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Alan of Lille · 1181–1184 · Poem
Alan of Lille's Anticlaudianus stands as one of the most ambitious allegorical poems of the twelfth century, a sweeping vision of cosmic redemption written between 1181 and 1184. Composed in Latin hexameters,…
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Stephen Langton · 1190–1210 · Treatise
Stephen Langton's Distinctiones emerged from the vibrant theological schools of late twelfth-century Paris, where the future Archbishop of Canterbury developed this ambitious biblical commentary while teaching at the university. Written between 1190…
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Stephen Langton · 1190–1210 · Treatise
Stephen Langton's Questiones super totam Bibliam emerged from the revolutionary changes in biblical study at the University of Paris in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. As a master in the…
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Alan of Lille · 1190–1200 · Treatise
Alan of Lille's Ars Praedicandi stands as one of the most influential medieval treatises on the art of preaching, written in the late twelfth century during a period of intense ecclesiastical reform…
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Francis of Assisi · 1205 · Other
This brief prayer emerged from a pivotal moment in the spiritual awakening of Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, later known as Francis of Assisi. Around 1205, while praying in the dilapidated church…
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Francis of Assisi · 1205–1226 · Other
The writings of Francis of Assisi emerge from the radical conversion of a wealthy merchant's son who abandoned his inheritance to embrace absolute poverty in service to Christ. Composed between 1205 and…
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Francis of Assisi · 1212–1226 · Treatise
This brief rule represents Francis of Assisi's attempt to provide formal guidance for the community of women religious that formed around Clare of Assisi at San Damiano. Written between 1212 and 1226,…
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Thomas Gallus · 1218 · Commentary
A running gloss on the Song of Songs, composed in 1218 while Thomas Gallus was a canon regular of the abbey of Saint-Victor in Paris, before his move to Italy and his…
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Francis of Assisi · 1220–1226 · Treatise
The Admonitions comprise a collection of twenty-eight brief spiritual instructions that Francis of Assisi composed for his growing community of friars during the 1220s. Written as the Franciscan order expanded rapidly across…
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Alexander of Hales · 1220–1229 · Commentary
Alexander of Hales produced this extensive gloss on Peter Lombard's Four Books of Sentences during his years as master of theology at the University of Paris in the 1220s. The Sentences had…
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Hadewijch of Brabant · 1220–1260 · Book
Hadewijch of Brabant wrote in thirteenth-century Flanders as part of the Beguine movement, communities of lay religious women who pursued contemplative lives without formal monastic vows. Writing in Middle Dutch rather than…
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Francis of Assisi · 1220–1226 · Letter
This brief letter represents one of the few authentic writings from Francis of Assisi, addressed to Brother Leo, his beloved companion and confessor. Written during Francis's final years between 1220 and 1226,…
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Francis of Assisi · 1220–1226 · Letter
Written during Francis of Assisi's final years as the Franciscan movement expanded rapidly across Europe, this letter addresses the entire brotherhood at a moment of institutional tension. The original band of twelve…
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Hadewijch of Brabant · 1220–1250 · Letter
The Brieven are thirty-one letters written by Hadewijch of Brabant, a thirteenth-century Flemish mystic and beguine, to members of her spiritual community sometime between 1220 and 1250. These letters emerged from Hadewijch's…
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Alexander of Hales · 1220–1245 · Treatise
Alexander of Hales composed this theological treatise during his tenure at the University of Paris in the early thirteenth century, addressing fundamental questions about the relationship between faith and law that emerged…
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Hadewijch of Brabant · 1220–1250 · Poem
The Mengeldichten, or "Mixed Poems," represents the most diverse collection of verse by Hadewijch of Brabant, the thirteenth-century Flemish mystic whose writings stand among the earliest and most sophisticated expressions of vernacular…
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Hadewijch of Brabant · 1220–1250 · Poem
The Stanzaic Poems of Hadewijch represent the earliest known mystical poetry in the Dutch vernacular, composed by a thirteenth-century Flemish beguine whose identity remains otherwise lost to history. Writing within the vibrant…
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Hadewijch of Brabant · 1220–1250 · Other
The Visioenen represents one of the earliest and most extraordinary collections of mystical visions in medieval vernacular literature, composed by Hadewijch of Brabant sometime between 1220 and 1250. Writing in Middle Dutch…
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Francis of Assisi · 1221 · Treatise
The Rule of 1221, also known as the Earlier Rule or Regula non bullata, represents Francis of Assisi's first attempt to codify the way of life for his growing fraternity of friars.…
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Francis of Assisi · 1221 · Treatise
The Regula non bullata, or "Rule without the Papal Bull," represents Francis of Assisi's original and most expansive vision for the religious community that formed around him in the early thirteenth century.…
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Francis of Assisi · 1223 · Treatise
The Regula bullata stands as the final and definitive rule for the Franciscan order, approved by Pope Honorius III in 1223 through a papal bull that gave the document its name. Francis…
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Thomas Gallus · 1224–1246 · Commentary
Thomas Gallus was a canon of Saint-Victor in Paris who was sent to northern Italy in 1219 and became abbot of Sant'Andrea in Vercelli, where he died in 1246. Across more than…
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Francis of Assisi · 1224 · Poem
The Canticle of the Creatures emerged from Francis of Assisi in 1224, near the end of his life, as he lay nearly blind and in great physical pain at San Damiano. Written…
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Francis of Assisi · 1226 · Letter
The Testament of St. Francis stands as the final spiritual directive of Francis of Assisi, dictated in the weeks before his death in October 1226. Written not as a formal last will…
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