Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint

by André Vauchez

Overview

First published in France, where it was awarded the Prix Chateaubriand, this masterful new biography of Francis is now available in English

In this towering work, André Vauchez draws on the vast body of scholarship on Francis of Assisi produced over the past forty years as well on as his own expertise in medieval hagiography to tell the most comprehensive and authoritative version of Francis’s life and afterlife published in the past half century. 

After a detailed and yet engaging reconstruction of Francis's life and work, Vauchez focuses on the myriad texts—hagiographies, chronicles, sermons, personal testimonies, etc.—of writers who recorded aspects of Francis's life and movement as they remembered them, and used those remembrances to construct a portrait of Francis relevant to their concerns. We see varying versions of his life reflected in the work of Machiavelli, Luther, Voltaire, German and English romantics, pre-Raphaelites, Italian nationalists, and Mussolini, and discover how peace activists, ecologists, or interreligious dialogists have used his example to promote their various causes. Particularly noteworthy is the attention Vauchez pays to Francis’s own writings, which strangely enough have been largely overlooked by later interpreters.

The product of a lifetime of study, this book reveals a historian at the height of his powers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300198379
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	05/14/2013
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	1,062,460
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

André Vauchez is professor emeritus, University of Paris X. Michael Cusato, O.F.M., teaches at the Dominican House of Studies. He lives in Washington, DC.
 

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Part I A Biographical Sketch, 1182-1226

1 Francesco di Bernardone 3

2 Brother Francis: A Layman in the Christianity of the Early Thirteenth Century 33

Part II Death and Transfiguration of Francis, 1226-1253

3 Becoming Saint Francis, 1226-1230 139

4 The "Second Death" of Francis, 1230-1253 156

Part III Images and Myths of Francis of Assisi: From the Middle Ages to Today

5 Medieval Interpretations of Francis: Thirteenth to Fourteenth Centuries 185

6 Francis between History and Myth: Sixteenth to Twentieth Centuries 229

Part IV The Originality of Francis and His Charism

The Writings of Francis 249

7 The Experience of God 253

8 A New Relationship to Scripture: The Spirit of the Letter 261

9 Francis, Nature, and the World 271

10 Francis and the Church: The Charism within the Institution 283

11 The Gospel in the World: A Transformation of Religious Anthropology 297

12 A Cultural Mediator of a New Religious Sensibility 312

Conclusion: Francis, Prophet for His Time … or for Ours? 324

Appendix: The Testament of Francis of Assisi, September 1226 337

Chronology 341

Maps 345

List of Abbreviations 349

Notes 351

Bibliography 375

Index 383

Editorial Reviews

Fascinating”—John L. Murphy, PopMatters

PopMatters - John L. Murphy

The single best book about Francis now available in English . . . Vauchez must be given the crown.”—Lawrence S. Cunningham, Commonweal

Commonweal - Lawrence C. Cunningham

This new biography will reinvigorate our appreciation of Francis’ originality and radicalism.”—Martin L. Smith, Washington Independent Review of Books 

Washington Independent Review of Books - Martin L. Smith

This is a winner. It will have a great many readers and will dominate the field of Saint Francis studies for years to come.”—William Chester Jordan, Princeton University

William Chester Jordan

Comprehensive [and] engaging.”—P. L. Urban Jr., Choice

Choice - P. L. Urban Jr.

For thirty years, we have been waiting for a new scholarly biography of Francis of Assisi. André Vauchez offers us that and so much more. Not only does he give us a thorough assessment of Francis in his historical context; he also offers us an intimate understanding of his spiritual experience.”—Jacques Dalarun, Institut de Recherches et d'Histoire des Textes, Paris

Jacques Dalarun

Full of nuance and engaging detail, providing insight into [an] enduring legacy”—Iris McLister, Santa Fe New Mexican

Santa Fe New Mexican - Iris McLister

An indispensable document attesting to what can be known of the Poor Man of Assisi, as well as a stirring exemplum of written history.”—Michael Signorelli, Paris Review Daily

Paris Review Daily - Michael Signorelli

"[A] well-informed study… Vauchez writes lucidly and thoughtfully." —Robert E. Lerner, Times Literary Supplement

Times Literary Supplement - Robert E. Lerner

The leading historian of later-medieval sainthood has here incorporated much recent Italian research in this mature appreciation of the life, cult, and varied interpretations of the era’s most engaging saintly protagonist.”—Lester K. Little, Smith College

Lester Little

“A refreshingly complex portrait of one of Catholicism’s most familiar figures. . . . Engaging.”—Kathleen Manning, U.S. Catholic 

U.S. Catholic - Kathleen Manning

“One comes away from [this] book not only with a new understanding of Francis, but also with a renewed appreciation for the relationship between sanctity and authentic humanity.”—Alden Bass, Englewood Review of Books

Englewood Review of Books - Alden Bass