Editing Catherine of Siena (section)

==Biographical sources==
[[File:Bruges Public Library MS767 v.jpg|left|thumb|Leaf from an anonymous French translation of the Legenda Major by [[Raymond of Capua]] showing the vision of the mystic wedding of Catherine and Christ. ([[Bruges Public Library]], MS 767)]]
There is some internal evidence of Catherine's personality, teaching and work in her nearly four hundred letters, her ''Dialogue'', and her prayers.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00135668 |title=Paolo di Matteo da Siena |date=2011-10-31 |publisher=Oxford University Press |series=Benezit Dictionary of Artists |doi=10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00135668}}</ref>

Details about her life have also been drawn from the various sources written shortly after her death to promote her cult and canonization. Though much of the material is heavily [[hagiography|hagiographic]], written to promote her sanctity, it is an important early source for historians seeking to reconstruct Catherine's life. Various sources are particularly important, especially the works of Raymond of Capua, who was Catherine's spiritual director and close friend from 1374 to her death and himself became [[Master of the Order of Preachers|Master General]] of the Order in 1380. Raymond wrote what is known as the {{lang|la|Legenda Major}}, his ''Life'' of Catherine which was completed in 1395, fifteen years after Catherine's death.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wheeler |first=Ethel Rolt |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/988815166 |title=Women of the cell and cloister |pages=177 |oclc=988815166}}</ref> It was soon translated into other European languages, including German and English.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rozenski |first1=Steven |last2=Zimbalist |first2=Barbara |last3=Barr |first3=Jessica |title=Writing Holiness: Genre and Reception across Medieval Hagiography |date=2023 |publisher=Brepols Publishers |isbn=978-2-503-60199-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCNC0AEACAAJ |access-date=19 December 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

Another important work written after Catherine's death was {{lang|la|Libellus de Supplemento}} (''Little Supplement Book''), written between 1412 and 1418 by Tommaso d'Antonio Nacci da Siena (commonly called Thomas of Siena, or Tommaso Caffarini); the work is an expansion of Raymond's {{lang|la|Legenda Major}} making heavy use of the notes of Catherine's first confessor, Tommaso della Fonte, that do not survive anywhere else. Caffarini later published a more compact account of Catherine's life, the {{lang|la|Legenda Minor}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Visani |first=Oriana |date=1978 |title=Review of Libellus de Supplemento legende prolixe virginis Beate Catherine de Senis, Caffarini |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26258481 |journal=Lettere Italiane |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=253–257 |issn=0024-1334 |jstor=26258481}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Santa Caterina da Siena – Legenda Minor |url=https://www.edizionicantagalli.com/shop/santa-caterina-da-siena-legenda-minor/ |access-date=2022-06-19 |website=Edizioni Cantagalli |language=it-IT}}</ref>

From 1411 onward, Caffarini also coordinated the compiling of the {{lang|la|Processus}} of Venice, the set of documents submitted as part of the process of [[canonisation]] of Catherine, which provides testimony from nearly all of Catherine's disciples. There is also an anonymous piece, {{lang|it|Miracoli della Beata Caterina}} (''Miracle of Blessed Catherine''), written by an anonymous Florentine. A few other relevant pieces survive.{{sfn|Noffke|1980|p=2}}