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What happens when a rich young man gives up everything, and his simple way of life becomes a movement?
In Life of St. Francis of Assisi, Paul Sabatier follows a cloth merchant’s son through war, captivity and a turn toward poverty. Francis gathers a small band of brothers around a shared wish to live the gospel simply. As their numbers grow, that wish faces the demands of an organized order.
Sabatier seeks the man behind the pious legend. Drawing on Thomas of Celano, the Legend of the Three Companions and Francis’s own writings, he argues that Francis wants a way of life, not an institution. His portrait is warm and deeply sympathetic, but it also asks what success costs a movement built on simplicity.
What you’ll discover
- A restless young Francis Meet the merchant’s son whose path leads through war and captivity toward a different life.
- The choice of poverty Follow Francis as he gives up wealth and takes the gospel’s demands to heart.
- Brothers with a purpose Watch a small fellowship grow around a shared commitment to simple living.
- The strain of success Explore the tension between Francis’s ideal and the order’s growing desire for structure.
- A historian with conviction Read Sabatier’s argument through early accounts, with his strong sympathy always in view.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love medieval Italy, saints' lives told as human stories, church history, and questions about poverty, conscience and freedom.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Francis begins by dreaming of glory
- Small acts change his direction
- The Gospel gives him his rule
- Recognition comes with a cost
- Poverty makes room for joy
- Love reaches people and creatures
- Francis crosses borders with courtesy
- Growth strains the original brotherhood
- A simple Gospel carries a cost
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Life of St. Francis of Assisi
by Paul Sabatier · 1894
A cloth merchant's son trades fine clothes for a beggar's rags and sets out to rebuild a broken Umbrian chapel.
Medium level10–20 hours to read20 languages
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In short
A rich young man in Assisi strips off his clothes before the bishop and walks singing into the winter forest. Why would a cloth merchant's son give up everything for a ruined chapel and a life with lepers?
Life of St. Francis of Assisi at a glance
- Reading time
- About 10 h 15 min8 h 5 min fast, 12 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 145,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1894by Paul Sabatier
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A merchant's son who wanted to be a prince
Francis was born in Assisi around 1182, the son of Pietro Bernardone, a wealthy cloth merchant. Sabatier insists that the merchant's world shaped him, because cloth dealers carried news and new ideas from fair to fair.
As a youth he led the revels of the town's young nobles and spent his father's money freely. Yet he was generous. He once ran after a beggar he had turned away, ashamed that he had refused in God's name what he would have given in a count's name.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1894
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Sabatier, Paul. Life of St. Francis of Assisi. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/life-of-st-francis-of-assisi.
Sabatier, P. (2026). Life of St. Francis of Assisi. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/life-of-st-francis-of-assisi (Original work published 1894)
Sabatier, Paul. Life of St. Francis of Assisi. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/life-of-st-francis-of-assisi.
@book{sabatier2026life,
author = {Sabatier, Paul},
title = {Life of St. Francis of Assisi},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/life-of-st-francis-of-assisi},
note = {First published 1894}
}
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What is Life of St. Francis of Assisi about?
It follows Francis from his youth as a merchant's son in Assisi through his conversion, the founding of the Friars Minor, his friendship with Clara, the troubles of his Order, and his last years, with a study of the early sources.
Who was Paul Sabatier and when did he write it?
Sabatier was a French Protestant pastor and historian who died in 1928. He published the biography in 1893 after months of work in Italian libraries and hermitages, aiming to show the real man behind the legends.
Why did Francis want his friars to own nothing?
Sabatier explains poverty as Francis's chosen bride, Lady Poverty. It freed the friars to live among the poor, to enjoy nature, and to follow the Gospel as written, without the pull of money or learning.
The author
Paul Sabatier
1858–1928 · French historian and theologian
Paul Sabatier (1858–1928) was a French historian and theologian. The library has Life of St. Francis of Assisi.
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