Emblems of Faith: Holy Companions on the Road to Observance.

The present study focuses on the specific devotional models that were promoted by the Observant Dominican friars in the late Middle Ages. By closely investigating textual and visual sources, previous research has noted that the reformed friars were eager to disseminate, particularly within the communities of the Observant Dominican women, the cult for the Passion of Christ and cults of saints that were easily transformed into models that pious women would adopt and emulate. Since the Observance was an European phenomenon and strong contacts existed between local friars and influential centres of reform, the prerequisites of the Dominican forma vitae became the standard according to which the communities of Observant Dominican women were organized and functioned. An integral part of this process of standardisation concerned the holy companions of the pious women affiliated to the Order of the Friars Preachers, who were usually recruited from the same cohort of saints represented by the Virgin Martyrs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]