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Among the most beloved saints in the Catholic tradition, Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226) is popularly remembered for his dedication to poverty, his love of animals and nature, and his desire to follow perfectly the teachings and example of Christ. During his lifetime and after his death, followers collected, for their own purposes, numerous stories, anecdotes, and reports about Francis. As a result, the man himself and his own concerns became lost in legend. In this authoritative and engaging new biography, Augustine Thompson, O.P., sifts through the surviving evidence for the life of Francis using modern historical methods. The result is a complex yet sympathetic portrait of the man and th...
Preacher, Sermon and Audience in the Middle Ages presents research by specialists of preaching history and literature. This volume fills some of the lacunae which exists in medieval sermon studies. The topics include: an analysis of how oral and written cultures meet in sermon literature, the function of vernacular sermons, an examination of the usefulness of non-sermon sources such as art in the study of preaching history, sermon genres, the significance of heretical preaching, audience composition and its influence on sermon content, and the use of rhetoric in sermon construction. The study looks at preaching history and literature from a wide geographical and chronological area which includes examples from Anglo-Saxon England to late medieval Italy. While doing so, it outlines the state of sermon studies research and points to new areas of investigation.
The nature of mendicancy as it developed among various religious orders during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries is the subject of considerable debate. In spite of this, little in the way of a comprehensive review of the phenomenon as a whole has been undertaken. What has been done has either been order-specific (with an emphasis on the Friars Minor) or has focused on points of special conflict regarding the mendicant ideal (University debates, Spiritual Franciscans). Little work exists on the roots of mendicancy, or on the creative ways in which mendicancy was understood (and deprecated) in various quarters. Few studies try to bring together both the theory and practice of religious m...
An important and innovative study of medieval heresy with a wide potential audience across religious, political, social and economic medieval history.
This elegant and accessible biography of one of Catholicism's most beloved saints was originally published as Part 1 of Francis of Assisi: A New Biography by Augustine Thompson, O.P. It stands alone as a richly informed portrait of a man whose complex faith and commitment continue to inspire today. An introduction by Thompson places his biography in the context of continuing discussions about Francis's legacy, particularly the new Pope's decision to adopt the saint's name.
Recent studies of medieval preaching have tended to focus on sermon texts. This is the first scholarly study in English of preaching and its social context in thirteenth-century Italy. Augustine Thompson O.P., both an academic and a preacher, reconstructs the "Great Devotion" of 1233 and analyzes its devotional, social, political, and legal elements. He shows how the preachers of this revival crafted an image of divine authority that supported their intervention in factional disputes and facilitated their arbitration in social and political conflicts. They exploited forms from revived Roman Law and developing city statutes in order to create flexible procedures for mediation, and ultimately were able to revise communal ordinances to enshrine their message of social harmony. This is a work of original scholarship, carefully researched and lucidly written, which is a valuable contribution to our understanding of religion and politics in the middle ages.
When religion is considered, the subjects are usually saints, heretics, theologians, and religious leaders, thereby ignoring the vast majority of those who lived in the communes. Drawing on many ecclesiastical and secular sources, this book aims to give a voice to the majority - orthodox lay people and those who ministered to them.
This book is a study of architecture and urban design across the Mediterranean Sea from the 12th to the 14th Century, a time when there was no single, hegemonic power dominating the area. The focus of the study--four cities on the Italian peninsula, and four in Syria and Egypt--is the interconnectedness of the design and use of urban structures, streets and open space. Each chapter offers an historical analysis of the buildings and spaces used for trade, education, political display and public action. The work includes historical and social analyses of the mercantile, social, political and educational cultures of the eight cities, highlighting similarities and differences between Christian and Islamic practices. Sixteen new maps drawn specifically for this book are based on the writings of medieval travelers.