A story that came in copies
The texts also have their own time travel.
Explore: Three ways to get to know Saint Lady →Read here and view sources
Odília Alves Gameiro studies three texts on the life and miracles of Santa Senhorinha, preserved in copies of the 16th century: two in Latin and one in Portuguese. The similarities between them suggest, according to the researcher, a medieval original. Reading these versions allows you to study the construction of memory and worship. The time of a copy is not necessarily the time of the story that tells.
The two Latin testimonies studied come from Coimbra: one from the College of Grace and another from Santa Cruz. This provenance helps to realize that the memory of a saint linked to Basto circulated beyond the place of worship. Each copy is also an object with a history of conservation and transmission.
There are three times to be separated: that of the life narrated, that of the composition of the account and that of the copy that came to us. The investigation situates Little Lady in the second half of the 10th century, but does not transform the five hundredth-century texts into testimonies written by those who knew her. The similarities and differences between versions are precisely part of the historical work.
The study also reads the reports in the context of a rural community: crops, food and trips appear among the concerns represented. Hagiography allows to know this imaginary and the values that the text seeks to transmit, besides counting wonders.
Source and context
Accessed: . Editorial summary; the date of consultation is not the date of the facts.