Patrons of the Franciscans
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Texas Medieval Association (TEMA)
Organizer Name
John M. Howe
Organizer Affiliation
Texas Tech Univ.
Presider Name
Brenda Bolton
Presider Affiliation
Univ. of London
Paper Title 1
The Universality of Remission: The Wide Reach of Nicholas IV’s Indulgences and Their Role in His Global Politics
Presenter 1 Name
Ethan Leong Yee
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Columbia Univ.
Paper Title 2
Franciscan Ways of Conversion during the Thirteenth Century
Presenter 2 Name
Olga Posazhennikova
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Texas Tech Univ.
Paper Title 3
Thomas of Eccleston: Constructing Franciscan Memories in Thirteenth-Century England
Presenter 3 Name
Lane J. Sobehrad
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Texas Tech Univ.
Start Date
9-5-2019 10:00 AM
Session Location
Schneider 1335
Description
The Franciscans, who first appeared as humble beggars around 1210, sought to imitate Christ in his poverty. But, as had happened before in monastic history, initial success attracted not only crowds of followers but also a variety of patrons who, motivated by piety and profit, who were happy to support and subsidize the new movement. These patrons included townsmen, nobles, kings, and even the pope himself. The urban origin of the Franciscans meant that increasingly wealthy city dwellers--whose roles in supporting older, often aristocratic monastic foundations tended to be marginal—now had opportunities to become close associates of the friars. Yet there may have been an implicit contradiction between Francis’s wish that his followers remain minores and his respect and deference to a powerful hierarchical Church eager to employ for its own purposes their mobility, learning, and preaching.
Recent mendicant scholarship has been focusing less on the friars themselves and more on the roles they soon came to play in thirteenth-century European society. A conference session devoted to the Franciscans and their patrons could showcase some of this new work.
-- John Howe
Professor of History
Texas Tech University
Patrons of the Franciscans
Schneider 1335
The Franciscans, who first appeared as humble beggars around 1210, sought to imitate Christ in his poverty. But, as had happened before in monastic history, initial success attracted not only crowds of followers but also a variety of patrons who, motivated by piety and profit, who were happy to support and subsidize the new movement. These patrons included townsmen, nobles, kings, and even the pope himself. The urban origin of the Franciscans meant that increasingly wealthy city dwellers--whose roles in supporting older, often aristocratic monastic foundations tended to be marginal—now had opportunities to become close associates of the friars. Yet there may have been an implicit contradiction between Francis’s wish that his followers remain minores and his respect and deference to a powerful hierarchical Church eager to employ for its own purposes their mobility, learning, and preaching.
Recent mendicant scholarship has been focusing less on the friars themselves and more on the roles they soon came to play in thirteenth-century European society. A conference session devoted to the Franciscans and their patrons could showcase some of this new work.
-- John Howe
Professor of History
Texas Tech University