Francis & His Brothers ― A Popular History of the Franciscan Friars

To celebrate the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Franciscan Order, Franciscan scholar and historian Dominic Monti tells us the beautiful and inspirational story of Francis of Assisi and his followers?the Order of Friars Minor, or the Lesser Brothers?from its beginnings to current times.

This history emphasizes not only the medieval developments of the world's most beloved band of men but also the internal evolution and mission efforts of the friars during the modern period, from the sixteenth century to the present. Monti gives particular emphasis to the history of the order in the English-speaking world: first England and Ireland and then North America and the twentieth-century expansion of the order to other English-speaking countries.

Chapter topics include: medieval Christian society; the First Lesser Brothers; expansion and transformation of the Order; the Franciscan mission; internal crisis in the Order; Observants and Conventuals; friars during the Reformation and Baroque Eras; mission to the world; the challenges of modernity; Franciscans in the United States, Canada and Australia; rebuilding the Order in Europe; and recovering a charism.

Dominic V. Monti, O.F.M., Ph.D. met the Franciscans as a student at St. Bonaventure University; he entered the Franciscan Order in 1964. After theological studies at the Catholic University of America, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1971. He pursued graduate studies at Union Theological Seminary (New York) and the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, where he received his PH.D. in 1979. He has taught church history at the Washington Theological Union and St. Bonaventure University and Franciscan history at the Franciscan Institute there. His academic research focuses on Christianity in the Middle Ages, especially the history and theology of the Franciscan movement. He has contributed articles to the revised edition of the New Catholic Encyclopedia, the HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism and the Encyclopedia of American Catholic History. He is vicar provincial of the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province.