It is somewhat misleading to think of the Franciscans as forming a “school” in ethics, since there was a fair bit of diversity among Franciscans. Nonetheless, one can identify certain characteristic tendencies of Franciscan moral thought, and certain “celebrity” Franciscans whose views in ethics and moral psychology are particularly noteworthy. I shall first offer an overview of the general character of Franciscan moral thought in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries and then turn to a more (...) detailed examination of the thought of John Duns Scotus (1265/66-1308) and William Ockham (c. 1288-1347) on three central matters of debate: the nature of the virtues, the relationship between intellect and will, and the relationship between moral requirements and the divine will. (shrink)

The Franciscan Movement in the Netherlands is an association of people who are moved by the evangelical ideal of Francis and Clare of Assisi. Its members are lay and religious people who aim to live a spiritual life characterized by solidarity and simplicity. In this article, I will describe the lively spirituality of the "Franciscaanse Beweging", a movement that started as a "Franciscan Cooperation" seeking to deepen Franciscan spirituality within religious communities in the 1950s but that changed its course and (...) expanded rapidly after the Second Vatican Council.63In 1987, Gerard Pieter Freeman, staff member of the Franciscan Cooperation, explained in an article on Franciscan spirituality and... (shrink)

Today’s crisis in the Western economy has led important economists to rediscover the moral and spiritual sources of their field; I will mention only Tomáš Sedláček, Thomas Piketty, Robert and Edward Skidelsky. The crisis is also an opportunity to look at the economy in a Franciscan perspective. This perspective is, as I will argue, one of perfection, undividedness, and the Franciscan way of seeing things in this perspective is a particular form of poverty. The early Franciscans, beginning with their (...) patron and example St. Francis of Assisi, had discovered this perspective by leaving the world, experiencing poverty, and accepting it – even this poverty – as a divine gift.1 By experiencing and enduring... (shrink)

…Not without a providential design, the historical events of the thirteenth century led to the Holy Land, the Order of Friars Minor. The Sons of St. Francis have since then remained in the land of Jesus … to continuously serve the local Church and to preserve, restore, protect the holy places, and their loyalty to the wishes of the Founder and the mandate of the Holy See was often sealed by acts of extraordinary virtue and generosity…Holy Land guides mediate between (...) pilgrims and multiple Jerusalems. This article focuses on the roles played in this process of mediation by Franciscan human guides in two contexts: actual Jerusalem and the virtual Jerusalem of San Vivaldo.1 The longstanding, special relationship... (shrink)

Soon after arriving in Asia, Jesuit missionaries published apologetic and catechetical works for the immediate needs of conversion. Later on, they also introduced writings on spirituality to nourish the spiritual life of the Catholic communities. In Japan and China, the classic text Imitatio Christi by Thomas à Kempis and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola appeared in different versions. When the Franciscans arrived in China in the 1630s, they relied on the Jesuits' Chinese writings. At the end of (...) the seventeenth century, they even reprinted some Jesuit works in Canton. To foster their own mission, the Franciscans wrote also their own catechisms and spiritual works.This article presents Pedro de la... (shrink)

This resourceful book presents an extensive approach to Mariology in the Middle Ages unifying Medieval, Franciscan and Marian reflections on the Virgin Mary as presented in the catholic tradition in Theology, Meditation, Art and Sermons.In the introduction, the General Editor of the Collection: The Medieval Franciscans, Steven J. McMichael, introduces Vol. 16, Medieval Franciscan Approaches to the Virgin Mary, Mater Misericordiae Sanctissima et Dolorosa. First, McMichael presents a perceptive résumé of each of the five sections of the book, which (...) he identifies as five different disciplines: early foundations of the Order, sermons and theological reflections, meditations, medieval art, and Franciscan preaching. He... (shrink)

Robert Grosseteste.--Thomas of York.--Roger Bacon.--John Pecham.--Richard of Middleton.--Duns Scotus.--Conclusion.--Bibliography (p. [409]-412).

THIS ESSAY SEEKS TO REDRESS THE SHORTCOMINGS OF CHRISTIAN ENVIronmental ethics by proposing Franciscan environmental ethics drawn from the affective and embodied experience of Francis of Assisi plus the Franciscan theological tradition that he inspired, as exemplified by Bonaventure and John Duns Scotus. Drawing its inspiration from the love Francis of Assisi had for nature, the Franciscan tradition holds that creation bursts with religious significance. This tradition interprets Francis' affective and direct sensory experience of the natural world with theological concepts (...) creatively reworked from scripture and patristic sources, especially the Incarnation and theTrinity.The Franciscan understanding of the Incarnation emphasizes continuity between humanity, creatures, and elements. The Franciscan vision of Trinity as community-ofpersons, inspired by Francis's Canticle of Creatures, supports a more inclusive vision of the moral community. Franciscan environmental ethics can inspire an enhanced moral imagination and the praxis of an ethic of care. (shrink)

Traditional Franciscan history holds that Francis of Assisi founded an order of lay penitents, which was given both a rule and official approval by Pope Nicholas IV in 1289. In this accepted version of events, the 1289 rule was followed by houses of men and women until the sixteenth century, and only replaced when a desire for greater unity within the Franciscan third order led Leo X to issue a new rule in 1521.2 Despite not standing up to historical scrutiny, (...) studies of the third order seldom question this official narrative.3 Moreover, although the 1521 rule is generally mentioned, little attention is given to either its context or significance.4 When the historical circumstances of this new rule are .. (shrink)

The Latin religious text known in the Middle Ages as the Stimulus Amoris must be considered a key text of late-medieval Franciscan spirituality, and one of the texts from the Franciscan milieu that was most widely copied and disseminated throughout the Middle Ages among monastic as well as lay readerships.1 In a recent study, Falk Eisermann has demonstrated that the Stimulus Amoris was subject to a particularly productive reception with multiple adaptations through centuries, and that the text to a large (...) extent was without one clearly discernible, normative form. The Stimulus Amoris, in other words, appears to have been regarded as an open text that could be, and in fact was altered, excerpted, shortened and... (shrink)

This paper analyses Agamben’s notion of homo sacer, showing how it should not be confined to the field of a negative critique of biopolitics. In his work, Agamben cautiously delineates a positive figure of homo sacer, whom, according to him, we all virtually are. Such figure would be able to subvert the form in which the relation between bare life and political existence has so far been both thought and lived in the West. How and when is this passage from (...) negative to positive sacredness historically accomplished for Agamben? Is such transit after all thinkable? These are the two basic questions he both unintentionally formulates and leaves undecided in his book Homo Sacer . Agamben further elaborates his investigation of biopolitics in the book he dedicates to Saint Paul, The Time That Remains . Chiesa suggests that, in this volume, the figure of homo sacer as earthly hero is transposed onto that of the messianic man. This can only be achieved by means of a detailed Christian—and more specifically Franciscan—development of the ontological notion of ‘form of life’. Problematically enough, Agamben is able to carry out a transvaluation of biopolitics only in the guise of a bio-theo-politics. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:1. IntroductionThe scientific efforts of Jesuits were the hot topics of the history of science. It was said that you could find a Jesuit behind most of the scientific accomplishments of the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries. The idea was not far from the truth because Athanasius Kircher of Rudjer Josip Bošković proved to be among the best. But Jesuit studies seem to have passed their peak and it is (...) time to research the early modern science successes of other religious orders. The Parisian Franciscan Marin Mersenne with his worldwide correspondence was the German-Roman Jesuit Kircher’s match and several other Franciscans were not less important. Therefore it is time to give the Franciscan scientists of the past centuries the fame they deserve.We celebrated the 800th anniversary of the Franciscan order in the year 2009. The Franciscans of Ljubljana were mentioned for the first time in 1242 as already established and resident in Ljubljana, soon after the establishment of Franciscan order. Later they were unable to survive the protestant challenge in 1569,1 when almost all citizens of Ljubljana accepted Luther’s Christianity. Although they never really left Ljubljana, the Franciscans officially returned to Ljubljana after several decades.Between the years 1646 and 1660 the Augustinian church of Annunciation of Our Lady was erected on behalf of the Baron Konrad Ruessenstein from the Upper Carniola castle Strmol. The front walls were finished in 1700, and half of a century later the famous Italian sculptor Francesco Robba made the main altar. The Emperor Josef II suppressed the Ljubljana Augustinians in 1784 and somewhat later gave their friary and church to their Franciscan neighbors from the opposite side of Ljubljanica River. The Barons Ruessensteins were not offended by the change and still took care for the church. The Baron Alexis Ruessenstein gave his important alchemical manuscripts to the new friary owners, the Franciscans.2After the death of the Emperor Josef II, Gabriel Gruber’s best student Jožef Marija Šemerl redesigned a former Franciscan Friary for a Lyceum. Gruber, who later became the General of the Jesuit Order, was among the best engineers in Habsburg Monarchy. The church of the Assumption of Our Lady was removed and leveled.3 After the earthquake Ljubljana got the market place in the former site of the Lyceum.The church of Annunciation of Our Lady or simply the Franciscan Church remains one of the most typical sightseeing posts in Ljubljana, even if the name of the square in front of it passed from Mary to France Prešeren, the greatest Slovenian poet, in the time of Communist regime in 1949.Click for larger viewFigure 1. The first page of the index of the copy of alchemistic manuscript of Alexis Baron Ruessenstein’s, the son of Konrad Baron Ruessenstein from the castle Strmol, Ruessenstein, ibid. FSLJ-29 F 54, 234–35 .Click for larger viewFigure 2. Alexis baron Ruessenstein about the Quicksilver in the copy of his original handwriting kept in Ljubljana Franciscan Library .Škerpin’s booksThe Ljubljana Franciscan Library was established in 1233.4 Žiga Škerpin renewed the Franciscan Library which was located on the right side of the Ljubljanica River during his lifetime. He was the provincial of Croatian-Carniolan province between the years 1732–1735 and again between the years 1745–1748. He became the court’s secret advisor,5 and acting general definitor of all Franciscans. During his numerous foreign travels, including Italy and Spain, he collected books. Between the years 1733–1746 Škerpin brought to Ljubljana no less than 1668 titles of.. (shrink)

Franciscan biocentrism is the view that Francis of Assisi is a biocentrist who holds that all living things have intrinsic value. Recently, biocentric theorists Sterba and Taylor have modified biocentrism to accommodate holistic entities. I consider thinkers from the broader Franciscan intellectual tradition (Bonaventure and Scotus) to see whether Franciscan biocentrism can be similarly modified. I discuss notions from these medieval philosophers such as the Cosmic Christ and the concept of haecceitas. I also explore whether Franciscan biocentrism can provide a (...) satisfactory response to the problem of evil, since Franciscan biocentrism faces an issue that secular biocentrism does not: making sense of extinction. (shrink)

At first glance one might be tempted to count the Wycliffites among the bitterest opponents of the Franciscans, and thus part of the storied late medieval tradition of anti-fraternalism.1 There is much to support this conception, of course, given the bitter invective directed at the mendicants by John Wyclif himself and the Wycliffites who followed in his wake. Although the Wycliffites were certainly not the first to reckon the mendicant orders accomplices of antichrist, they leveled such charges throughout numerous (...) works. Yet this is only part of the story; it is the epilogue, the result of a gradual estrangement that had set in among likeminded friends. And even this later parting of the ways might not... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:A few years ago the esteemed Franciscan scholar David Flood argued that when early Franciscans used the term subditi in early texts to describe their work relationships, they "imagined a new way of working" and "gave work a new definition." To them labor was "a social act;" it was for others as well as self; it offered "the possibility of being a complete person," and "the possibility of (...) a human order marked by abundance and justice." It was refreshing to see a neglected subject receive proper scrutiny, and his conclusion, that the first Franciscans had "a particular idea of labor: a way of extending others recognition, proposing solidarity, and contributing more to production that they took from it," is a most welcome addition to Franciscan history. I agree wholeheartedly with the core of Flood's conclusion but believe it needs to be qualified. My primary intention here is offer the needed correction by placing Franciscan work theology in its larger historical context. Once monastic theology prior to Francis is documented I conclude that while early Franciscans did present society with a varieties of possibilities, these were not, as Flood maintains, either new or unique. Their ideas about work were but a continuation of a theology of work first articulated by Peter Damian and fellow reformers. After this main task is completed I offer some further speculation about the role Franciscan behavior and attitude toward work played in the anti-Franciscan criticism of the Late Middle Ages. I suggest that the Franciscan failure to keep abreast with society's expectations regarding work was in part responsible for that criticism.Christian attitudes toward labor are rooted in the Old Testament. Genesis establishes work as an activity proper to God and prelapsarian humanity. In the presence of sin labor becomes difficult and punitive, but continues to be simultaneously redemptive . Jesus "the Carpenter" says little directly about work, but the canonical authors do. Work has intrinsic value and is necessary for self-survival and the community . It is the basis for social justice and salvation . Early Christian literature deals with work in a similar manner. It is infrequently discussed, but when it is mentioned it is given due respect. Tertullian and Origen hint at a theology of work, but one has to wait for monasticism to see work theology become substantive. The Desert Fathers and Mothers and the rules of Pachomius, Basil, Augustine, Macarius, Four Fathers, Caesarius of Arles, the Master, and Benedict all discuss the spiritual necessity of work and mandate its inclusion in the daily life of monastics. During the first millennium Western society was more concerned with working than with thinking about work, but by the eleventh century conditions were more conducive to reflection. Peter Damian recognized the opportunity and responded creatively. Within his voluminous writings is the first sophisticated Christian reflection on the concept of work. It is, we shall see, the foundation for future theologies, including Francis's.Born in Ravenna in 1007 Peter Damian was educated in the liberal arts at Faenza, Parma, and probably Ravenna. Upon completion of his studies he enjoyed immediate success as a teacher, but he retired soon and entered Romuald of Ravenna's Camoldolesian monastery at Fonte Avellana ca.1034. Instead of ending his intellectual career the move actually propelled him into the limelight. By his death in 1072 Damian was a leading intellectual force throughout the West. He was also revered as a pioneering leader of the religious renewal and reform movement of the High Middle Ages. His influence was vast, a fact fully appreciated by Dante and the reason why he chose Damian as his ideal man. Although today Damian's creativity and originality is often overlooked it is hard to ignore these traits in his work theology. The theology is not, however, systematically.. (shrink)

Almost 22 years ago the Franciscan Authors Website: A Catalogue in Progress was published on-line for the first time. This internet site, which is a co-production of Maarten van der Heijden and myself, and which can still be found at its original internet address, is meant to develop into a digital successor to the Franciscan authors catalogues of Lucas Wadding and Sbaraglia. The site is by no means complete, but it does contain biographical information, bibliographical references, and information on the (...) works produced by a large and growing number of Franciscan authors... (shrink)

In an oft-quoted letter, King James IV wrote to the Dominican Prior General that Scotland was "almost the most remote region in the world."1 Nevertheless, as scholarship of the past fifteen years has shown, later medieval Scotland played a central role in Latin Christendom.2 Perhaps most importantly for the current study, numerous religious orders were active in Scotland and had significant ties to the Continent.3 Many of the same questions pertaining to Continental houses also exist for Scotland. In particular, there (...) are many unanswered questions about the group known as the Franciscan third order. Sources indicate that there were a number of men and women known as... (shrink)

The thirteenth century was a dynamic period in intellectual history which witnessed the establishment of the first universities, most famously at Paris and Oxford. At these and other major European centres of learning, English-born Franciscans came to hold prominent roles both in the university faculties of the arts and theology and in the local studia across Europe that were primarily responsible for training Franciscans. This volume explores the contributions to scholarship of some of the leading English Franciscans (...) or Franciscan associates from this period, including Roger Bacon, Adam Marsh, John Pecham, Thomas of Yorke, Roger Marston, Robert Grosseteste, Adam of Exeter, Richard Rufus of Cornwall, and Bartholomew of England. Through focussed studies of these figures' signature ideas, contributions will provide a basis for drawing comparisons between the English Franciscan school and others that existed at the time, most famously at Paris. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Human Nature in Early Franciscan Thought: Philosophical Background and Theological Significance by Lydia SCHUMACHERJohn Marshall DiamondSCHUMACHER, Lydia. Human Nature in Early Franciscan Thought: Philosophical Background and Theological Significance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023. xiv + 343 pp. Cloth, $120.00Lydia Schumacher’s recent work, Human Nature in Early Franciscan Thought: Philosophical Background and Theological Significance, is a welcome contribution to the study of the development of scholastic thought on the (...) subject of human nature. Schumacher’s work explores the various facets of theological anthropology in the first half of the thirteenth century by focusing primarily on scholars belonging to the Franciscan Order such as Philip the Chancellor, Alexander of Hales, and William of Auvergne, as well as early Dominican scholars such as Roland of Cremona and Hugh of St. Cher. Of central focus in the study is John of La Rochelle, whom the author notes “was the only member of his generation to deal robustly and comprehensively” with not only traditional questions on the soul but also matters of philosophy that had previously been considered beyond the purview of the theologian, topics that included the processes of the body and the psychological makeup of the human being. In addition, John was among the first to embrace the newly translated Arabic sources into his work, most notably the writings of Avicenna.The work is divided into eleven chapters, the first four of which provide a theological background on various authors and their views on the relation between the body and soul and the powers of the soul. The fifth and sixth chapters focus on two works of John of La Rochelle, the Tractatus and the Summa de anima, followed by a study of the reception of Averroes in the first half of the thirteenth century. The work concludes with chapters on the cognitive powers, the affections, free choice, and angels. Schumacher’s study is thorough, providing robust examinations of the individuals and topics, even those who are not central to the study, such as Roland of Cremona and Guerric of St. Quentin. [End Page 161]The book is well written and clearly elucidates the complex schemas of the topics at hand, particularly the nature of the intellect. This is particularly evident in the middle chapters, which examine the ideas of John of La Rochelle, in whose works one finds a multifaceted account of the human intellect. In addition, Schumacher notes an interesting facet of John’s view of cognition, according to which “the mind ‘predetermines’ or influences its understanding of the world.” Thus John’s theory of the act of human rationality, as Schumacher summarizes it, is “arguably achieved at the level of perception, and perception, in turn, is permeated and guided by reason’s quest to know the ‘thing in itself’ apart from matter.” John’s view is then briefly compared to that of William of Auvergne, who argued that perception is “virtually irrelevant” for human understanding. This comparison underscores the rifts that took place during the development of early thirteenth-century thought regarding the nature and function of the intellect as it underwent a profound change from traditionally Augustinian ideas to attempts to reconcile the former with the ideas found in the newly available works of Aristotle and his Arab commentators, namely, Avicenna.The only criticism one might have is that, at times, the chapters seem out of order. For example, after the two chapters that deal extensively with the works of John of La Rochelle, the following chapter is “The Reception of Averroes in Early Scholasticism,” which examines the possible sources “of the three-fold intellectual schema” that is found in John of La Rochelle’s works. Possible sources include not only Averroes but also Aristotle and Alexander of Aphrodisias, as well as two anonymous works that John knew and utilized. The chapter itself is presented effectively but makes the work feel somewhat disjointed. On occasion, readers might also find themselves wondering if Schumacher uses John of La Rochelle as a primary example of Franciscan thought in the early thirteenth century, or if the book is indeed about him, and the other figures are considered only to better explain John’s preceding and current... (shrink)