Creating Clare of Assisi : female Franciscan identities in later medieval Italy / by Lezlie S. Knox.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Knox, Lezlie S.

Series:

Medieval Franciscans ; v. 5.

The medieval Franciscans, 1572-6991 ; v. 5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monastic and religious life of women--Italy--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Monastic and religious life of women.

Poor Clares--Italy--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Poor Clares.

Clare, of Assisi, Saint, 1194-1253.

Clare.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (243 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Earlier scholarship has characterized female Franciscanism as an institution established by Clare of Assisi in collaboration with Saint Francis. This understanding is anachronistic, however, and overlooks the more complicated disputes over what it meant for enclosed women to have a mendicant vocation. This book clarifies Clare’s contributions to these debates by distinguishing the historical figure from the uses made of her legacy by the papacy, the Friars Minor, and, most importantly, the enclosed sisters between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. By examining the diversity of female communities and their complicated institutional formation in medieval Italy, it examines how and when Clare was appropriated as a model of spiritual authority by the women to shape their identity as Franciscans.

Contents:

The friars and sisters

Clare and the Poor Sisters of San Damiano

The Order of Saint Clare

Beyond Clare : a Franciscan centered order

The Clarisses and observant reform

Writing female Franciscan identity

Conclusion: The true daughters of Francis and Clare.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-213) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-39838-5

9786612398384

90-474-4306-3

OCLC:

647872769

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004166516.i-227 DOI