The Privilege of Poverty - by Joan Mueller (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Early in the thirteenth century a young woman named Clare was so moved by the teachings of Francis of Assisi that she renounced her possessions, vowing to live a life of radical poverty. Today Clare is remembered for her relationship with Francis, but her own dedication to poverty and her struggle to gain papal approval for a Franciscan Rule for women is a fascinating story that has not received the attention it deserves. In The Privilege of Poverty, Joan Mueller tells this story, and in so doing she reshapes our understanding of early Franciscan history.

Clare knew, as did Francis, that she needed a Rule to preserve the "privilege of poverty"--a papal exemption that gave monasteries of women permission not to rely on endowment income. Early Franciscan women gave their dowries to the poor and were as passionately holy and shrewdly political in this choice as were their male counterparts. Mueller shows the crucial role played in this by Agnes of Prague, one of Clare's closest collaborators. A Bohemian princess who declined an engagement to Emperor Frederick II in order to found a monastery of Poor Ladies in Prague, Agnes capitalized on the papal need for a political alliance with the kingdom of Bohemia to negotiate the privilege of poverty for her monastery and set up a hospital for the poor in Prague.

The efforts of Clare and Agnes ultimately paid off, as Pope Innocent IV approved a Franciscan Rule for women with the privilege of poverty at its core on Clare's deathbed in 1253. Only two years later, Clare was canonized, and the Poor Clares--as they came to be known--continue today as contemplative and active communities devoted to the same ideals that inspired Francis and Clare.

The Privilege of Poverty not only contributes new insight into Franciscan history but also redefines it. No longer can we view early Franciscanism as primarily a male story. Franciscan women were courted by their brothers and by the papacy for their essential contributions to the early Franciscan movement.

Review Quotes

"In demonstrating that Franciscan women were from the beginning courted by Franciscan brothers and the papacy as devout contemplatives, Mueller redefines early Franciscan history by showing that women were essential partners with Franciscan friars."

--J. M. B. Porter CHOICE

"It will be important for academic study and for those leading religious lives. Brava!"

--Constance Hoffman Berman International History Review

"Mueller knows the texts intimately and although she is less secure on the wider background. . . . She brings to life a world which is at once fascinating and problematic."

--Frances Andrews Ecclesiastical History

"Mueller provides an accomplished description of ecclesiastical and imperial politics, while at the same time honoring the spiritual ideals that motivated Clare and Agnes. The reader is treated to an engaging narrative that ably balances the world of secular politics with the spirituality of the cloister."

--Elizabeth A. Lehfeldt Canadian Journal of History

"This well-researched book presents an impressive bibliography that includes primary and secondary sources in various languages. Moreover, this study integrates both male and female Franciscan sources, offering an interesting 'mutual' reading of such sources, as Mueller herself points out in her introduction to the volume. The Privilege of Poverty is a significant contribution to the field of religious history and women's history as well as medieval studies."

--Maria Esposito Frank Sixteenth Century Journal

"This is a very impressive work. Mueller sets out to pursue the long series of negotiations that went into designing a Franciscan life for women. She begins with Clare and Agnes, who were inspired by the model provided by St. Francis, or at least the model as they saw it. When they attempted to gain the papal permission to pursue that model, they found that the popes whose permission they required saw the life proper to a female religious quite differently. Mueller does a good job of explaining how the models differed and why. She places the ongoing struggle between the two women and the popes in a credible ecclesiastical context."

--David Burr, Virginia Tech, author of The Spiritual Franciscans: From Protest to Persecution in the Century After Saint Francis

"This is an extraordinary contribution to the field. Mueller brings together all the available primary and secondary sources in multiple languages. The result is a book that will appeal to medievalists of every discipline, as well as to scholars of women's and religious history."

--Larissa J. Taylor, Colby College

About the Author

Joan Mueller is Professor of Theology and Christian Spirituality at Creighton University and an active Poor Clare sister. She is the author of Clare's Letters to Agnes: Text and Sources (2000) and articles in Franciscan Studies and Collectanea Franciscana. She has also written a historical novel, Francis: The Saint of Assisi (2000), which has been translated into several languages.