The Franciscans and the Rise of Vernacular Literature: A European Perspective
A workshop at the Institute for Advanced Study Central European University, Budapest 5-6 May 2025
Image: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Fr. 2093, f. 46r. Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
The contribution of Franciscan spirituality to vernacular culture is a well-established theme in historiography. Franciscan culture developed with a distinctive bilingualism: thanks to the Friars Minor, within two centuries, a substantial body of vernacular devotional literature emerged alongside the highbrow philosophical and theological production in Latin. Therefore, Franciscan culture played a fundamental role in the process of “delatinisation” and in accelerating the hegemony of the vernacular. However, despite the undeniable influence that the Friars Minor exerted on vernacular authorship, their contribution to Late Medieval and Early Modern literary culture remains underrepresented.
The conference aims to bring together leading scholars in Franciscan literature in the vernacular across different linguistic areas, such as Italy, Great Britain, France, and Central Europe (with a special focus on Hungary). The event aspires to foster a productive dialogue among scholars with diverse research practices and perspectives, paving the way to a more comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon on a European scale.
The label “Franciscan literature” will be understood in a broad sense, encompassing all texts composed, translated, or transcribed in connection with the Order, or that can, in any case, be associated with Franciscan spirituality. Topics to be discussed will include (but are not be limited to):
• the role of laypeople in the diffusion of Franciscan texts, with particular attention to their connection to fraternities and the Franciscan Third Order;
• gender dynamics, focusing on manuscripts related to female religious communities and on gender-specific expressions of piety;
• the examination of illustrated manuscripts, aiming to bridge textual and visual culture.
To take part in the seminar, in presence or online, please write to RossiF@ceu.edu.
Conference Program: 5-6 May 2025
Venue: CEU, Nádor u. 15, Room 101 Quantum Room
Monday, 5 May 2025
The Meditationes vitae Christi begot an intriguing family of Middle English translations. The all-powerful Mirror of Nicholas Love has enjoyed much scholarly attention in recent years, but its vernacular siblings, such as the rather lyrical and apostrophic prose Meditation on the Passion of Christ to be found in Michigan State University MS 1 and the subtly abridged verse Meditations on the Supper of Our Lord and the Hours of the Passion, deserve their own share of critical light. Each is fascinating in its own right and re-performs the possibilities of the mighty Franciscan original in ways that provoke us to ask if the Middle English Pseudo-Bonaventuran corpus should be regarded more as a set of separate works which happened to be rendering the same source or more as an intertextual repertoire significant beyond the sum of its parts.
The late medieval devotional topic of Christ’s leave-taking from his mother originating from the Meditationes vitae Christi found its way into the vernacular literatures of East Central Europe. My paper will compare two early 16th-century Hungarian texts describing the scene (one included into a passion narrative compiled for Dominican nuns and a prayer copied for Poor Clares) with chapters of the Život Krista Pána, a 14th-century Old Czech adaption of the Meditationes preserved in several manuscripts, and renderings of the event in some of the so-called Old Polish apocrypha of the New Testament from the end of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century (Żywot Pana Jezu Krysta, Rozmyślanie przemyskie, Rozmyślania dominikańskie, and Sprawa chędoga). The analysis will point out the variety of devotional nuances achieved by the various reworkings of this non-biblical scene carried out by the compilers of the vernacular texts and of the Latin intermediary sources.
The manuscript MS. Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, II.IX.13, is a richly illustrated collection of vernacular devotional treatises centred on faith, confession, the body of Christ, and his passion. These works are arranged in a coherent sequence, likely composed directly in the vernacular language. Dated to the mid-14th century, the manuscript offers valuable insight into the devotional practises of the period. The illustrations, which complement the texts, play a key role in the spiritual path they trace, and are believed to be influenced by the figurative culture of Arezzo. The manuscript’s final text, a vernacular paraphrase of Saint Francis’s Expositio in Pater Noster attributed to the friar Francesco da Giumpareto, strengthens the connection to the crucial Franciscan sanctuary of La Verna. This paper will present the first in-depth analysis of the treatises, exploring their themes and spiritual significance. Additionally, a previously unidentified version of the Passion treatise found in a Hungarian library will be introduced, revealing an unexpected circulation of the works beyond the Florentine copy.
The Observant reform of religious orders led to the establishment of a more unified cultural space within the Western world. For female communities, this movement reinforced both clausura and communal life, which in turn fostered literary activities—both passive (communal readings) and active (scriptoria)—resulting in the production of numerous vernacular texts. This study examines the social and cultural milieus of Poor Clare communities that were similar in organization and spirituality, focusing on their role in transmitting vernacular literature and written culture in Italy and Hungary around 1500. Specifically, it compares the Poor Clare monastery of Monteluce in Perugia with that of Óbuda, (present-day Budapest). Comparing late medieval religious life and vernacular literary production presents challenges due to the significant quantitative and chronological disparities in extant sources between these two regions. However, the period around 1500—marked in part by religious reform—provides a unique opportunity for comparative research, as both the production of literature in the Hungarian vernacular and the availability of historical sources allow for meaningful analysis.
The Observant reform of the 15th century reorganized and revitalized Franciscan communities in Italy, fostering one of the most flourishing cultural transformations in Central Italy. As a result of the spread of Observant ideals, a strong network developed among the monasteries of the Poor Clares, particularly in Umbria, where the movement originated. Book lists and chronicles provide valuable insights into how this network functioned – revealing the exchange of books and the mobility of nuns who traveled to other Nunneries to promote the renewal of their order. This paper examines the interconnectedness of Franciscan monasteries and their literary activities, focusing on a case study of the Libro di vita, a monumental devotional compilation by the Franciscan friar Gabriele da Hawkins da Perugia.
The paper is dedicated to the beginnings of vernacular theology in Bohemia in the second half of the 14th century and in the 15th century. It focuses on the role of the Franciscan friars as a source of inspiration but also of public offence. The emergence of vernacular theology in the secular milieu, outside the otherwise very active Order of Friars Minor, is the result of many coincidences, decisions and policies formulated by the rulers and intellectual elites of the time. The otherwise in European societies so important educational role of the Order will be viewed from the perspective of its sometimes fierce critics.
Jan Vodňanský (Aquensis, 1460 ca. – 1534 ca.), known especially for his Latin-Czech dictionary Lactifer (1508), was arguably the most prolific Franciscan Observant author in Old Czech. Most of his work, written both in Latin and Old Czech, consists of polemics against the opponents outside the Catholic Church – the Utraquists, the Unity of Brethren, and the Lutherans. However, in his Traktát o početí přečistém a neposkvrněném důstojné Panny Marie (On the most pure and immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary), the oldest Czech writing on the subject, the Dominicans become the subject of harsh criticism. In my paper, I intend to present his hostile and often manipulative rhetoric in the context of both his other writings and the contemporary conflicts between the Franciscan Observants and Dominicans in Bohemia and Moravia.
The arrival of John of Capestrano, a charismatic preacher and one of the pillars of the Franciscan Observance, in Poland in 1453 had a huge impact not only on the rapid development of the Observant friaries, but also on the profound changes in lay religiosity. Capestrano's preaching and ascetic monastic life attracted over a hundred candidates to the newly founded friary in Kraków. In the following years, a dozen observant convents were established all across Poland and Lithuania, located both in larger cities and medium-sized towns. Regularly preached sermons, as well as paraliturgical services and religious plays devoted to sacred history, enjoyed great popularity among the townsfolk. The attractiveness of the pastoral ministry of the Franciscan Observants was increased by vernacular songs and poems that were produced on a large scale and disseminated within the dynamically developing network of friaries. High morals and intellectual training of friars who belonged to the first generation of Polish Observants profiled spirituality of the Polish vicariate at the turn of the fifteenth century. Dozens friars either vested by Capestrano in 1453-1454 or taking vows after his departure from Poland were recruited from Kraków students. Among them there were: Szymon (Simon) of Lipnica, Antoni (Anthony) of Radomsko (d. 1487), Władysław (Ladislaus) of Gielniów (d. 1505) or Jan (John) Szklarek (d. 1515), Michał (Michael) Bal (d. 1496) and Jan (John) of Stobnica (d. 1530). Due to their intensive spirituality and high intellectual competences they acted provincials and guardians, exerting strong influence on the recruitment and training of novitiates. At the same time, to make the interaction with the townspeople more effective they authored popular verses and songs in Polish vernacular that conveyed basic elements of Church teaching. Thanks to such texts lay audience could better comprehend the Latin officium divinum and more actively participate in holy masses. The vernacular songs and verses addressed in particular topics characteristic of Franciscan piety such as the birth of Christ or the cult of the crib. In addition Franciscan Observants developed paraliturgical nativity plays and produced first Polish carols. Much focus was given to the Passion which was presented with dramatic details of Christ’s sufferings and appealed to emotions of the audience. The purpose of my paper is to overview the complex and fascinating phenomenon of literary activities of Polish Franciscan Observants that significantly contributed to the dynamic growth of Polish vernacular literature. Furthermore, I intend to assess the circulation of Observant religious texts and their impact on the transformations of lay piety in pre-Reformation Poland.
Tuesday, 6 May 2025
The French Lives of Saint Francis of Assisi were a key vehicle for disseminating Franciscanism and Minor ideology to a non-clerical audience from the 1330s throughout Europe (England, Picardy, Burgundy, Naples…). They therefore constitute a choice corpus for considering the relationship between the Franciscan friars and vernacular literature. This paper will begin by reviewing the work devoted to these texts to date, mainly philological (Schmidt 1905, Liedloff 1911, Thomas 1942, Pinder 1995, Brunel-Lobrichon 1997, Russell 2002) and historical (Boriosi 1997, 2010), but also literary (Pinder 1985). It will then outline some future research outlook for a comparative approach to the Lives, not only with their source texts, but also between them, in order to highlight their common features and specificities. In particular, the treatment in these vernacular texts of some of the great Franciscan themes will be considered: poverty, joy, love, imagination, the sequela Christi vs conformitas Christi, etc.
Within the framework of the project “E2F, Écritures franciscaines en français (1217-1517). Communication littéraire et ‘invention’ de la Modernité”, financed by the ANR (Agence nationale de la Recherche, France), Thibaut Radomme and I are working towards the development of a database using the Open Source database builder and publisher Heurist. It intends to list and describe a set, as comprehensive as possible, of Franciscan texts written in French during the Medieval period, with the aim of providing a means of accessing and studying these texts. This paper will start by giving a general overview of the database: origin of the project, chronological milestones, targeted texts, methodology, etc. It will then be divided into two parts: (1) the presentation of one of the records of the database, which will shed light on its content and organisation; (2) an account of the major issues faced in designing the database and identifying the texts intended to appear in it, which will include an in-depth reflection on the very definition of a “Franciscan text”.
The objective of this presentation is to offer an overview of three vitae of Francis of Assisi, which represent the earliest verse adaptations of the Vita beati Francisci by Thomas of Celano in a Romance variety. These texts have been identified by scholars with the sigla Version A, Version A1 (the latter being dependent on the former), and Version B. The analysis will focus on four key aspects: (1) the examination of the manuscript tradition; (2) the significance of the episodes added in Version A1, a text that originated in a convent of the Poor Clares and was thus intended for a female audience; (3) the iconographic study of the miniatures contained in the manuscripts preserving Versions A and A1; and (4) the interrelations among the three texts, along with hypotheses concerning their chronology.
The so-called ‘Jókai Codex’, the first codex written entirely in Hungarian (c. 1440), contains at its end a translation of a hymn attributed to John Pecham, with the incipit ‘Ego quid demerui?’. This hymn is found in a chapter of the Liber conformitatum (1385-90) of Bartolomeo da Rinonico, one of the most popular Franciscan devotional texts of the late 14th and 15th centuries. However, this text has also been transmitted independently of the Liber Conformitatum. In my paper I will discuss the textual history of the hymn and the known data on its composition. I will also compare the known variants of the hymn with the Hungarian translation and discuss how these might affect the date of the Hungarian translation.
The Virginia Codex, copied before 1529, (Library of the Hungarian National Academy of Sciences, K 40) is a noteworthy piece among Old Hungarian Codices not only because it also contains the longest extant text about St Francis of Assisi written in the Hungarian vernacular surely for a female audience, but because it was copied in the scriptorium of the Dominican nuns on the Island of the Rabbits for their own use. The Poverello in the codex is portrayed on the basis of Bartolomeo da Pisa’s De Conformitate vitae Beati Francisci ad vitam Domini Jesu approved by the Order in 1399. The De Conformitate is centred on the nuanced parallels drawn between Christ and St Francis. Among the analogies, one finds St Francis’s descent to Purgatory to save the suffering souls of the members of the Franciscans family. This episode, which actually goes back to earlier sources than the De Conformitate, is reported also in the Virginia Codex. In my talk, I present first the story’s origin and its wider spiritual context, then I shed light on the possible motivations for its translation and inclusion in a the codex.
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