Golden Legend

A collection of hagiology (lives of saints) made by Jaques de Voragine in the thirteenth century; valuable for the picture it gives of mediæval manners, customs, and thought. Jortin says that the young students of religious houses, for the exercise of their talents, were set to accommodate the narratives of heathen writers to Christian saints. It was a collection of these “lives” that Voragine made, and thought deserving to be called “Legends worth their Weight in Gold.” Longfellow has a dramatic poem entitled The Golden Legend.