Katherine Group

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The so-called Katherine Group is a group of five 13th century Middle English texts composed by an anonymous author of the English West Midlands. The texts are all addressed to anchoresses (religious recluses) and praise the virtue of virginity.

the sermon Hali Meiðhad "holy maidenhood"
the allegory Sawles Warde "refuge of the souls"
Seinte Juliene, life of Juliana of Nicomedia
Seinte Margarete, life of Margaret of Antioch
Seinte Katherine, life of Catherine of Alexandria.

All five texts are preserved in the manuscript Bodley 34. All except Hali Meiðhad also in Royal 17 A XXVII. Additionally, Cotton Titus D XVIII has Sawles Warde, Seinte Katherine and Hali Meiðhad

J. R. R. Tolkien has repeatedly published on the Katherine Group, in Holy Maidenhood (1923), Some Contributions to Middle-English Lexicography und The Devil's Coach-Horses (1925), Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meiðhad (1929) and "Iþþlen" in Sawles Warde (1947).