Introduction

Summary

The book is simultaneously a thing, a force, an event, a history.

In the western part of Colombia, facing the Pacific Ocean, lies Chocó, a region entirely covered by tropical rainforest. This place has some of the heaviest rainfall levels on the planet and perhaps it is the most humid place in the world. Thanks to these particularly challenging conditions, Chocó became a refuge for enslaved men and women who fled from the wealthy colonial centres of the Caribbean, beginning in the seventeenth century. Today, every year, from mid-September to mid-October, the whole population of Quibdó, its capital city, participates in the most important celebration of the entire region, the festival of San Pacho, a celebration of the African heritage of the community, and commemoration of the figure at the centre of their cultural agency: brother Francis of Assisi. The colourful festival of San Pacho illustrates the extent of the success of Franciscan missionary work, a worldwide campaign inspired by the example, words and figure of a thirteenth-century preacher from a small city on the hills of central Italy.

The impact of Franciscan preaching was possible thanks to a demanding programme of training based on intensive study. Thus, we may assume that books were at the core of Franciscan identity from its origins, but this did not mean that the relation between Franciscans and books was ever smooth. From the very beginning, Francis wanted the order to rely on something more fundamental than intellectual achievement, and feared that affection for books could endanger the original apostolic spirituality of the community. Nevertheless, Franciscans soon became an order of learned individuals, that is, intellectuals who were familiar with the complexities of the cultural practice of medieval universities, and who contributed to all areas of knowledge. Despite the warnings of their founder, Franciscanfriarsfell in love with books and tried by all means available to reconcile the spirit of Francis with their devotion to manuscripts and learning.

This book will explore the relation between Franciscans and books in terms of the interaction between friars and manuscripts in the male convents of the city of Padua from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. To do so, four aspects, or dimensions, of the Franciscan manuscripts will be discussed.