From the beginning, trans studies has invoked the lives of medieval saints. In a foundational ‘trans’ text, Transvestites (Die Transvestiten) (1910), Magnus Hirschfeld drew from medieval hagiography to historicize the phenomenon he calls ‘transvestitism’. In current usage, ‘transvestite’ is synonymous with ‘cross-dresser’ – someone who wears clothing associated with another gender – and has largely diminished in usage as it is considered out of date or derogatory. Yet in 1910, the word ‘transvestite’ was new, and had not yet developed its more narrow or negative connotations. Indeed, the word was intended to combat confusing associations with other traits or populations. In his book-length study, Hirschfeld describes a distinct population of people that differ from the homosexuals, narcissists, and schizophrenics with whom they were too often lumped: transvestites. While focusing on clothing as a key marker of trans-ness in defining his term ‘transvestite’, Hirschfeld seems to use the term more broadly to refer to a wider group of people, akin to how ‘trans’ or ‘transgender’ is used today. Based on his articulation of trans theory to examine pre-modern saints, Hirschfeld may be considered not only one of the founders of transgender studies in general, but also of medieval transgender studies specifically.

Among the lives he examines from the ancient to the modern world to define his term for trans-ness, Hirschfeld considers the case of St Marinos the Monk: