The mendicant friars of the Franciscan and Dominican orders played a unique and important role in medieval society. In the early thirteenth century, the Church was being challenged by a confident new secular culture, associated with the growth of towns, the rise of literature and articulate laity, the development of new sciences and the creation of the first universities. The mendicant orders which developed around the charismatic figures of Saint Francis of Assisi (founder of the Franciscans) and Saint Dominic of Osma (founder of the Dominicans) confronted this challenge by encouraging preachers to go out into the world to do God's work, rather than retiring into enclosed monasteries. C.H. Lawrence here analyses the origins and growth of these orders, as well as the impact which they had upon the medieval world - in the areas of politics and education as well as religion. His study is essential reading for all scholars and students of medieval history.

A concise and accessible history of four of the monastic orders in the middle ages. In 1274 the Council of Lyons decreed the end of various "new orders" of Mendicants which had emerged during the great push for evangelism and poverty in the thirteenth-century Latin Church. The Franciscans and Dominicans were explicitly excluded, while the Carmelites and Austin friars were allowed a stay of execution. These last two were eventually able to acquire approval, but other smaller groups, in particular the Friars of the Sack and Pied Friars, were forced to disband. This book outlines the history of those who were threatened by 1274, tracing the development of the two larger orders down to the Council of Trent, and following the fragmentary sources for the brief histories of the discontinued friaries. For the first time these orders are treated comparatively: the volume offers a total history, from their origins, spirituality and pastoral impact, to their music, buildings and runaways. FRANCES ANDREWS is Professor in Mediaeval History at the University of St Andrews.