Christopher and Margaret: Monstrous medieval saints

Although there is much literature regarding the monstrous appearances of Saints Christopher and Margaret in medieval art, little to none of it attempts to address their monstrosity from a literary perspective. The medieval hagiographies of Saints Christopher and Margaret indicate that they are monsters because they are unnatural hybrids of human and beast, man and woman. They are also monsters because they represent the unnatural ideas of the early Christian church and the emergence of an independent class of medieval woman in a traditionally patriarchal society. This thesis explores the physical and ideological monstrosity of saints Christopher and Margaret and explains how the medieval literature about both of them reflects the changing attitudes of the Middle Ages. In doing so, multiple versions of each saints' story have been consulted, some for the strength of their translation and others for the depth of detail included.