Concerns about Rulers’ Souls in the Letters of Catherine of Siena (1347–1380)

This study provides an analysis of Catherine of Siena’s views on which actions doom rulers’ souls to perdition and which ones lead to their souls’ salvation. Catherine’s views on how rulers can merit eternal life or eternal death can be gathered from her letters to popes, kings and Italian cities’ governors. Catherine wrote to the rulers in order to convince them to make certain decisions. Therefore, she needed convincing arguments. The threats of perdition in case of neglect of Catherine’s instructions (and vice versa, promises of salvation in case of obedience), which rulers received from her, must have been an effective method of persuasion. Thus, this paper’s purpose is to define how Catherine of Siena used those threats and promises as a method of persuasion. The study is divided into two chapters: the first one is about the ways of saving rulers’ souls; the second one explores the ways in which they can merit perdition.