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SARRA. Sarah was Abraham's wife and Isaac's mother (Genesis 9:1-7). Biblical scholars of the Middle Ages made Sarah an example of wifely obedience, basing their interpretation on I Peter 3:6. Dante places her in the Celestial Rose (Par XXXII.10). The medieval marriage service cited Sarah for her fidelity and Rebecca for her wisdom.

The priest exhorts May to be like Sarra and Rebekke, MerchT 1704-1705, part of the medieval marriage service. Sarah, unlike Rebecca, does not deceive her husband, but she is cruel to Hagar, his lawful concubine. [Abraham: Rachel: Rebekka: Ysaac]

The form, a pronunciation variant, occurs medially, MerchT 1704.

Dante, The Divine Comedy, ed. and trans. C.S. Singleton, III, 1: 355-359.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.
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