Catherine of Siena

Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), born Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa, was an Italian mystic, theologian, and political activist whose extraordinary influence on both Church and state is nearly without parallel in medieval history. Despite having no formal education, she became one of only four women ever declared a Doctor of the Church, and she is co-patron saint of Italy alongside Francis of Assisi and co-patron of Europe. Born as one of twenty-five children in the dyeing district of Siena, Catherine began experiencing mystical visions at age six and resolved to devote herself entirely to God, despite her parents' desire to see her married. She joined the Mantellate, a group of laywomen affiliated with the Dominican Order who wore the Dominican habit while living in the world — an arrangement that allowed her to combine contemplative prayer with active charitable work among the sick and poor of Siena. Catherine's mystical experiences intensified throughout her life. She described receiving the stigmata (though the marks remained invisible at her request) and dictated 'The Dialogue of Divine Providence,' a sophisticated theological treatise on the spiritual life structured as a conversation between a soul and God. She also produced nearly 400 letters to popes, kings, queens, soldiers, prostitutes, and prisoners, demonstrating a fearless willingness to address anyone, regardless of rank, with spiritual counsel and political advice. Her most dramatic political intervention came when she traveled to Avignon in 1376 to persuade Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy to Rome, ending the seventy-year 'Babylonian Captivity' of the papacy in France. She succeeded where diplomats and cardinals had failed. During the subsequent Great Western Schism (1378), Catherine tirelessly supported the Roman claimant, Pope Urban VI, writing letters and traveling in the cause of Church unity until her health collapsed. She died in Rome in 1380 at only thirty-three years of age, having worn herself out in service to the Church.