The canonization of Piccarda Donati

Abstract

Starting from the early 14th century, Piccarda Donati and the story of her abduction from the Clarissan convent of Monticelli were subjected to a creative process of reconfiguration and retelling that “made” Piccarda into a virgin martyr and a champion of the Clarissan order. By reading early modern Clarissan and Franciscan historiography against the grain of Paradiso 3–4 and the information preserved in early commentaries of the Commedia, I demonstrate that this process was likely initiated and favored by the Poor Clares of Monticelli, who appropriated and subverted the devotional potential offered by Piccarda’s story as told by Dante in Paradiso 3 and incorporated Piccarda within the canon of the early saints of female Franciscanism.