The Life of Saint Euphrosyne tells the story of a young woman, allegedly in fifthcentury Alexandria, who refused both the social conventions of the time and the wealth of her family, and embraced an ascetic life hidden away in a monastery. It was originally written in Greek, perhaps in the sixth century or shortly after, when this sort of text was very popular. Soon translations were made into several languages: Latin, Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, and various medieval vernaculars. At least three Latin translations emerged by the late eighth and early ninth century in Carolingian Francia and northern Italy, respectively. Translation A corresponds to a model in a high stemmatic position. The earliest surviving manuscript was copied around 800, perhaps in Troyes. A later version of the same translation, known as the Life of Saint Castissima, circulated in northern Spain in the tenth century. The earliest extant witness of Translation B was produced in the region of Würzburg, in the late eighth century. Translation C surfaced in the scriptorium of Pacificus of Verona.

This book offers critical editions of the Greek and Latin redactions produced prior to the late twelfth century and a study of their transmission. An appendix presents a different Latin version based on Translation B, copied in a manuscript from Montecassino. The Life of Saint Euphrosyne is a remarkable example of the plasticity and vitality of anonymous hagiographical texts.