Catherine was one of the most important saints in the religious culture of the
late Middle Ages and arguably considered the most important of the virgin martyrs, a group including
Agnes of Rome,
Margaret of Antioch,
Barbara,
Lucia of Syracuse,
Valerie of Limoges and many others. Her power as an
intercessor was renowned and firmly established in most versions of her
hagiography, in which she specifically entreats Christ at the moment of her death to answer the prayers of those who remember her martyrdom and invoke her name. The development of her medieval
cult was spurred by the alleged rediscovery of her body around 800 (about 500 years after her death) at Mount Sinai, supposedly with hair still growing and a constant stream of
healing oil issuing from her body. However, while the monastery at Mount Sinai was the best known site of Catherine pilgrimage, it was also the most difficult to reach. The most prominent Western shrine was the monastery in
Rouen that claimed to house Catherine's fingers. It was not alone in the west, however, and was accompanied by many scattered shrines and altars dedicated to Catherine throughout France and England. Some were better-known sites, such as
Canterbury and
Westminster, which claimed a phial of her oil, brought back from Mount Sinai by
Edward the Confessor. Other shrines, such as
St. Catherine's Hill, Hampshire were the focus of generally local pilgrimage, many of which are only identified by brief mentions in various texts, rather than by physical evidence.
St. Catharine's College, Cambridge was founded on St Catharine's Day (25 November) 1473 by Robert Woodlark (
provost of
King's College, Cambridge) who sought to create a small community of scholars who would study exclusively
theology and philosophy. Woodlark may have chosen the name in homage to
Catherine of Valois, mother of
Henry VI of England, although it is more likely that it was named as part of the Renaissance cult of Saint Catherine, who was a patron saint of learning.
St Catherine's College, Oxford, developed from the Delegacy for Unattached Students, formed in 1868. Catherine also had a large female following, whose devotion was less likely to be expressed through pilgrimage. The importance of the
virgin martyrs as the focus of devotion and models for proper feminine behaviour increased during the Late Middle Ages. Among these, St Catherine in particular was used as an
exemplar for women, a status which at times superseded her intercessory role. Both
Christine de Pizan and
Geoffrey de la Tour Landry point to Catherine as a paragon for young women, emphasizing her model of virginity and "wifely chastity". This shows also for instance in the naming of
Catalina Tomas (
Catalina being the
Catalan version of
Catherine) whose family had a special veneration of Catherine of Alexandria. From the early 14th century the
mystic marriage of Saint Catherine first appears in hagiographical literature and, soon after, in art. In the Western church, the popularity of her cult began to reduce in the 18th century. ==Veneration==