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Secondary sourceBook1904

The Life of Saint Francis

Bonaventure · 1904

An English edition of Bonaventure's thirteenth-century official biography of Francis of Assisi, published in 1904.

An English translation of the authorized Franciscan biography of Francis, shaping how he was remembered.

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The Life of Saint Francis
Bonaventure, The Life of Saint Francis, 1904 English edition. Digitized from Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This book is an English translation of the official life of Francis of Assisi written by Bonaventure, a Franciscan friar and cardinal who led the order after Francis's death. This edition appeared in 1904, with chapters covering his conversion, the founding of his order, and his later life.

Why it matters

Bonaventure's biography became the Franciscan order's standard account of its founder, shaping how generations of friars and readers understood Francis's humility, poverty and devotion. As a later, authorized account rather than an eyewitness record, it shows how an institution shaped the memory of its founder.

Look closer

  • Why might the Franciscan order have wanted a single official biography of its founder?
  • Looking at the chapter list, what qualities of Francis does Bonaventure seem most interested in?
  • How might a biography written to guide an order differ from one written simply to record facts?

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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