Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint

André Vauchez

Book cover for Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint
Image for variant 9780300198379
Book cover for Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint
Image for variant 9780300198379

Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint

Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint

André Vauchez

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Description

First published in France, where it was awarded the Prix Chateaubriand, this masterful new biography of Francis is now available in English

In this towering work, André Vauchez draws on the vast body of scholarship on Francis of Assisi produced over the past forty years as well on as his own expertise in medieval hagiography to tell the most comprehensive and authoritative version of Francis's life and afterlife published in the past half century.

After a detailed and yet engaging reconstruction of Francis's life and work, Vauchez focuses on the myriad texts--hagiographies, chronicles, sermons, personal testimonies, etc.--of writers who recorded aspects of Francis's life and movement as they remembered them, and used those remembrances to construct a portrait of Francis relevant to their concerns. We see varying versions of his life reflected in the work of Machiavelli, Luther, Voltaire, German and English romantics, pre-Raphaelites, Italian nationalists, and Mussolini, and discover how peace activists, ecologists, or interreligious dialogists have used his example to promote their various causes. Particularly noteworthy is the attention Vauchez pays to Francis's own writings, which strangely enough have been largely overlooked by later interpreters.

The product of a lifetime of study, this book reveals a historian at the height of his powers.

About the Author

André Vauchez is professor emeritus, University of Paris X. Michael Cusato, O.F.M., teaches at the Dominican House of Studies. He lives in Washington, DC.

Critical Reviews

"This new biography will reinvigorate our appreciation of Francis' originality and radicalism."--Martin L. Smith, Washington Independent Review of Books --Martin L. Smith "Washington Independent Review of Books"

"An indispensable document attesting to what can be known of the Poor Man of Assisi, as well as a stirring exemplum of written history."--Michael Signorelli, Paris Review Daily--Michael Signorelli "Paris Review Daily"

"Fascinating"--John L. Murphy, PopMatters
--John L. Murphy "PopMatters"

"The single best book about Francis now available in English . . . Vauchez must be given the crown."--Lawrence S. Cunningham, Commonweal--Lawrence C. Cunningham "Commonweal"

"Full of nuance and engaging detail, providing insight into [an] enduring legacy"--Iris McLister, Santa Fe New Mexican--Iris McLister "Santa Fe New Mexican"

"Comprehensive [and] engaging."--P. L. Urban Jr., Choice
--P. L. Urban Jr. "Choice"

"One comes away from [this] book not only with a new understanding of Francis, but also with a renewed appreciation for the relationship between sanctity and authentic humanity."--Alden Bass, Englewood Review of Books --Alden Bass "Englewood Review of Books"

"A refreshingly complex portrait of one of Catholicism's most familiar figures. . . . Engaging."--Kathleen Manning, U.S. Catholic --Kathleen Manning "U.S. Catholic"

Publishing Information

Publisher: Yale University Press
Pub date: 2013-05-14
Length: 416 pages

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