Testimony, Narrative and Image comprises a set of fifteen studies dedicated to the memory of the preeminent scholar Rosalind B. Brooke. As the author of two authoritative monographs, including Early Franciscan Government: Elias to Bonaventure (CUP, 1959, repr. 2006) and The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth Century (CUP 2006), complemented by a meticulous edition and analysis on the Scripta Leonis, Rufini et Angeli sociorum S. Francisci (OUP, 1970, repr. 1990), Rosalind B. Brooke has contributed substantially to our understanding of the early history of the Friars Minor. The present volume is divided into four parts, each of which picks up on various threads inspired by her scholarship. After a brief introduction by the editors, Michael F. Cusato and Michael J.P. Robson, the first section, which perhaps interacts the most closely with Brooke, assesses her scholarly legacy. For this, the first two studies re-examine two figures key for Brooke’s agenda. Michael W. Blastic, O.F.M., examines the “Franciscan Question,” which is concerned with how the historical St. Francis can be found in the multitude of sources reporting about him, while Maria Pia Alberzoni revisits Elias of Cortona, one of the most controversial torchbearers in the early historiography of the order. Bert Roest also deals with Elias and questions of early Franciscan government, and in doing so this study yields a very useful re-assessment of Brooke’s, in certain ways quite underappreciated, contributions to the field.
The second cluster of studies is dubbed “History.” Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M. sheds light on the collaboration between the Franciscan minister general John of Parma and the Dominican master general Humbert of Romans, which resulted in the Joint Encyclical of 1255, a text often examined by scholars for its characteristic apocalyptic imagery. Taking an internal view of the Friars Minor, Jens Röhrkasten’s study investigates unity and diversity within the order under Bonaventure, who was faced with the difficult task of ensuring the uniformity of its vast organisation while also being under fire from external accusations. David Luscombe in turn investigates John Peckham’s Jerarchie, which is also extended with the publication of two short sources about the English and French translations of the text. Luigi Pellegrini sheds more light on the development of Franciscan liturgy by drawing on an overlooked manuscript originating from Assisi, currently in the Holy Names College. Moreover, Peter Murray Jones’s study explores the career of the Franciscan medicus William Holme (fl. 1380-1415), which illuminates the activity of medical practitioners within the order around the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, which is otherwise often seen as a decline in such practices compared to thirteenth-century precedents.
The third section of the volume focusses on hagiographical sources. Maria Teresa Dolso revisits the complicated relationship between “science” and culture through focussing on the emergence of Anthony of Padua, the second canonised member of the order after its founder, who encapsulated perfectly the new pastoral responsibilities of the friars. Michael J.P. Robson’s study compares and contrasts two canonical sources, the Compilatio Assisiensis and the De adventu Fratrum Minorum in Angliam, to survey the image of the friars. In this, he also highlights the duality of the Franciscan tradition, both rooted in an eremitical world but also its relation to the urban experience, a question which indeed deserves more attention in scholarship. In the next study, André Vauchez explores the prominent role of St. Francis and other Franciscan saints in Italian preaching in the thirteenth and early fourteenth century, as well as how they reflect ongoing changes in piety and spirituality.
The fourth and final part of the volume explores artistic themes. The first study by David Burr focusses on art and early Olivian exegesis, and considers how images might function as metaphors for abstract theological structures. William R. Cook surveyed images of St. Francis in the thirteenth century, and how they developed in parallel with but also in some ways differently than the written narratives. In contrast to the next two studies, unfortunately no images are provided here, which might make it rather difficult to follow for readers not familiar with these paintings. Nigel Morgan’s study revisits the Franciscan elements in the Gulbenkian and Abingdon Apocalypse commentary illustrations, which also extends to considering the potential female donor behind the commission. Finally, the last essay by Kathleen Giles Arthur investigates images of St. Francis through four fifteenth-century altarpieces, which sheds better light onto artistic patronage connected to the Observant Friars.
This volume, with thirteen studies written in English and two in Italian, therefore offers a wide variety of materials focussed on the early history of the Franciscan Order. While this focus is its strength, at the same time it also limits its access for a more general readership. Much of the content is intent on examining internal debates concerning Franciscan thought, governance, and sanctity. Even students of the Middle Ages who might not be familiar to the same degree with the questions examined here might find it hard to orientate themselves or to gain insight into the significance of the issues under discussion. All of this presents a highly internal vision of Franciscan history. To mention an example, the Franciscans’ interaction with other mendicant or religious orders receives very little consideration, and even then, only the Dominicans make an appearance. However, albeit in a fragmented way as is often the nature of such volumes, the various threads ultimately yield many useful contributions. This book will be of much use for specialists of the Friars Minor, which makes a worthy memorial to the legacy of Rosalind B. Brooke, picking up on various topics which stood close to her heart.