Description:

Clare of Assisi:  The Lady

Early Documents

Clare of Assisi: The Lady provides new translations of Clares writings and related primary sources, revised and new introductions from earlier editions, as well as previously unpublished documents to chronicle the life of Saint Clare. The first section presents Clares Letters, Testament, and Blessing. The second section includes the papal texts that prompted Clare to write her own Form of Life. 

The third section contains biographical writings about Clare beginning with Cardinal Hugolinos 1220 letter and ending with the Legend of Saint Clare. The book concludes with a dossier of documents, many translated into English for the first time, from the papacies of Honorius III, Gregory IX, and Innocent IV.

The Writings of Clare of Assisi: Letters, Form of Life, Testament and Blessing 

The third volume in the series, Studies in Early Franciscan Sources, provide assistance to those interested in a deeper understanding of the writings of the Early Documents The Writings of Francis and Clare. The authors, scholars interested in and committed to the Franciscan tradition, have brought contemporary research together, applied it to each of the specific texts, and offered their own perspective. First, the essays definethe status questionis by informing the reader about the state of current research on each of the texts considered.

Second, the essays are intended to introduce the reader to these texts within the dimensions of their multilayered contextual-historical framework. The hope of those involved in producing these studies is to help others learn how to read, interpret, and apply these newly translated texts to enrich the historical understanding, theological vision, and practical living out of the Gospel message. This volume contains essays by Ingrid Peterson, Lezlie Knox, Michael W. Blastic and Jean-François Godet-Calogeras.