Clare of Assisi and the Poor Sisters in the Thirteenth Century

Cover

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pp. 1-3

Title Page, Copyright

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pp. 4-5

Contents

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pp. 6-7

Preface

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pp. 8-9

This is Maria Pia Alberzoni’s first book published in English. It will give English-speaking audiences access to the research this outstanding Italian scholar has done in the past years on Clare and the Poor Sisters in the thirteenth century....

Abbreviations

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pp. 10-11

Introduction

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pp. 12-29

The so-called “women’s religious movement” has been carefully examined in many studies published especially in the early decades of the twentieth century. An important point of departure for these studies in historiography is the famous work of Herbert Grundmann, which was published in 1935 and then...

Chapter 1 Clare and the Papacy

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pp. 30-89

When, in the final years of her life, Clare of Assisi dedicated herself to drafting the rule for her own community and for those who might wish to follow its example,² various reasons prompted her to place strong emphasis on the monastery of San Damiano’s vital dependence on the Apostolic See....

Chapter 2 San Damiano in 1228:A Contribution to the “Clarian Question”

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pp. 90-113

If we are to consider Clare’s Testament authentic, its mention of the privilegium paupertatis obtained from Innocent III becomes decisive; however, we fail to realize that the argumentation is flawed by the very fact that Innocent’s Privilege must be proven to have been granted by that pope. One cannot base...

Chapter 3 Sorores minores and Ecclesiastical Authority as far as the Pontificate of Urban IV

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pp. 114-155

This famous passage from Thomas of Pavia who, in turn, is relating the memoirs of Brother Stephen,2 seems to indicate that underlying Francis’s concern in regard to the use of the term Sorores Minores was more than a problem of terminology: ...

Chapter 4 The Papacy and New Women’s Religious Orders

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pp. 156-209

The first decades of the thirteenth century mark a decisive moment in the evolution of forms of religious life and even for the very definition and consolidation of the concept of “religious Order” in the sense that we still give the term.¹...

Appendices

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pp. 210-217

Bibliography

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pp. 218-241