Predicare alle donne

Overview & Synopsis

This monograph focuses on the figure of the Augustinian friar and Blessed of the Catholic Church Simone Fidati of Cascia (ca. 1295–1348), aiming to provide new insights into his principal vernacular work, the Ordine della vita cristiana, as well as into the transmission of the volgarizzamento of his De gestis Domini salvatoris, prepared after his death by his disciple Giovanni da Salerno and known under the title Spositione sopra de’ Vangeli. The analysis adopts both a historical and a palaeographic-codicological perspective and is supplemented by a catalogue offering a detailed description of the surveyed manuscripts. The study also reconstructs the networks of production and circulation of the aforementioned works, with particular attention to female audiences, who represented a privileged target of Fidati’s preaching. An unpublished treatise on virginity attributed to the friar is included in the appendix.