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Secondary sourceBook1900

Saint Francis of Assisi

Léopold de Chérancé · 1900

A French biography of Francis of Assisi written in 1900, later translated into English, offering a devotional and historical account of his life.

A devotional biography of Francis of Assisi written by a Capuchin friar in 1900.

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Saint Francis of AssisiPDF · 428 pages
Léopold de Chérancé, Saint Francis of Assisi, 1900. Scanned book, Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This book is a biography of Francis of Assisi written in French by Léopold de Chérancé in 1900 and translated into English. It is held as a digitized scan on the Internet Archive.

Why it matters

Written by a Capuchin friar, the book reflects a Catholic devotional tradition of writing about Francis, aimed at a general reading public rather than specialist historians. It shows how Francis's story was retold for new audiences centuries after his death.

Look closer

  • Why might a member of a Franciscan-related order be especially interested in writing about Francis?
  • What is the difference between a biography written for general readers and one written for scholars?
  • This digital copy is a scanned page image — how might a scan of an old book differ from reading the original?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Francis on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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