Saint
Catherine of
Alexandria (died ca. 310), a virgin
martyr of
Alexandria. According to
legend, she rebuked the emperor for persecuting the Christians and, though only eighteen, converted a number of the
learned philosophers he assembled to
dispute with her. When the spiked
wheel on which she was then sentenced to die
broke in pieces, she was beheaded. The
legend contends that her
body was carried away by angels. See also
martyr in this glossary.