An indispensable guide to the earliest contemporary account of the Franciscan Order in England.
Known as Friars Minor, Franciscans or Greyfriars, the followers of St Francis of Assisi pioneered a new type of religious life, moving beyond the monastic cloister. Their ministry was to bring the Gospel to life through example, preaching, gesture, drama, music and poetry. Founded in 1209, the movement became rapidly popular and spread widely across Europe.
By around 1257 there were 49 communities In England, housing some 1,242 friars. The story of the Franciscans' arrival, and the growth of the Order up until c.1257/1258, is related by the chronicler Thomas of Eccleston In his De Adventu Fratrum Minorum in Angliam. The story is not untroubled: for example, Eccleston does not shy away from the painful controversies of the later 1230s, when there were deep divisions about the exercise of authority in the Order. He was disturbed by some developments in the Order and showed his support for caution in the schools and in relation to building, at a time when friars were exposed to searching criticisms. The chronological account is accompanied by exemplum materials which illuminate the friars' preaching and teaching, and by a gallery of virtuous individual friars.
This book is the first full-length study of the text, examining it in detail, and providing a careful elucidation.

Introduction
1. The launching of the mission to England
2. The first foundations
3. The admission of novices
4. The growth of the Franciscan community
5. The fervour of the early friars
6. The office of preaching
7. The seven custodies
8. The three general visitators
9. The Irish and Scottish provinces
10. The re-location of friaries and their enlargement
11. The friars' schools of theology
12. Confessors
13. Ministers general
14. Ministers provincial
15. A gallery of friars
A post script
Bibliography
Index

Michael Robson is an emeritus fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge.