Monumenta Franciscana

A scholarly edition of original Latin and Middle English documents relating to the establishment of the Franciscan Order in England.

Published in 1858, Volume 1 of this two-volume work contains original documents in Latin and Middle English relating to the establishment and organisation of the English Franciscans in the thirteenth century. The editor's preface is invaluable and thorough, providing historical background, context, and manuscript information for the texts.This two-volume work forms part of a series of scholarly editions, commissioned by the Master of the Rolls, of unpublished chronicles and other original documents relating to Early English history. The documents are reprinted in Latin or Middle English, and are summarised by the editors, whose invaluable prefaces places them in historical context and describe the location and condition of the original manuscripts. Volume 1 (1858) contains documents relating to the earliest establishment of the Franciscan Order. The treatise De adventu of Thomas of Eccleston (fl. c.1231–58), is the only eyewitness source of the settlement and progress of the friars in England; and the letters of the renowned Franciscan scholar, Adam de Marisco (or Marsh, c.1200–59), are important examples of early Franciscan organisation. The volume closes with the register of the establishment of the Minorites in London, and an appendix of other original documents.