Easily among the most remarkable figures of the Middle Ages, Catherine of Siena (1347-80) was a bold proclaimer of the gospel who spoke truth to power, living on equal terms with peasants, popes, and royalty. But how are we to understand this uncommon woman who lived more than six centuries ago? Drawing upon rarely-seen documents from the Vatican archives, Edmund Gardner's classic 1907 biography of Catherine gives a strong sense of the saint and the turbulent times in which she lived. Providing a helpful foreword, Jon Sweeney has slightly modernized and streamlined the original text, and he includes annotations to clarify historical and theological allusions.