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Preaching Friars and the Civic Ethos: Siena, 1380-1480. By BERNADETTE PATON. London: Centre for Medieval Studies, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, 1992. 367 pp. 27.50.
Almost two decades ago Lester Little gave impetus to a new direction in medieval historical research when he suggested that "the unique achievements of the friars was their creation of new forms of religious expression for the urban sector of society and those people dominant within it." Since then a number of other important studies have appeared which consider the relationship of the religious ministry of the mendicants to the environment in which it evolved. To that list one must now add this carefully executed book by Bernadette Paton, which is devoted to the social message of the friars in late medieval Siena. This rather compact Tuscan city, somewhat neglected in comparison with its larger neighbor, Florence, was graced with the presence of a number of important preachers and makes an...