Stories of the torture and execution of beautiful Christian women first appeared in late antiquity and proliferated during the early Middle Ages A thousand years later virgin martyrs were still the most popular female saints Their legends in countless retellings through the centuries preserved a standard plot the heroine resists a pagan suitor endures cruelties inflicted by her rejected lover or outraged family works miracles and dies for Christ That sequence was embellished by incidents emblematic of the specific saint Juliana s battle with the devil Barbara s immurement in the tower Katherine s encounter with spiked wheels Karen A Winstead examines this seemingly static story form and discovers subtle shifts in the representation of the virgin martyrs as their legends were adapted for changing audiences in late medieval England