A History of Franciscan Education (c. 1210-1517). (Reviews).

Bert Roest, A History of Franciscan Education (c. 1210-1517)

(Education and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, 11.) Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2000. x + 405 pp. $113. ISBN: 90-04-11739-3.

Darleen Pryds, The King Embodies the Word: Robert d'Anjou and the Politics of Preaching

(Studies in the History of Christian Thought, 93.) Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2000. xi + 143 pp. $47. ISBN: 90-04-11402-5.

Bert Roest has undertaken two tasks, one explicit, the other implicit. As he explains, he intends his history to be a critical survey of work done on Franciscan education in the last half century. His themes include, of course, the formation of Franciscan educational structures and the rise of the great Franciscan teaching centers, the studia generalia principalia in Paris, Oxford and eventually Cambridge. But implicit in his history is a re-centering of work on Franciscan education away from these famous scholastic centers focusing instead on local and provincial issues critical to the evangelical vocation of the order.

Contrary to many who assume that Franciscan interest in education arose because of the Dominican influence, Roest argues that commitment to education can be found much earlier. It certainly preceded Bonaventure and probably was present even before Alexander of Hales converted and brought his chair to the Paris convent. The Paris studium at its height may have held more than 130 students, many forwarded by the various minorite provinces. These students followed the lectorate program that included lectures on biblical texts and The Sentences and even attendance at disputations. Yet they were not university students and did not ultimately take a degree. The number of students who actually matriculated at Paris or other universities was considerably lower. The influence of the Paris studium with its university connections was reduced in the later Middle Ages. With the growth of provincial and custodial studia in various parts of Europe fewer students traveled to the great studia. And Observants felt even more str ongly than did the conventuals, the tension between learning and the "humility and simplicity" thought to be at the heart of the Franciscan mission.

It is this mission that Roest believes must be at the center of Franciscan education. He includes a discussion of nominalism and cites with approval the works of the late Heiko Oberman and William Courtney. But his main concern is to redress "a one-sided emphasis on the scholarly activities of the Franciscans and those elements of their evangelical missions that depended on a thorough theological training" (235). Too much work, he concludes, has been animated by an interest in certain types of philosophical inquiry and "modern visions of what should have been" (190). The actual context of studies was quite different. Since the Franciscans continued to accept pueri oblati, much of the attention was directed at basic education. The noted shift away from education among the Observants in Italy was at least in part related to the number of mature postulants they accepted. Basic education, often at the local level, is difficult to document and Roest continues to call for more local studies. Yet certain outlines ar e clear. A great emphasis was on liturgical, devotional and mystical study. Students were expected to read and study sermons and writings on Franciscan saints as well as the Cistercian, Victorine or pseudo-Dionysian texts typical of traditional monastic education. Contemplation, imitation of Christ and apostolic virtues were the keys. As Bonaventure said, pursuit of purely secular knowledge was, in the end, vain. Roest notes this practical bent in education at a number of levels. Franciscan physicians were more likely to serve in leprosaria or hospitals rather than as teachers. Most Franciscan energy was likely to be directed toward the study of sermons. Echoing the rhetorical commonplace, virtue was thought to be as important to the preacher as theological knowledge.

Roest's book is a mine of information and suggestions for future research. Yet it is at times frustrating both for editorial and conceptual reasons. In a book treating such a breadth of subjects it is maddening to have only indexes of names and places. It may be useful to know on what pages Pinerolo or Uppsala are mentioned, but help in locating discussions of lectorate, sermons or philosophy may be of greater utility. Conceptually Roest does not always give his readers the full benefit of his learning. While he does an exemplary job of discussing the place of the Franciscans in late medieval philosophy and theology; it often seemed that he could have made more of the Franciscan contribution to the circulation of ideas. In his brief conclusion he notes that the friars were part of a broad textual community that included conversi, tertiaries and the laity. He is doubtless aware of the lively discussions of textual communities and the circulation of ideas, but in his discussion of vernacular sermons he notes on ly in passing their connection to confraternities and the laity. Given his emphasis on education outside the great universities, these popular textual communities could have been at the center of his story. On other occasions it seems that Roest chooses to avoid issues with important but unfortunate social consequences. He notes only briefly the connection between Observant preachers, the Monti di Pieta and anti-Semitism. There is obviously much more that should have been said. In part, these complaints arise because of the immense literature Roest has mastered and the breadth of his coverage. In his text and his bibliography Roest gives us a great deal more than a survey of previous work on Franciscan education.

Robert d'Anjou, the subject of Darleen Pryds' informative monograph, was heavily influenced by the Franciscans and their preaching. We have reports of almost three hundred sermons delivered by this famous preaching king of Naples. He hoped to demonstrate his wisdom and learning. The impact of his sermons may have been a great deal less. "Berteggiare," for cynical Florentines meant to dither on incessantly. Pryds argues that Rex Berta's intent, however, was to demonstrate his authority and to use his sermons as a way of uniting his disparate allies into a "textual community." To that end, she does not really present a full investigation of all his sermons nor does she try to analyze his style or content. She means to study the political context of these speech acts. The sermon he preached upon gaining the lordship of Genoa in 1318 is indicative. He emphasized the peacemaking role of the king and his natural role as leader of the Guelf factions. The Italian Guelfs for the most part ignored his theoretical claim s. They wanted a vigorous response that would rally and convince. Most of the sermons she discusses were curiously empty formal set pieces. Robert also preached at the papal court during the crisis brought on by John XXII's position on the Beatific Vision. Yet his sermon at the papal court avoided the issue. Pryds notes that he used his sermons to make a ritual show of holding an important position while at the same time he used them "to politically position himself neutrally" (82). Pryds argues that these sermons were an integral part of his public persona. But it is a difficult thesis to sustain. Robert's sermons lacked the political impact of the thirteenth-century revival preachers studied by Augustine Thompson or even of the rhetorical exercises associated with the Italian podesta. His sermons seemed ritualized in a number of ways. He regularly avoided controversy. On the vexed questions of poverty and of whether he along with his queen supported the Fraticelli, the sermons offer little evidence. The con sistent theme seems to be "his unique expression of his royal office" (105). Pryds tries to make sense of Robert's sermons and to give them political and religious importance. Yet in the end, the reader cannot help thinking that the Florentines probably got Rex Berta about right.