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In her second volume on Saint Clare, Sr Frances Teresa highlights the fact that ‘we can fall into the habit of thinking of Francis and Clare as if they existed in a timeless vacuum, whereas in reality they were people of their age just as much as we are’. Thus, she offers us here a context for seeing them as people of the thirteenth century. Divided into four parts, the book first takes a brief look at the Italian politics of the time and presents the various sources for the life of Clare. The second part presents each of the places in and around Assisi which were significant in the life of Clare, including the Basilica in Anagni where she was canonised. Part three considers the various bishops and popes in whose time Clare lived, and explores her relationship with each of them. The final part takes a closer look at some of the people in Clare’s life. This insightful volume brings Saint Clare’s world to life, helping the reader to experience, as much as possible, what her life and mission were actually like.
Paperback 312 pages. Published July 2026.
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When I first began devouring sources for the life of St Francis in the 1950s, scholarly material on St Clare was meagre compared to that available for St Francis. Then, in 1993, Sr Frances Teresa translated Marco Bartoli’s Clare of Assisi into English. The richness we see in Clarian studies today was beginning to take hold, culminating in Frances Teresa Downing’s five-volume study of St Clare, now available in these handsome volumes published in England for the first time. Even a casual skimming of the contents to these volumes shows how broad and deep are the subjects Sr Frances Teresa opens up for us. Having worked with her for ten years, having seen first-hand her dedication to Franciscan Sources, and having read her writings extensively, I heartily recommend these five volumes to anyone interested in St Clare and her world.
Murray Bodo OFM
Sr Frances Teresa’s writing is a gift to us all, in the Order in Britain and across the English-speaking world. In this volume Sr Frances Teresa opens for us the places where St Clare was and thereby allows us to enter Clare’s world more fully. She also introduces us to some of the people Clare lived with and knew. She has a gift for being able to bring Clare’s world to life, enriching us as she does so.
Sr Patricia Howes OSC
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