The Spiritual Franciscans: From Protest to Persecution in the Century After Saint Francis

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 history of the so-called Spiritual Franciscans a protest movement within the Franciscan order. Burr shows that the movement existed more or less as a loyal opposition in the late thirteenth century, but by 1318 Pope John XXII and leaders of the order and combined to force it beyond the boundaries of legitimacy. At that point the loyal opposition turned into a heretical movement and recalcitrant friars were sent to the stake.

Within 100 years of St. Francis's death in the early 13th century, his ideal of apostolic poverty was condemned as heresy, and Spiritual Franciscans were all too frequently burned at the stake. Criticisms of laxity in the order spurred accusations that the popes were forerunners of the Antichrist, while papal authorities found Franciscan extremists to be heretical and disobedient to ecclesiastical authority. Burr (emeritus, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. & State Univ.) brings to this project a long acquaintance with both primary materials and secondary sources. Broader in scope than Alan Friedlander's The Hammer of the Inquisitors (Brill Academic, 2000), Burr's book recounts a century of events leading up to the persecution and suppression of the Spirituals. The passion behind the events and characters often takes a backseat to a careful analysis of what historians can (and cannot) know from extant sources, but Burr's case histories of Inquisitorial defendants are gripping. Burr writes for an informed reader well aware of the medieval context but nevertheless offers a reliable overview of the development and outcomes of the controversy. A required addition to all academic libraries. Steve Young, McHenry Cty. Coll., Crystal Lake, IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.