Agnes of Bohemia – renowned for, among other things, her correspondence with Clare of Assisi – played a major role in the spread of female Franciscanism across northern Europe. According to local hagiographic sources, Agnes and the Damianites of St. Francis in Prague professed Clare’s Forma vite. This article examines the manuscript tradition of Clare’s Rule and several documents from Prague in order to ascertain the grounds for this assertion and, if they are valid, to find the evidence to support it. The proposition advanced here is that Agnes may have indeed received a copy of the Forma vite from Clare herself; in 1260 she obtained approval to follow it from pope Alexander IV. In 1262, Agnes’s sister Anne, Duchess of Silesia, was granted a similar authorization for the monastery of St Clare she had founded in Wrocław.
La "Forma vite" di Chiara d’Assisi nei monasteri di San Francesco a Praga e di Santa Chiara a Breslavia
Stoppacci
2024
Abstract
Agnes of Bohemia – renowned for, among other things, her correspondence with Clare of Assisi – played a major role in the spread of female Franciscanism across northern Europe. According to local hagiographic sources, Agnes and the Damianites of St. Francis in Prague professed Clare’s Forma vite. This article examines the manuscript tradition of Clare’s Rule and several documents from Prague in order to ascertain the grounds for this assertion and, if they are valid, to find the evidence to support it. The proposition advanced here is that Agnes may have indeed received a copy of the Forma vite from Clare herself; in 1260 she obtained approval to follow it from pope Alexander IV. In 1262, Agnes’s sister Anne, Duchess of Silesia, was granted a similar authorization for the monastery of St Clare she had founded in Wrocław.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
