The Ecstasies of Joseph of Cupertino

Record summary

Joseph of Cupertino, a Franciscan friar, became famous for reports that he rose or leapt into the air during religious ecstasy. Depositions, biographies and canonization investigations provide a substantial documentary trail, making the case useful for comparing witnessed bodily anomaly claims with devotional context and ecclesiastical evidentiary practice. The records were produced for hagiographic and juridical purposes, not controlled experiments, and may contain selection, translation and retrospective shaping. The historical existence of the reports is firmer than the physical interpretation.