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The Medieval Church · 1234–1253
The Letters to Agnes of Prague
Clare of Assisi · 1194–1253
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What it is
Four letters to a king's daughter who left the court for a convent, urging her to gaze into the mirror of the cross and to refuse any endowment offered to her house.
Why it lasted
The finest writing by a woman in the Franciscan tradition, and a record of two noblewomen defending absolute poverty against papal pressure.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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