Following translations into Italian (2010) and English (2012), a German version of Vauchez's by now classic biography of Francis of Assisi, published in 2009, is now available. The translation, led by Elizabeth Zacherl, is the result of a collaborative effort by friars, among them Leonhard Lehmann, who added reflections about St Francis in our time as a postscript, and Johannes Schneider, as well as scholars of the Fachstelle Franziskanische Forschung in Münster. In most respects the text follows the French original; references to Franciscan sources were taken from editions with translations into German. Vauchez's approach – to identify the sources most likely to contain authentic biographical material, in contrast to the hagiographical tradition which began after the saint's death – allows the reader to encounter Francis as the son of a successful businessman in a town of limited commercial importance. After the failure of the young wastrel's ambitions to rise into the ranks of knighthood, he develops a separate and individual way of life. The context – Vauchez largely adopts the model of religious movements developed by Herbert Grundmann – favoured the emergence of a penitential movement which differed from its predecessors because of its ambition to bring about social and political change without aiming for any kind of authority. Originally it was characterised by features associated with the lower classes: manual labour, subjection to all and a lack of education. Members of the successful Italian middle classes who wanted to join were required to break completely with their families, not least because the new entrants had to divest themselves of all property, exchanging a secure existence for uncertainty. The identity of the initial small group only came to be defined when it obtained limited papal approval. At this stage the biography – which sets the protagonist into his social and political context – turns into a history of the early Franciscan community, in line with the structure of the main narrative accounts. Francis as an individual appears again in his encounter with Sultan al-Malik al Kamil in 1219, when he had become the charismatic leader of a larger community. At this stage the order and its institutional structure become ever more important. Vauchez sees the first fissures in the split between the friars who were still lacking direction and purpose and the women of San Damiano who were forced to accept Benedictine norms. In contrast to Sabatier's view, the subsequent modifications of the founder's ideal – the permission to have convents in fixed locations, the permission for missionaries to carry money, the emergence of a clear distinction between clerics and laymen – are not presented as part of a papal conspiracy to control the order but as the result of dynamics inherent in the community's expansion. However, Vauchez does later mention Cardinal Hugolino's pressure on the community to contribute to ecclesiastical reform as well as the future pope's efforts to control the public representation of the saint. In response to the changes Francis began to retreat into hermitages, accompanied only by a few trusted followers. In this way he continued to exert influence even though he had no official role in the institution. According to Vauchez this created a hierarchy of sanctity which existed in parallel to the hierarchy of office-holders. Francis was venerated by his companions but despite his journeys he appears to have been well-known and popular only in central Italy. When his fame began to spread after his canonisation, it was on the basis of the image masterminded by Gregory ix.

The second half of the book deals with the struggle to shape and control the saint's memory when his ideas began to turn into a great religious movement. Vauchez points out that there were different opinions about the nature of this movement from the early 1220s, drawing attention to the statements about manual work in the rules of 1221 – where it is mandatory – and 1223 – where it is an option and serves as an ascetic exercise. Signs of division also emerge in Francis's Testament and in the Sacrum commercium, a text attributed by Vauchez to Caesarius of Speyer who is said to have written it in the years 1235 to 1237 as part of his quarrel with Elias of Cortone. Important among the early companions who were keen to preserve the Poverello's ideals was Clare. However, there was no unity among them. Clare relied on the support provided by Elias, minister-general until 1239, while Francis's male companions were strongly opposed to the construction of the splendid burial church in Assisi, a project entrusted to Elias by Gregory ix. Vauchez, whose work was originally published at the time when the massive collection of Franciscan sources in French translation – François d'Assise: écrits, vies, témoignages, édition du VIIIe centenaire (2010) – was being prepared for the press, with 3,400 pages one of the most comprehensive collections of biographical sources on the saint's life, offers a wonderfully lucid account of the ‘question franciscaine’, the problem of the interrelation of the early narrative sources, a difficulty for historians dealing with the order's early history. According to Vauchez the early tradition, based on Thomas of Celano's first work, ends around 1240, when the order takes a new direction. This is reflected by De inceptione, earlier known as the Anonymus Perusinus, now attributed to Br John of Perugia. Three initiatives to control tradition ensue, the first begun by Crescentius of Jesi, minister-general 1244–7, the second by Bonaventure, minister-general 1257–74 and the third by the general chapter of 1276, held at Perugia. Attention is drawn to Bonaventure's texts because they obtained an official status and became the standard source of information, although some Spirituals continued to present an alternative picture of Francis and the early community, taking into acount the founder's Testament, a text almost ignored by the official historiography. As a human being Francis became an ever more remote figure while attempts were made to exalt his status as a saint by identifying him with the apocalyptic angel of the sixth seal or even by describing him as a second Christ. From the late nineteenth century onwards modern scholarship faced a difficult task in finding its way through these layers of information which resulted in a variety of interpretations. In order to avoid the snares posed by these sources Vauchez suggests a more direct approach to the Poverello – through his writings. This final section of the book is remarkable for two reasons, firstly for the analysis of Francis's use of biblical texts and secondly for the wide context that Vauchez is able to provide in his interpretation of the Poverello's direct approach to the Gospels and to the Psalms which combined a veneration of the sacred contents with the veneration of the physical manifestation of the writing. Much has been said about Francis's education but Vauchez's presentation of its evolution in the course of his spiritual development is original. The arrival of educated friars in the early community allowed Francis to fulfil his desire for an intimate knowledge of the sacred texts and to prepare for his full participation in the daily liturgy. Francis appears as a multi-faceted figure, not free from contradictions because after a century of research it has become impossible to reduce him to a single idea. His original concept could not survive but the movement which took strength from his inspiration endured.