The Medieval Church · 1226
The Testament
Francis of Assisi · 1181/82–1226
What it is
Dictated weeks before his death: how the Lord led him among lepers, his reverence for priests however unworthy, and a command that the rule not be glossed or explained away.
Why it lasted
Francis's last attempt to bind his order to his original intention — and the pope declared four years later that it had no binding force.
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
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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