Colette of Corbie: Learning and Holiness

Colette of Corbie (1381-1447): Learning and Holiness, by Elisabeth Lopez, translated by Joanna Walter will be released for the first time in English. Lopez’s book, originally published in French in 1994, is a serious study of Colette and her reform movement of the Poor Clare Sisters. “Lopez’s book is necessary reading for anyone who wants to understand the many faceted aspects of the history of the Poor Clares,” says Pacelli Millane, O.S.C. Clarisses de Valleyfield. Colette of Corbie is one of the few texts written depicting the historical context and spiritual depth of the reform which offered women of the Second Order the opportunity to return to the observance of the Rule of St. Clare. “It is really wonderful that Elisabeth Lopez’s book has now been translated into English, especially because it fills a gap in the history of Franciscan women during the Late Medieval period and specifically of the Poor Clares, whose diversity, spiritual creativity and influence have been emphasized by recent European scholarship,” states André Vauchez.