Holy Harlots in Medieval English Religious Literature

First comprehensive investigation of the major significance of female sinners turned saints in medieval literature. During the Middle Ages, the lives of saints such as Mary Magdalen and Mary of Egypt - "holy harlots", women who repented of an early life of licentiousness to become blessed - were hugely popular, for both clerical and laypersons,men and women alike. These legends are rife with paradox: the saints are presented as epitomes of a type of femininity universally accepted as a model for