The Franciscans in the Middle Ages

"Enjoying close relations with the popes, Franciscans were ideal instruments for the propagation of the reforms of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215; they were part of the landscape of medieval life, and their influence was felt throughout society, in both the lay and the secular spheres; Franciscans were prominent in the fields of theology, philosophy and science." "Intended for both the general and more specialist reader, this book explores the first two hundred and fifty years of the order's history and charts its rapid growth, development, pastoral ministry, educational organisation, missionary endeavour, and internal tensions and divisions."--BOOK JACKET.