Francis of Assisi

Abstract

Chapter 2 looks at the stigmatization of Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century and how his reception of the stigmata was mainly understood as a miraculous event. The chapter also traces how the miracle met with acceptance and resistance during the following centuries. Some theologians argued that the cause of the wounds was strictly divine, while others emphasized that Francis’s love for Christ initiated the stigmata. The power and function of prayer, however, featured in most explanations that sought to understand the nature of Francis’s wounds. A series of papal bulls promulgated by a number of thirteenth-century popes, which secured widespread support for the Franciscan claim of stigmatic supremacy, are also considered in this chapter.