Avoiding marriage Caterina di Giacomo di Benincasa was born in Siena on March 25, 1347. When she was 16 her sister died and her parents arranged for her to marry her sister’s widower. She cut her hair short to make herself less desirable and managed to persuade her parents, through much fasting and prayer, to allow her to adopt her own way of life and remain unmarried. Although she was pious, Catherine did not enter a convent but decided instead to join the Third Order of St Dominic, which meant that she could remain living at home. She would often give her family’s possessions away to the poor without their permission, much to their annoyance. At 21, she had what she described as a “mystical marriage” with Christ, in which he appeared to her and asked her to enter public life in order to help the poor and sick. Catherine was obedient to the Lord’s will and went out visiting hospitals and tending to the sick, attracting followers in the process. She also established a monastery for women in 1377 outside of Siena. Shaping Catholic history St Catherine was a deep thinker and writer. From 1375 she began writing and petitioning for peace. She was instrumental in restoring the papacy to Rome, shaping the history of the Catholic Church forever. She was also active in the turbulent politics of her time and in negotiating peace deals during a time of conflict and war between the Italian city states. In her lifetime she is thought to have composed more than 400 letters, The Dialogue, which is regarded as her definitive work, and many prayers.