The essays in this volume were presented at a conference honoring John V. Fleming at Princeton University on April 21-22, 2004. The aim of the conference was to revisit Fleming's 1977 book, An Introduction to the Franciscan Literature of the Middle Ages, from a number of different perspectives, including social, religious and literary history, as well as art, exegesis, political thought and the history of education. A prominent, but not exclusive, theme of the contributions is the distinction between "defenders" and "critics" of medieval Franciscanism. Recent scholarship has shown that the dividing line between medieval defenders and critics of Franciscan life was not as sharp or as clear as had once been thought. This, more nuanced approach to medieval Franciscanism is a reflection of the many scholarly developments that have occurred since - and as a result of - Fleming's volume. The present work offers a selection of current approaches to the question.
Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M. is Director of the Franciscan Institute and Dean of the School of Franciscan Studies at St. Bonaventure University in New York State. He is a specialist on the history of the Franciscan Order in the Middle Ages, with particular expertise in the contexualization of the Franciscan sources of the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries and the role played by apocalypticism in Franciscan identity.
G. Geltner is a Lecturer in Medieval History at University College, Oxford. He has recently published William of Saint Amourâs De Periculis Novissimorum Temporum: A Critical Edition, Translation and Introduction (2008) and The Medieval Prison: A Social History (2008). He is currently writing a social history of medieval antifraternalism.
Editorsâ Introduction
Contributors
Preface: A Literary Apostolate: John Fleming and the Franciscan Literature of the Middle Ages D. Vance Smith
Part One Franciscan Exegesis
Francis of Assisi, Deacon? An Examination of the Claims of the Earliest Franciscan Sources 1229-1235 Michael F. Cusato
Tobitâs Dog and the Dangers of Literalism: William Woodford O.F. M. as Critic of Wycliffite Exegesis Alastair Minnis
Part Two Student and Scholars
Franciscan Learning: University Education and biblical Exegesis William J. Courtenay
Using, Not Owning-Duties, Not Rights: The Consequences of Some Franciscan Perspectives on politics Janet Coleman
Langland and the Franciscans on Dominium, Lawrence M. Clopper
Part Three Franciscan Critics and Critics of The Franciscans
William of St. Amourâs De periculis novissimorum temporum: A False Start to Medieval Antifraternalism? G. Geltner
History as Prophecy: Angelo Clarenoâs Chronicle as a Spiritual Franciscan Apocalypse David Burr
Two Views of John XXII as a Heretical pope Patrick Nold
Kicking the Habit: The Campaign Against the friars in a Fourteenth-Century Encyclopedia Penn Szittya
âSi sind all glichsnerâ: Antifraternalism in Medieval and Renaissance German Literature Geoffrey Dipple
Part Four Franciscan Legacies
Imitatio Francisci the influence of Francis of Assisi on Late Medieval Religious Life Lester K. Little
Louis IX: Preaching to Franciscan and Dominican Brothers and Nuns William Chester Jordan
Preaching as playwriting: A Semi-Dramatic Sermon of the Fifteenth Century Katherine L. Jansen
Index
All those in interested in the history of the Franciscan Order, the antifraternalism literature of the Late Middle Ages and early modern period, and encounter of late medieval literature and religious mendicancy in general.