Sexual temptation
Margaret of Cortona was born in Loviana, Tuscany, in 1247. Her mother died when she was seven and her father, a farmer, remarried. Margaret’s stepmother did not pay her much attention and she felt unloved.
Margaret eventually eloped with a young man and conceived a child out of wedlock. Nine years later her lover was murdered.
Margaret returned home penitent, but her father refused to accept her and her illegitimate son. She sought refuge with the Friars Minor at Cortona. As a result of her constant struggle with sexual temptation she attempted to mutilate her face but was restrained by a friar named Giunta.
