Un Dialogo nascosto: La traduzione ungherese di un brano dell’opera mistica di Caterina da Siena

Abstract

There are two manuscripts in the Hungarian medieval corpus that contain translation of the life of Catherine of Siena. One of them is based on a sermon by Roberto Caracciolo and can be read in the so-called Codex Érdy, the other is translated from the legend written in Antonino Pierozzi’s Chronicon, and can be found in the so-called Codex of Érsekújvár. In addition to these legends, there is another type of Catherinian text in Hungarian which was more or less hidden from the eyes of Hungarian scholars. This text is an excerpt from the Dialogo della divina provvidenza, the mystical dialogue of Catherine. The essay denies the legitimacy of the theory that presented the Chronicon’s translation as re-edited legend that contains the excerpt of the Dialogo. It states instead that the Codex of Érsekújvár contains two separate texts that were read during the Dominican nuns’ community readings.