Return to the index of "Other Women's Voices."
Updated 11-14-08
Clare of Assisi
/Chiara di Offreduccio (1193/4-1253)
=========================================================================
"...BELIEVING NOTHING, AGREEING WITH NOTHING THAT WOULD
DISSUADE YOU FROM THIS COMMITMENT."
=========================================================================
Clare was born in Assisi, Italy, to a noble family. By the time she was in her teens she would have heard of Francis, the local young man who renounced his family's wealth around 1206, gathered some young men around him, and preached throughout the city. At some point she heard him preach and decided that, like Francis, she too could live a life of poverty dedicated to Christ. Tradition says that her family arranged a marriage for her; she refused, arranged to meet Francis, and told him of her wishes.
In 1212, the Bishop of Assisi accepted Clare's promise of virginity, and Francis took her to a Benedictine monastery. When her family came there to take her home, she moved to another monastery. Finally, she and some women who had decided to join her moved to San Damiano, a small church that Francis had earlier repaired. Sometime before 1217 Francis wrote out for Clare and her sisters a brief "form of life" for them to follow. Thus they were a religious community, but they did not yet have papal approval.
In 1215, a Church Council had decreed that any new religious communities must follow a Rule already established by some earlier order. Francis had received oral approval for the way of life of the Friars Minor five years before the decree, but this did not cover the "Poor Sisters" at San Damiano. As a result, in 1219 Clare had to accept a Benedictine Rule. This was alien to Francis' and Clare's vision because even though Benedictine monks and nuns took vows of personal poverty, the monasteries themselves owned property, in many cases huge estates. Luckily, through Francis' intervention, in 1215 or 1216 the nuns had received from the pope a "privilege of poverty," which at least temporarily kept San Damiano from having to own property. There were other things in the Benedictine Rule that Clare didn't think fit the Franciscan spirit (among them the title of "abbess"), but she accepted them because she had that "privilege of poverty."
Two years after Francis' death in 1226, a new pope renewed the "privilege of poverty" for the nuns presently at San Damiano but not for for future nuns and not for the newer foundations that had been made by then. Twenty years later, another pope gave (and bound observance to) a new Rule for all the monasteries of the Poor Sisters (later called Poor Clares): it did not mention the Benedictine Rule, but it ordered them "to receive, to have in common, and to freely retain produce and possessions."
At this point Clare began writing her own Rule (which she called a "form of life"); hers is the earliest that we are sure was written by a woman. Once it was written, she had to try to get papal approval for it. That took until two days before her death, but she died thinking that she had succeeded. However, within ten years of her death all of her houses were forbidden to practice institutional poverty.
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Excerpts from translations in print.
Information about secondary sources
=========================================================================
1. In English:
(a) From a collection of women's letters in translation and in the original Latin, four letters to Agnes of Prague: the 1234 first letter, the 1235-38 second letter, the 1238 third letter, and the 1253 fourth letter, all translated by Joan Mueller. And at the same site, the attributed letter to Ermentrude of Bruges, translated by Joan Ferrante. At each letter, note the comment on the "historical context."
(b) Another version of the five letters, here translated by Regis J. Armstrong and Ignatius C. Brady.
(c) After a chronology of her life, Clare's "form of life" (here called her "Rule"), translated by Armstrong.
(d) The "Testament," apparently written by Clare shortly before her death, translated by Armstrong.
2. In the original Latin (these are hypertext versions: at highlighted words and phrases you can link to all uses of the terms):
(a) Epistolae (the five letters).
(b) Regula (the "form of life"); it is preceded by the 1253 document "Solet annuere," in which Pope Innocent IV gave his approval.
(c) Testamentum.
3. Essays, etc.
(a) After a brief foreward, Johannes-Baptist Freyer's 2003 "Christ Has Become for Us the Way: Elements in the Spirituality of St Clare" uses the letters to Agnes and other writings to show Clare's views on poverty, penance, and community. The translations used are by Armstrong.
(b) Catherine Mooney's "Imitatio Christi or Imitatio Mariae? Claire of Assisi and her Interpreters" (1999) discusses how Clare saw herself and how male Franciscans saw her. Mooney quotes frequently from Clare's writings, giving both her own translation and (in the notes) the Latin original.
(c) A link to the text of Ernest Gilliat-Smith's 1914 Saint Clare of Assisi: Her Life and Legislation; although later research has called into question some of the information about Clare's life, the second part of the study (starting at p.115) clearly documents her difficulties with establishing her "form of life." You can also download the work as a PDF file.
(d) An essay by Noel Muscat on Clare and San Damiano, which includes (at section 3.6) a passage from Jacques de Vitry's 1216 letter describing Sorores Minores, who "live near the cities in various hospices"; the question of whether or not these women were connected with Clare's group has been discussed for 800 years.
(e) At this group of lecture notes by Muscat, the three links given at #3, "The writings of St. Clare," provide background on the works; the four links at #5, "Sources for the life of St. Clare," describe contemporary documents that refer to Clare.
(f) Lezlie Knox' entry on the "Poor Clares" in the 2006 Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia describes the early problems of the order.
(g) Excerpts (from the introduction and from Eileen Flanagan on Clare's letters) and the table of contents of the 2004 collection of essays, An Unencumbered Heart: A Tribute to Clare of Assisi 1253-2003 (for more on the book, see "Secondary sources").
(h) A 2002 conference paper abstract by Joan Mueller, "Vocation as Ultimate Authority: Clare of Assisi and Gregory IX."
4. Reviews (for excerpts from the translation, see "In print"; for information on the other books' treatment of Clare, see "Secondary sources"):
(a) Gordon Plumb on Armstrong's 2006 translation, The Lady: Clare of Assisi: Early Documents.
(b) Andrew T. McCarthy on Mueller's 2006 study The Privilege of Poverty: Clare of Assisi, Agnes of Prague, and the Struggle for a Franciscan Rule for Women.
(c) James A. Wiseman on Bernard McGinn's 1998 history, The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism (1200-1350); elsewhere, another review, this by Lawrence S. Cunningham.
(d) Catherine M. Mooney on Elizabeth Petroff's 1994 study, Body and Soul: Essays on Medieval Women and Mysticism.
5. After a brief biography and list of editions and translations, a multi-page bibliography of studies through 2007.
6. Frescoes attributed to Giotto di Bondone and done at Assisi less than 50 years after Clare's death:
(a) Francis and Clare.
(b) Francis' body brought to San Damiano in 1226.
=========================================================================
[Regis J. Armstrong has translated all the known writings of Clare, as well as the contemporary documents that refer to her, including those by Francis. The translations are somewhat different from an earlier edition (1993), but not substantially. The value of the new edition lies in the updated introduction, notes, and bibliography. A detailed index is useful. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
The lady: Clare of Assisi: early documents / translation [and
editing] by Regis J. Armstrong. New York: New City Press, c2006.
Rev. ed. (461 p.)
LC#: BX4700.C6 A2 2006; ISBN: 1565482204, 1565482212
Includes bibliographical references and (p. 431-436) indexes.
[ISBN of Clare of Assisi: early documents (1993): 0809130122]
------------------------------------------------------
"You took a spouse of a more noble stock."
------------------------------------------------------
[From the first of four extant letters to Agnes of Prague, begun in the 1230s. After hearing Franciscan friars preach in Prague two years earlier, Agnes, daughter of the King of Bohemia and the Queen of Hungary, had rejected the marriage proposal of Emperor Frederick II and established a monastery where she and other women could live like the Poor Sisters at San Damiano. Clare wrote to encourage Agnes by pointing out that her new husband ranked higher than an emperor:]
For, though you more than others, could have enjoyed the magnificence, honor, and dignity of the world and could have been married to the illustrious Emperor with splendor befitting you and His Excellency, you have rejected all these things and have chosen with your whole heart and soul a life of holy poverty and bodily want. Thus you took a spouse of a more noble stock, who will keep your virginity ever unspotted and unsullied, the Lord Jesus Christ.... [pp.43-44]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Even though you must respect him, do not follow his counsel."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[From Clare's second letter to Agnes of Prague. For Agnes, as for Clare, the chief cause of opposition was poverty. The current pope, Gregory IX, wanted Agnes' monastery to accept profit from a hospice she had earlier founded, while the current Franciscan leader, Brother Elias, supported her in her refusal:]
What you hold, may you hold.
What you do, may you do and not stop.
But with swift pace, light step, unswerving feet,
so that even your steps stir up no dust,
may you go forward
securely, joyfully, and swiftly,
on the path of prudent happiness,
believing nothing,
agreeing with nothing
that would dissuade you from this commitment
or place a stumbling block for you on the way,
so that nothing prevents you from offering
your vows to the Most High in the perfection
to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you.
In all of this, follow the counsel of our venerable Father, our Brother Elias, the Minister General, that you may walk more securely in the way of the commands of the Lord. Prize it beyond the advice of the others and cherish it as dearer to you than any gift.
If anyone has said anything else or suggested any other thing to you that might hinder your perfection or that would seem contrary to your divine vocation, even though you must respect him, do not follow his counsel.
But as a poor virgin,
embrace the poor Christ. [pp.48-49]
-----------------------------------------------
"Distribute the proceeds to the poor."
-----------------------------------------------
[The Rule that Clare and her nuns had been forced to accept in 1219 never assured her the kind of poverty under which she wished to live, an institutional as well as a personal poverty. While she was abbess, she could see that San Damiano and nearby foundations remained poor, but as she grew older, she wanted something in writing. So, she wrote her own "form of life" for her nuns to follow. A few excerpts show what was new about Clare's thought. First, on accepting a candidate; at other monasteries candidates were expected to bring a dowry:]
If she is suitable, let the words of the holy Gospel be addressed to her that she should go and sell all that she has and take care to distribute the proceeds to the poor. If she cannot do this, her good will shall suffice. [p.110]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Let him dispose them to perfect harmony and the common
good."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[On election of an abbess; the earlier Rule prescribed by the Pope had made the election subject to the approval of one of the leaders of the Friars Minor:]
The sisters are bound to observe the canonical form in the election of the abbess . Let them quickly arrange to have the General Minister or the Provincial Minister of the Order of Lesser Brothers present. Through the Word of God, let him dispose them to perfect harmony and the common good in the election to be held. [p.114]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Lord frequently reveals what is best to the least."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[On meeting and decision-making; consultation had not been in the earlier Rule:]
The Abbess is bound to call her sisters together at least once a week in the chapter, where both she and her sisters should humbly confess their common and public offenses and negligences. There let her consult with all her sisters regarding whatever concerns the welfare and good of the monastery; for the Lord frequently reveals what is best to the least. [p.216]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"As pilgrims and strangers... let them send confidently
for alms."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[The question of how the Poor Sisters would survive was the crux of the disagreement between Clare and the hierarchy. Her nuns brought no dowry; the monastery had no income. Clare was making her sisters totally dependent on the goodwill of the community and on the ability (and willingness) of the friars to find what the nuns needed to survive. Not all shared her faith that "God would provide":]
Let the sisters not appropriate anything to themselves, neither a house nor a place nor anything at all; instead, as pilgrims and strangers in this world who serve the Lord in poverty and humility, let them send confidently for alms. Nor should they be ashamed, since the Lord made Himself poor in this world for us.
This is the summit of the highest poverty which has established
you, my dearest sisters, heiresses and queens of the kingdom
of heaven; it has made you poor in things but exalted you in
virtue. Let this be your portion which leads into the land of
the living. Clinging totally to this, my most beloved sisters,
do not wish to have anything else in perpetuity under heaven
for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and His most holy mother. [pp.119-20]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"...those who are a mirror and example to others may be
reflected in us."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Shortly before her death in 1253, Clare is believed to have written her "Testament." The monastery at San Damiano now held about 50 nuns, and 110 foundations had been made throughout Europe (although most of these were required to own property). This was Clare's last chance to try to convey her vision of her community as an "mirror" for the world as Christ was a mirror for the nuns:]
For the Lord Himself has placed us as a model, as an example and mirror not only for others, buut also for our sisters whom the Lord has called to our way of life as well, that they in turn might be a mirror and example to those living in the world.
Since the Lord has called us to such great things that those who are a mirror and example to others may be reflected in us, we are greatly bound to bless and praise God and to be strengthened more and more to do good in the Lord. [p.61]
=========================================================================
[This anthology, translated by Armstrong and Ignatius C. Brady, contains all of the works of both Francis and Clare. The translations of Clare's writings differ slightly from those in Armstrong's book (above). This book's value lies in the presence of Francis's complete writings, as so much of what Clare wrote is built on Francis' views and way of life:]
Francis and Clare: the complete works / translation and introduction
by Regis J. Armstrong and Ignatius C. Brady; preface by John
Vaughn (The Classics of Western spirituality). New York: Paulist
Press, c1982. (xvi, 256 p.)
LC#: BX890 .F665 1982; ISBN: 0809124467, 0809103303
Includes indexes. Bibliography: p. 245-246.
=========================================================================
[Joan Mueller's study describes of how Clare (and her follower, Agnes of Prague) tried to maintain over the years the original goal of living a life of poverty. Mueller provides both a close reading of Clare's four letters to Agnes and her "form of life" and also a detailed description of the ecclesiastical and political situation in which the early Franciscan women found themselves. Mueller sees Clare as "politically adroit" (p. ix). Passages from Clare's writing are given in Mueller's translation, and the Latin original of all cited documents are given in the notes. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Mueller, Joan. The privilege of poverty: Clare of Assisi,
Agnes of Prague, and the struggle for a Franciscan rule for women.
University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, c2006.
(x, 182 p.: ill.)
LC#: BX4362 .M84 2006; ISBN: 0271028939, 9780271028934
Includes bibliographical references (p. [164]-177) and index
-----------------------
[The five essays in this collection discuss and illustrate the ongoing research into what is known (and what has been believed) about Clare. Two deal directly with her writing: Jean Francois Godet-Calogeras' "Structure of the Form of Life of Clare," and Eileen Flanagan's "Medieval Epistolary Genre and the Letters to Agnes of Prague":]
An unencumbered heart: a tribute to Clare of Assisi 1253-2003
/ edited by Jean François Godet-Calogeras and Roberta
McKelvie (Spirit and life; v. 11). St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan
Institute Publications, St. Bonaventure University, 2004. (76
p.; 28 cm.)
LC#: BX3601 .S647 v.11; ISBN: 1576591921
Includes bibliographical references.
----------------------
[Aline Looman-Graaskamp and Frances Teresa have translated this 1994 study, by Edith A. van den Goorbergh and Theodore H. Zweerman, of the four letters written by Clare to Agnes of Prague. The letters are given in their original Latin and in English; the discussion analyzes their structure, sources, and use of metaphor. Throughout, the authors illustrate the differences in the thought of Clare and Francis. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Light shining through a veil: on Saint Clare's letters to
Saint Agnes of Prague / by Edith A. van den Goorbergh and Theodore
H. Zweerman; translated by Aline Looman-Graaskamp and Frances
Teresa OSC (Fiery arrow collection; 2). Leuven: Peeters, 2000.
(xi, 339 p.)
LC#: BX4700.C6 A413x 2000; ISBN: 9042908459
Translation of: Clara van Assisi : licht vanuit de verborgenheid.
Letters in English and Latin. Includes bibliographical references
(p. [315]-324) and indexes
-----------------------
[Another close reading of the four letters to Agnes of Prague is found in Colette Joly Dees' translation of Claire Marie Ledoux's theological study. Ledoux discusses the complexity of Clare's views on the nature of a human being and of Jesus, and on the relationship between the two:]
Ledoux, Claire Marie. Clare of Assisi: her spirituality revealed
in her letters; translated from the French by Colette Joly Dees.
Cincinnati, Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, [c2003]. (xviii,
125 p.)
LC#: BX4700.C6 A4 2003; ISBN: 0867163682
Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-125)
----------------------
[Margaret Carney's study of the "form of life" written
by Clare compares it to the earlier Rules assigned to the Poor
Sisters in order to show Clare's distinctive contribution. Carney
also provides valuable background information on the period.
One caution: the first chapter assumes the reader's familiarity
with the early sources on the life of Clare (such as those found
in Armstrong, above); the rest of the book, however, assumes
no prior knowledge and gives all needed information:]
Carney, Margaret. The first Franciscan woman: Clare of Assisi
& her form of life. Quincy, Ill.: Franciscan Press, c1993.
(261 p.)
LC#: BX4700.C6 C37 1993; ISBN: 0819909629
Includes bibliographical references (p. [247]-258.
----------------------
[This collection includes Paul Lachance's essay " Mysticism and Social Transformation According to the Franciscan Way," which presents both Clare and Francis as strong and influential leaders. Lachance discounts the early legends and instead gives a detailed discussion of the writings. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Mysticism and social transformation / edited by Janet K. Ruffing;
with a foreword by Robert J. Egan. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University
Press, 2001. (xvi, 220 p.)
LC#: BV5082.2 .M58 2001; ISBN: 0815628765, 0815628773
-----------------------
[Volume 3 of Bernard McGinn's history of western Christian mysticism includes a brief but useful discussion of Clare's writings (pp.64-69). McGinn's notes give full bibliographic information on translations and studies; they also give the original of all translated passages. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
McGinn, Bernard.The flowering of mysticism: men and women
in the new mysticism (1200-1350) (The presence of God; vol. 3).New
York: Crossroad, c1998. (xiv, 526 p.)
LC#: BV5075 .M37 vol. 3; ISBN: 0824517423, 0824517431
Includes bibliographical references (p. [465]-505) and indexes
-----------------------
[Elizabeth Petroff 's collection of essays includes a thoughtful chapter on Clare and her Rule. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Petroff, Elizabeth. Body and soul: essays on medieval women
and mysticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. (xii,
235 p.)
LC#: BV5077.E85 P48 1994; ISBN: 0195084543, 0195084551
Includes bibliographical references and index.
----------------------
[A translation by Willaim Short and Nancy Celaschi of four articles by Maria Pia Alberzoni, published in Italian between 1995 and 1998, together with an introduction by Alberzoni giving her current views on the subjects of the articles. The focus is not on Clare as a writer (although Alberzoni questions the authenticity of the "Testament"), but on the effects of papal action on Clare, on San Damiano, and on the women who tried to live the kind of life Clare had begun:]
Alberzoni, Maria Pia. Clare of Assisi and the Poor Sisters
in the Thirteenth Century (Franciscan Institute publications).
St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University,
2004. (240 p.)
LC#: BX4700.C6 A4232 2004; ISBN:1576591956
Includes bibliography (p.[217]-240) and notes.
=========================================================================
Updated 11-14-08