Abstract:

This study examines the discourse of reform within the Franciscan Observant movement through an analysis of two late medieval chronicles: Nicolaus Glassberger’s Chronica ordinis minorum observantum and Bernardino Aquilano’s Chronica fratrum minorum observantiae. It argues that these chronicles served not only as historical records but as strategic tools for legitimizing the Observants’ identity, promoting their spiritual ideals, and dealing with the socio-political landscapes of the fifteenth century. The Observants, advocating a return to Franciscan poverty and humility, positioned themselves as reformers against the perceived laxity of Conventual Franciscans, deploying narratives to assert continuity with St. Francis while adapting to late medieval challenges.

The analysis sheds light on the chroniclers’ strategies of combining moral virtues, stories of institutional growth, and political engagement. Glassberger’s comprehensive account emphasizes papal endorsements, miraculous events, and trans-regional expansion, reflecting efforts toalign Observant reforms with broader ecclesiastical authority. Aquilano’s focus on Italian contexts underscores conflicts with Conventuals, the role of education, and the integration of humanist influences, illustrating tensions between ascetic ideals and pastoral pragmatism. Both authors employ biographies, miracle stories, and conflict narratives to model Observant virtues, legitimize their movement, and criticize rivals.

The study shows the Observants’ nuanced negotiation of spiritual ideals and institutional realities. Chronicles functioned as internal pedagogical tools that engendered communal identity through exemplary figures like Bernardino of Siena and John Capistrano, while addressing external threats such as the Ottoman advance and internal schisms. Furthermore, by reproducing papal decrees, episodes of missionary endeavors, and dialogues with secular authorities, the texts reinforced the Observants’ role as moral and political mediators. Ultimately, the chronicles exemplify how Observants balanced tradition and adaptation, using historical narrative to secure their place within an evolving Church and society. They shaped a reformist identity rooted in continuity, moral rigor, and calculated engagement with late medieval intellectual and political currents.

Contents

Introduction
Sources and scope of the present study
Argument
Method and concepts

I. The Franciscan Observance: Development and Ideals
I.1. The emergence of Observance
I.2. The pillars of Observance
I.3. Medieval discourses of virtues and reform
I.4. Observant Modulations of the Medieval System of Moral Virtues
I.5. The Observants and the medieval discourses of power

II. The Observant Discourse of Reform: Legitimation, Education, and Communication
II.1. The Observants and their efforts at institutional legitimation
II.2. Integrating Education in the Observant Discourse of Reform
II.2.1. Late medieval ideas of education
II.2.2. Between devotion and education
II.2.3. Observant mentors: Bernardino of Siena, John Capistrano, and their educational activities
II.2.4. Education and humanism
II.3. Communicating the Observant reform
II.3.1. Communication oriented towards moralization: preaching and life-writing
II.3.2. Communication for legitimization purposes: documents and letters
II.4.Conclusion

III. Observant Identity and its Chronicle Forms
III.1. Authorial fashioning
III.2. Narrating Franciscan institutional recognition and religious authority
III.3. The Observants as viewed in the chronicles
III.4. Ideals in the formation of Observant identity: from spiritual models to political power
III.5. Balancing ideals and pragmatism
III.6. Otherness
III.6.1. The Other: Greeks, Tatars, and Turks
III.7. Narrative strategies in the formation of Observant identity
III.7.1. Types of chronicle narratives
III.7.2. Narrative of events: from leadership-centered episodes to miracles
III.7.3. Narrative of conflicts
III.7.4. Biographies
III.7.5. Observant history: a dynamic enterprise and a story of continuity

Conclusion. Narrative constructions of Observant identity: between action and ideals

Bibliography
I. Primary Sources
II. Secondary Literature