The absolute model of the charitable princess. The first vernacular legend of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and its reception

This article seeks to present the first vernacular legend of St. Elizabeth in light of the composition of a critical edition. Written between 1243 and 1264, it was comprised of a translation of the testimony of the saint’s four servants, her canonization process, a pious prologue, and a genealogical passage. An analysis of the legend proves that it served as a model not only for Rutebeuf for his Vie de sainte Elysabel (Life of St. Elizabeth), but also for Agnes of Harcourt’s The Life of Isabelle of France. As such, we can prove that the model of dynastic sanctity of the Arpads, the Hungarian royal family, was envied and partially imitated by the Capetian monarchs in the second half of the thirteenth century. An analysis of the textual tradition allowed manuscripts to be classified and helped to prove that the prologue had a life independent of the text of the legend. In light of textual relations with the life of St. Elizabeth, a thorough comparative analysis of French legends about virgin saints is proposed for the future.