Introduction

In the latter half of the 1360s, Catherine became connected to the mantellate, a group of laywomen, most of whom were financially independent widows like Birgitta. When Tommaso di Antonio da Siena, known in scholarly literature as Caffarini, instigated a hearing in Venice in 1411 as a part of his efforts to see Catherine of Siena canonized, one of his principal strategies for promoting her holiness involved connecting Catherine's saintly image to that of her contemporary Birgitta of Sweden. By 1373, when Birgitta died, Catherine already had a reputation that reached beyond the walls of Siena, and she had begun articulating in letters her desire for spiritual reform. After the events of 1374, Catherine became an active figure on the political scene beyond Siena, benefiting from the introduction into a larger network via the aegis of Alfonso and Raymond. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.