Catherine of Siena (1347‐1380) is well known as a saint and mystic with a colourful biography. Recent scholarship has begun to recognise Catherine's substantial political contributions. She wrote letters to notable political figures including Bernabò Visconti and Pope Gregory XI, and also brought her influence to bear in person, visiting numerous Tuscan cities as well as Avignon and Rome. There has been little investigation, however, into the relationship between Catherine's writings and major political discourses of the period. This article offers evidence that Catherine should be viewed within the bonum commune tradition of high medieval political thought. Like other Dominican political thinkers of the period, Catherine was particularly interested in the concept of caritas, which she used to justify her involvement in political disputes such as the War of the Eight Saints (1375–8) between the papacy and Florence, and the disputed papal elections of 1378. Recognising that the content of Catherine's writings was political as well as spiritual provides an important counterpoint to accounts of late fourteenth‐century Italian political thought which give excessive prominence to 'secularising' humanists. This study also challenges lingering assumptions that the political thought of the early Renaissance must be studied through a narrow (and male) canon.

中文翻译：

---

锡耶纳的凯瑟琳：十四世纪意大利的多米尼加政治思想家*

锡耶纳（Siena）的凯瑟琳（Catherine of Siena）（1347-1380）以其圣人和神秘主义者而著称，其传记色彩丰富。最近的奖学金开始承认凯瑟琳的重大政治贡献。她给包括贝尔纳博·维斯孔蒂（BernabòVisconti）和教皇格里高利十一世（Pople Gregory XI）在内的著名政治人物写了封信，并亲自到访托斯卡纳的许多城市以及阿维尼翁和罗马。然而，对凯瑟琳的著作与该时期主要政治话语之间的关系的研究很少。本文提供的证据表明，凯瑟琳应在中世纪高级政治思想的博南公社传统中被接受。像当时的其他多米尼加政治思想家一样，凯瑟琳对明爱的概念特别感兴趣，用来证明自己卷入政治纠纷的理由，例如罗马教皇与佛罗伦萨之间的八圣战争（1375–8），以及1378年有争议的罗马教皇大选。精神上的观点与十四世纪末意大利的政治思想相提并论，后者使“世俗化”的人文主义者过分突出。这项研究还挑战了挥之不去的假设，即必须通过一个狭窄的（和男性的）经典来研究文艺复兴初期的政治思想。