From vita to exemplum, the South English Legendary Adaptation of the Legenda Aurea “Petronilla”

A few decades after its introduction on the Continent, a substantial number of Legenda Aurea legends were incorporated into the Middle English collections of saints’ lives that came to be known as the South English Legendary. Many of the Legenda Aurea legends in the South English Legendary are adaptations rather than translations. This is caused by the South English Legendary’s form, septenary or octonary couplets, but also because the author(s) felt free to use the Legenda Aurea material to suit their own, frequently didactic, purposes. A good example of this is the legend of “Petronilla,” modified so that it could serve as an exemplum in a moralising sermon. This article will concentrate on how this conversion, unique to the South English Legendary, was effectuated. As the South English Legendary “Petronilla” has never been edited, the Appendix contains a critical edition and a translation.