Le corps terrestre et le corps céleste de la sainte travestie : La Vie de Sainte Marine (XIIIe siècle)
The Terrestrial and Celestial Bodies of the Transvestite Saint: The Life of St. Marina (13th Century)

Summary/Abstract: Medieval hagiographic legends are rich in lives of transvestite saints. The question of the body is central insofar as its gender is hidden. The case of the life of St. Marina presents a particularity since the young girl does not choose to assume a man’s habit, it is her father who disguises her when she is still young in order to take her with him to the monastery. She then led a chaste life under a monk’s habit, but she was falsely accused of seduction and of getting a woman pregnant. St. Marina did not seek to reveal her true identity in order to be cleared of these accusations, but agreed to do penance. The punishment she undergoes places her on the fringes of society and mistreats her body. This terrestrial body, damaged by physical needs, is sublimated when it becomes celestial, that is when the saint joins the kingdom of heaven. A dialogue is established between the terrestrial body and the celestial body, between the flesh and the soul, with the aim of edifying Christians to learn to see beyond appearances.

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