Jan Długosz's Vita Kunegundis as a Source for His Religiosity.

The hagiographical works of the Kraków Cathedral Canon Jan Długosz (1415–1480) have received modest attention from scholars as examples of his literary style or mentality and his treatment of topics such as the model of Church-State relations. Nonetheless, compared to his monumental Annales and many of his other works, they remain relatively understudied. This paper examines his Vita Kunegundis as a source for his religiosity. Despite the strict constraints of the genre and despite the fact the work contains little new material in terms of episodes or major turns of narrative—which Długosz derived very largely from an anonymous fourteenth-century predecessor—it is argued that a considerable amount can be gleaned on the subject, as well as related matters such as Długosz's norms for female piety and sense of religious duty. In many cases, it is his elaboration of details, and the shifts of emphasis they bring, which allow for this kind of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]