This study is the thirteenth volume in The Medieval Franciscans series. It includes fourteen essays from a broad range of contributors from across Europe and also from the US, dealing with Observant reform among male and female communities, in addition to pastoral engagement. It is the product of an interdisciplinary research project entitled “Religious Orders and Identity Formation, c.1420–c.1620,” which was based in Radboud University Nijmegen in collaboration with colleagues from other universities. The final workshop of this project, held in June 2014, led to the publication of the present volume, which argues for the strength and transformative nature of Observant reform and challenges the idea that the period was one of monastic decline. The volume considers a time frame that spans the late medieval and early modern periods, which would typically be divided and assessed by specialists from distinct fields.

The volume opens with four studies of different aspects of female religious life. Duval begins with a study of Dominican Observant nuns, analyzing three texts in order to understand what an Observant saint or “perfectly Observant woman” should be. In the process, two models of Dominican Observance are identified: the first, that of a mother and saint, Caterina of Siena; the second, a normal and obedient life, which could serve as a model not only for nuns, but also for Dominican tertiaries, whether secular or regular. Campbell contributes a fine study considering Colettine identity following the death of Colette of Corbie in 1447. She considers the challenges for the Colettines who were “swept up” into the Observance following Pope Leo X’s split of the Franciscans in 1517, although they didn’t naturally identify with being Observant.

A number of studies in the volume deal with sermons and preaching, from Camaioni’s study of the preaching of Bernardino Ochino, known as the “Savonarola of the Cinquecento,” whose work in a time of Reformation brought him into conflict with the Catholic Church, to Michelson’s study of the use of conversionary sermons in attempts to convert Jews to Christianity and to increase the loyalty of and bolster the sense of religious identity among recent converts. Uphoff’s interesting study aims to demonstrate how the religious identity of nuns was molded by the content of sermons produced by religious men, especially in cases when such sermons, in manuscript form, were the product of collaboration between male preachers and the nuns who copied the texts.

The tensions between and within the Observant and Conventual Franciscan factions are explored in a number of essays, including those by Goudriaan and Viallet. Alison More challenges the notion of a single Franciscan third order and considers the various groups that developed as Franciscan tertiaries, who didn’t necessarily have connections with each other or the first order. Dlabačova addresses how divisive the Franciscan split between Observants and Conventuals really was, noting that it even led on occasion to physical fights. Significantly, she notes that these divisions also led to conciliation and unity between Observants of different orders. A case study of Bruges is presented, which for more than fifty years had two Franciscan houses, Observant and Conventual, and surprisingly shared a number of high-profile patrons in common.

This volume will appeal to scholars of the late medieval Church, especially those interested in the progress of the Observant reform in the late medieval and early modern period. It is well presented with thirteen illustrations, mainly black and white. It makes a very useful contribution to scholarship of the Church at a crucial time of reform, initially Observant and later Protestant. It marshals textual, historical, and art historical evidence to this end. The book contains a number of small grammatical errors and would have benefited from the inclusion of translations for all quotations that are not in the English language; some authors have provided these but not all have done so. The book highlights the potential of this area for further study, especially using art historical and architectural evidence to investigate the Observance.