As recently as 1970 she was honored by the Pope that time as a Doctor of the Church; one of the first women to receive the title, even if it was posthumous by nearly 600 years. She’s a unique example of an influential political figure, a revered religious icon, an author, and a woman. She’s buried in a cathedral in Rome — or at least most of her is. Soon after her death her followers stole her head (I’m sure they meant well), and brought it back to Siena, so her head is separately buried there.
