This volume draws together diverse strands from the rich heritage of Marian piety within the Franciscan tradition. Such devotion was a salient feature of the piety of medieval Umbria and loomed large in St Francis's own personal journey of conversion and his new vocation as an urban evangelist. A special focus was the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, the scene of an important stage in his own spiritual development and a sacred place, which remained the heart-beat of the evolving fraternity. The volume is divided into five parts: first, the foundations of Marian Franciscan reflection in the writings of SS Francis, Clare and Anthony of Padua; secondly, the Virgin Mary in the Franciscan theological school; thirdly, the Virgin Mary in the medieval vita Christi tradition; fourthly, Marian expressions in medieval art; and fifthly, the Virgin Mary in medieval Franciscan preaching. There are articles on Francis and Clare of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, John Duns Scotus, Bernardine of Siena, John of Capistrano and Angela of Foligno. Studies on these luminaries are accompanied by research on the contribution made by Conrad of Saxony, Servasanto da Faenza, Francis of Meyronnes, Berthold of Regensburg and John Sintram.

The first section brings together Michael Blastic and Luciano Bertazzo. The former provides a sound theological basis and the latter produces extended quotations from the sermons of Anthony of Padua, whose fame as a preacher reached the ears of Rainaldo di Jenne (a nephew of Gregory ix), the cardinal bishop of Ostia and the protector of the Franciscan order; it was the cardinal who prevailed upon Anthony to compile his sermons for feast days. The second section contains studies on Marian piety within the Franciscan tradition (Jarrod Isaac Goff, Christopher Shorrock, Rachel Fulton Brown, Marzia Ceschia, Mary Beth Ingham and Christiaan Kappes). The third part of the volume explores the role of Marian piety in the Vita Christi tradition during the fourteenth century (Leah Marie Buturain and Pacelli Millane), dwelling on the Marian focus within the vita Christi tradition. These two commentaries are rich in their reflection and explain the genesis and content of these devotional texts. The second of these dwells on the grief encountered by the group of women who accompanied the mother of Jesus to the foot of her son's cross. Similarly, the pain of the crucifixion gave way to the unfettered joy of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. The fourth part of the volume consists of two depictions of the Mother of God in the lower basilica di San Francesco. The second of these examines the natural light which falls on an image in the south transept of the lower basilica (Holly Flora and Darrelyn Gunzburg). The fifth part focuses on the Marian content of sermons (Alessia Francone, Steven J. McMichael, Kimberly Rivers and Filippo Sedda).

Mary Beth Ingham's ‘Fired France for Mary without spot: John Duns Scotus and the Immaculate Conception’ comments on the famous line from Gerard Manley Hopkins's celebrated poem, Duns Scotus's Oxford, and traces the deep roots of this devotion, reaching beyond Eadmer, the interlocutor of Anselm of Canterbury and the Anglo-Saxons, to Radbertus (pseudo-Ildephonse) before embarking upon a consideration of the theological and philosophical ramifications of the devotion. The author traces the development of Scotus’ reflections on the Immaculate Conception in his three commentaries on the Sentences, the Lectura, the Ordinatio and the Reportatio Parisiensis. The Subtle Doctor's theological solution was, according to Fr Allan Wolter ofm, first proposed at Oxford and then incorporated into his Ordinatio. His advocacy of this feast was criticised by John of Pouilly in a quodlibetal disputation at Paris in 1309. Marzia Ceschia's study (‘Marian devotion in Saint Angela of Foligno’) examines the saint's conversion and later life (1248–1309). The illiterate Angela dictated her mystical experiences to her confessor, Friar A[rnaldo] and amanuensis, a Franciscan friar, who was related to her. Her reminiscences appear in the Libro Lelle, a first-hand account of her religious experiences, a text which is divided into her Memoriale and the Instructiones. The Memoriale records her conversion, profession in the Third Order, and her ill-fated pilgrimage to Assisi in the autumn of 1291; as a result her confessor enjoined her never to return to the basilica. The following year he was transferred from the Sacro Convento back to San Francesco in Foligno and played a fuller part as her amanuensis. The celebration of Marian feasts looms large in Angela's description of her mystical experiences. The Instructiones, for instance, narrate another visit to Assisi in August 1300 for the feast of the Portuncula at Santa Maria degli Angeli and a mystical experience concerning the passion which occurred during mass at the lady altar in the upper basilica di San Francesco on the Sunday before the feast of the Indulgence at Santa Maria degli Angeli. The Instructiones contain her directives for her disciples in the form of admonitions.

One of the strengths of this collection is the way in which the contributors provide a full exposition of the Marian theology of the different figures. In addition, there are numerous quotations, some of them lengthy, so that the reader might become more conversant with the theological or devotional style and views of the different figures. The joint editors are to be warmly commended for assembling an impressive team of scholars and for including the Marian writings of some of the less well known writers and preachers. The translation of extracts offers a valuable introduction. Contributors, such as Alessia Francone, Steven McMichael and Filippo Sedda, offer a comprehensive picture of the teaching of Berthold of Regensburg, Bernardine of Siena and John of Capistrano. No typographical errors caught my eye, apart from on p. 396 where there are references to 1215–16 and 1215 instead of 1415–16 and 1415.