The legend of Saint Alexis is certainly one of the most studied hagiographies in the last century. It had many medieval versions in different languages, ancient and vernacular, which testify to its widespread diffusion in the Middle Ages and afterwards.

The legend of Saint Alexis is the story of the son of an infertile noble Roman couple, Eufemianus and Aglaes, who prayed God to grant them the grace of a child, and as the answer to their prayers, Alexis was born. Alexis grew with his parents and, when he was seventeen years old, he married a young Roman girl. On the wedding night, Alexis spoke to his bride and convinced her that they should both safeguard their chastity. After having abandoned his chaste wife, intactam sponsam relinquens, he embarked for Edessa. There, for seventeen years, he lived as a beggar in front of a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, until the image of Mary spoke and said: ‘Look for the man of God, who is in front of this church.’ To escape the wiles and lures of the world, Alexis embarked on a voyage to Tarsus, but a storm diverted the ship to the harbour of Ostia. Alexis then walked to Rome, along the way meeting his father, who did not recognize him. The holy man asked him for hospitality, pauper sum et peregrinus, and the father received him incognito, lodging him under the stairs of his palace, where he lived for seventeen years without anyone recognizing him. Alexis was made an object of scorn by the servants. When he felt his death approaching, he asked for a piece of parchment and writing materials. He wrote the story of his life, after which he died. Suddenly, a mysterious voice announced his death, while a divine light wafted from the stairs of the house of Eufemianus. Then all the Romans discovered the body of the Saint, who held in his hands the scroll of parchment. At this point, the various versions of his legend differ from each other: according to the Roman version, Alexis leaves the writing to the pope; according to the eastern version, he gives it to the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius; and in the popular versions he leaves it to his wife, who had remained faithful to him.