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The Founder is the second volume of the long-awaited and best-selling project Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. All three volumes contain helpful introductions to each section, colored maps, cross references, and extensive annotation. The Founder contains: The Beginning or the Founding of the Order and the Deeds of those Lesser Brothers who where the First Companions of Blessed Francis in Religion The Legend of the Three Companions The Assisi Compilation The Remembrance of the Desire of A Soul by Thomas of Celano The Treatise on the Miracles of Saint Francis by Thomas of Celano An Umbrian Choir Legend A Letter on the Passing of Saint Francis Attributed to Elias of Assisi The Legends and Sermons about Saint Francis by Bonaventure of Bagnoregio Related Documents
"These studies . . . not only illuminate the past with a fierce and probing light but also raise, with nuance and power, fundamental issues of interpretation and method."—from the Foreword, by Caroline Walker Bynum Female saints, mystics, and visionaries have been much studied in recent years. Relatively little attention has been paid, however, to the ways in which their experiences and voices were mediated by the men who often composed their vitae, served as their editors and scribes, or otherwise encouraged, protected, and collaborated with the women in their writing projects. What strategies can be employed to discern and distinguish the voices of these high and late medieval women from...
The leading historians who are the authors of this work offer a highly original account of one of the most important transformations in Western culture: the change brought about by the discovery and development of printing in Europe. Focusing primarily on printed matter other than books, The Culture of Print emphasizes the specific and local contexts in which printed materials, such as broadsheets, flysheets, and posters, were used in modern Europe. The authors show that festive, ritual, cultic, civic, and pedagogic uses of print were social activities that involved deciphering texts in a collective way, with those who knew how to read leading those who did not. Only gradually did these coll...
Medieval Franciscans prayed in hermitages and churches, on the road and in the piazza, with song and silence. The unique stories of these men and women, as their engaging texts, stunning architecture and breath-taking artwork suggest, are narratives of souls, enfleshed in their respective worlds of the leprosarium, university, or itinerant preaching. The essays in this book foster a nuanced perspective on Franciscan beliefs and spiritual practices by resisting the temptation to reduce their myriad accounts of prayer to an exclusive, univocal spirituality. By displaying the breadth and depth of these medieval Franciscans at prayer, these essays challenge contemporary readers to look anew at this “cloud of witnesses” from the past, who, both lay and religious, promoted a diversity of spiritual expression that found a familial focus in their mutual passion for the divine and the world they shared.
"I recommend this book strongly to anyone serious about understanding Francis of Assisi. I admire the clarity and brevity of the writing. With decisiveness, Thompson cuts through the conflicting medieval accounts of each event in Francis' life, adjusts for the hagiographers' spin and creates a credible chronology out of the blurry dates. His knowledge of medieval Italy allows him to provide insightful explanations of the legal, liturgical, and ecclesiastical practices of the time."—Paul Moses, America 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 desi...
This book challenges some long held beliefs about Christianity as we know it, detailing a great divide between Jesus of Nazareth’s teachings and Christianity extending into the Middle Ages. With comprehensive historical research over a twenty year period Thomas Kessler analyzes the power and class struggles in the church. He shows how clergymen continued to choke life out of the Christian community. The reality is insidious, the horrors startling, and some church officials even committed genocide. No, the church has not been perfect throughout its history. Knowing the facts about it grounds us in reality, the starting point of any true Christian commitment. This is a true People’s History of Christianity in the tradition of Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States and one that will have you seeing Christianity in a brand-new light.
Following up on Francis: The Journey and the Dream, Murray Bodo offers a maturing of his own friar's spirituality in this dramatic storytelling of Francis' close connection and relationship with Jesus. Here we see a multi-dimensional, yet internal Francis as the ultimate disciple of Jesus: Francis as sufferer, in the wilderness, as itinerant, as misunderstood, in prayer, as teacher, as lover and protector of the poor, in authority while subject to God's authority, in community, as healer, as wounded.
Winner of the 2002 John Gilmary Shea Prize and the 2002 Howard R. Marraro Prize of the American Catholic Historical Association. When Saint Francis of Assisi died in 1226, he left behind an order already struggling to maintain its identity. As the Church called upon Franciscans to be bishops, professors, and inquisitors, their style of life began to change. Some in the order lamented this change and insisted on observing the strict poverty practiced by Francis himself. Others were more open to compromise. Over time, this division evolved into a genuine rift, as those who argued for strict poverty were marginalized within the order. In this book, David Burr offers the first comprehensive hist...
A Companion to Medieval Rules and Customaries offers an introduction to the rules and customaries of the main religious orders in medieval Europe: Benedictine, Cistercian, Carthusian, Augustinian, Premonstratensian, Templar, Hospitaller, Teutonic, Dominican, Franciscan, and Carmelite. As well as introducing the early history and spirituality of the orders, scholars survey the central topics – organization, doctrine, morality, liturgy, and culture, as documented by these primary sources. Contributors are: James Clark, Tom Gaens, Jean-François Godet-Calogeras, Holly Grieco, Emilia Jamroziak, Gert Melville, Stephen Molvarec, Carol Neel, Krijn Pansters, Matthew Ponesse, Bert Roest, Kristjan Toomaspoeg, Paul van Geest, Ursula Vones-Liebenstein, and Coralie Zermatten.