Legend, it is often said, is the most characteristic genre of medieval literature. For legend connects learned dogma with popular piety, and the words of the Bible with the apocryphal tradition. Different textual traditions merge to form the stories of martyrs, saints and characters from Holy Scripture in a way that may easily be comprehended by people from all walks of life. The many many legends of the period find their classical embodiment about the middle of the thirteenth century in Jacobus de Voragine's famous Legenda aurea. A long chain of legends preceded this summa, both in Latin and in the vernaculars, going back to the earliest days of Christianity. In most European languages we find versions and variants of practically every story, with the origins of these probably going back ultimately to a Latin or Greek original.

The legend genre in itself is so diverse and varied that scholars have despaired of arriving at a clear and widely accepted typology. That said, as typical genre characteristics of the legend, two elements were initially proposed: the twofold imitatio Sancti, by the community around the saint and the text-recipients (Jolles (1930/2010)),7 and the miracle (Wehrli (1969)). Be this as it may, almost all Christian legends have one element in common: the protagonist is a saint. Types of sainthood and sanctification represented in the numerous legendary texts that have been handed down, however, are myriad.8 In the selection of texts in this book, an attempt has been made to present a variety of types of ‘holiness’ and ‘sanctification’, so that the reader might gain a good picture of what was textually possible.9 As the reader will discover, Veronica achieves the status of saint through intensive contact with Christ, and the miracles she achieves with her cloth. Theophilus is an example of a great sinner capable of equally great repentance.10 In the fragment concerning Mary Magdalene, she confirms her saintly status through her role as the thirteenth apostle in the proclamation of faith. Holiness, however, is also possible of and in an object. An example of this is found in the Holy Cross, which effects the transmission of holiness through its divine predestination and through its intimate contact with the crucified Christ.