Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. The Prophet

By the end of the thirteenth century, tensions within the Lesser Brothers prompted an exchange of stories that accentuated the prophetic dimensions of Bonaventure’s portrait of Francis – the saint’s vehement defense of poverty, his outspoken, fearless call to Gospel truth, and his troubled predictions of trials. Bonaventure’s theology of history later found a voice in the writings of his student, Peter of John Olivi (1248-1298), who, in turn, influenced Ubertino da Casale (+ c. 1325) and Angelo Clareno (+1337). The fourteenth century compilations in this third volume of Francis of Assisi: Early Documents reflect the Parisian-based theology of history in down-to-earth, easily comprehended stories. In the wake of Jerome of Ascoli’s request for new information about Saint Francis and his companions, the phenomenon of these new compilations satisfied the brothers’ eagerness to supplement Bonaventure’s portrait and, at the same time, to promote their particular views of his Gospel way of life.