Description:

By Jacques Dalarun

Translated by Timothy J. Johnson

For years, Franciscan historians suspected that another life of St. Francis must have been produced sometime between Thomas of Celano’s first and second account, but it was largely believed to have been lost or destroyed throughout the ages. Dalarun’s groundbreaking discovery of Thomas of Celano’s Life of Our Blessed Father Francis (The Rediscovered Life) confirms that not only was such a text in fact produced, but it is has been sitting in the Vatican library waiting to be discovered all of these years. To recall a Franciscan historical discovery of such magnitude, one would have to go back to 1922 when The Assisi Compilation first came to light.   In their translation of this text, Dalarun and Johnson provide a lucid account of The Rediscovered Life that is accessible for readers of various educational backgrounds and levels of familiarity with the Franciscan heritage to comprehend. The “life” presented in this text, even if it was found some eight hundred years after it was written, has not lost any of its fascination as it offers us a surprisingly contemporary face of the Poverello of Assisi.    The Rediscovered Life is truly one of the most important historical discoveries of the twenty-first century, and its impact on both Franciscan and medieval historical scholarship will be clearly felt throughout the years to come.  

Jacques Dalarun is internationally known in the field of medieval studies, particularly for his publications on Robert of Arbrissel and Clare of Rimini.  The former director of Medieval Studies at l’Ecole francais de Rome and of l’Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes (CNRS), Dalarun is also known for his significant publications on the medieval religious experience in France and Italy.  In 2004-2005, he was the Joseph A. Doino Visiting Professor of Franciscan Studies at The Franciscan Institute, Saint Bonaventure University.  His works on Francis of Assisi have been translated into English and published by Franciscan Institute Publications:  The Misadventure of Francis of Assisi (2002), Francis of Assisi and the Feminine (2006) and Francis of Assisi and Power (2007).

Timothy J. Johnson is the Craig and Audrey Thorn Distinguished Professor of Religion at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. He holds a Doctorate in Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. In addition to lecturing in Europe and Africa, Dr. Johnson has taught at St. Bonaventure University. He has published in numerous academic journals and is the author of The Soul in Ascent: Bonaventure on Poverty, Prayer, and Union with God of which a new edition will publish in the fall of 2012.  Dr. Johnson is also contributing editor for Greyfriars Review and Francis of Assisi: The Early Documents. Works of St Bonaventure: The Sunday Sermons of St. Bonaventure was edited by Johnson.

Pb  2016: 89 p

ISBN: 13:978-1-57659-403-2