This study traces the genealogy of Saint Perpetua's story with a straightforward yet previously
overlooked question at its center: How was Perpetua remembered and to what uses was that memory
put? One of the most popular and venerated saints from 200 CE to the thirteenth century the
story of Saint Perpetua was retold in dramatically different forms across the European Middle
Ages. Her story begins in the arena at Carthage: a 22-year-old nursing mother named Vibia
Perpetua was executed for being a Christian leaving behind a self-authored account of her time
in prison leading up to her martyrdom. By turns loving mother militant gladiator empathic
young woman or unattainable ideal Saint Perpetua's story ultimately helps to trace the
circulation of texts and the transformations of ideals of Christian womanhood between the third
and thirteenth centuries.
