What This Is
Francis of Assisi moves from a carefree youth of knightly dreams to a life of startling asceticism, repairing ruined chapels by hand and begging for his daily bread. He does not seek to debate theology or reform church dogma; he simply intends to live the Gospel literally. His success is his greatest challenge: a movement of twelve men becomes thousands, attracting the nervous attention of Rome. As Cardinal Ugolini shapes the Order into a formal institution, Francis struggles to keep his 'Lady Poverty' from being stifled by the very structure meant to protect her. The account follows him from the mud of Rivo-Torto to the rocky solitude of Mount Verna.
Key figures
- Francis of Assisi
The founder who viewed faith as moral consecration rather than intellectual dogma.
- Cardinal Ugolini
The future Gregory IX who profoundly fashioned the Franciscan institute through diplomacy.
- Clara
Francis's close companion and the woman at St. Damian.
- Innocent III
The Pope who initially authorized the primitive Franciscan Rule.
- Brother Egidio
An early disciple who distrusted miracles and the passion for learning.
What it's really about
- Lady Poverty
- The absolute rejection of ownership as a path to spiritual freedom.
- Institutionalization
- The tension between a charismatic ideal and necessary church bureaucracy.
Why it's memorable
- A peasant driving an ass into a hut to force the Brothers out of Rivo-Torto.
- Francis mounting an ass toward the end of his life, unable to walk any longer.
What it concludes
The Franciscan movement, begun as a cry of revolt, eventually ends by having its legends and authority formally guaranteed by the Church.
For your book club
- Why Francis prioritized moral action over the learning and dogmatizing of traditional theology.
- The contrast between Francis’s love-based miracles and the tiresome catalogues of later hagiographies.