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The Medieval Church · 1228–1229
The First Life of Saint Francis
Thomas of Celano · c. 1185–c. 1265
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What it is
The official life commissioned for the canonisation, written by a friar who had known him, covering the conversion, the crib at Greccio, and the stigmata.
Why it lasted
The earliest full biography of Francis and the basis of everything later written about him.
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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