Path to Salvation : Temporal and Spiritual Journeys by the Mendicant Orders, C.1370–1740

Temporal and spiritual journeys were a shared characteristic of life for mendicant friars and the laity in medieval and early modern times. This book reflects the objective approach of trained historians in its skilled deployment of source documents. Throughout these pages, we meet with wandering friars and the lay faithful, some for the first time. The contributors are international scholars. Each enquires into a specific area of study from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. In particular, this reveals that travel in its various forms represented an intrinsic link between the four great mendicant orders: Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans. Until recently, mendicant historiography was written by and for members of each respective order. The contents are grouped thematically into three sections. The first considers the significance of travel in mendicant writings about the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe. The opening chapter examines the Old Testament traditions of the Carmelites, followed by two essays on fifteenth-century Italian Franciscans. These emphasise how travel was essential for Observant renewal to succeed. The second section of the book concentrates on early modern Spain. Travel was not limited to the outward journey. The humanist poetry of the Augustinian friar, Luis de León, attended to the inner journey of the soul during this life. The next chapter draws attention to interrelations between laity and clergy. This provides insights into the soul's journey into death according to the behaviour of the lay faithful. In the third section, we find the fact-finding journeys of Bartolomé de las Casas on land and sea, in defence of native peoples in the New World. The volume closes with a study of a Dominican friar who followed his own path rather than the accepted routine of travel for friars. By exploring a wide range of experiences over five centuries, this book shows that travel contributed to religious development in many parts of the world. Cover HalfTitle Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Illustrations Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction Historiography I Foreshadowed: Evangelical friars and their chronicles 1 Historicising typology: How the Carmelites invented their memories The claim to Elijan foundation The development of memories Essential features of the narrative The work of Felip Ribot Conclusion 2 Bernardino Aquilano’s travels in his Chronicle of the friars Minor of the Observance The chronicle: Text and context Bernardino’s travels and the portrait of the Observant family Conclusion 3 Travels by St James of the Marches in East Central Europe, 1432–1440 James’s first journey to East Central Europe The reformer of Bosnian friaries Preaching against the ‘fake Christian’ king The inquisitor in Hungary Conclusions II Sanctified journeys of the soul 4 Seeking safe harbour: The journey from error to truth in Fray Luis de León’s ode ‘Al apartamiento’ 5 From convents to chapels of ease: Irish burial and funerary practices in early modern Madrid, 1600–1680 The Irish community in Madrid Irish funerary practices III Frequent Travels by Intellectual and Individual Friars 6 All mankind is one: Travel and writing in Bartolomé de las Casas (1502–1566)* 7 In search of a better life: The travels of Gregorius Pogrányi OP Dominicans on the road Pogrányi’s biography before entering the Order and his early years as a Dominican The great adventures The adventurous travel is over Some final remarks Endnote Bibliography Notes on Contributors