How the Eastern traditions of female saints disguising themselves as men spread
The practice of female saints disguising themselves as men in order to enter monastic life originated in Eastern Christian traditions, such as Greek and Coptic Christianity. In the Middle Ages, these stories spread into Latin and Romance literary traditions, and today they offer us a unique perspective on how gender, identity and authority were negotiated across the Mediterranean. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the DiSCuS project examines how these narratives were disseminated during the Middle Ages, identifying and describing manuscript evidence in both Eastern and Western traditions. The project produces open-access digital editions and English translations of key texts, enabling a direct comparison to understand how motifs were adapted and transformed across different cultures.