Brief History
The Franciscan Institute, located within the Friedsam Library on the campus of St. Bonaventure University, engages in two principal areas of scholarly concern: research and publication. A quick look at these components of the Institute will give a better idea of the extent and richness of the work of the Franciscan Institute.
- Research - The Franciscan Institute was founded as an international center of research on the Franciscan intellectual tradition with the highest standards of scholarly production. For the first decades of its existence, the research team of the Institute had dedicated its energies to preparing the critical editions of the works of William of Ockham and Adam of Wodeham. More recently, it turned its attention to completing the philosophical works of John Duns Scotus – a project in collaboration with scholars at The Catholic University of America. Such projects have been possible due to the fact that the Franciscan Institute Library boasts the largest and finest collection of Franciscan sources in North America. While individual scholars continue to pursue their own research projects on site, further collaborative ventures are soon to be announced.
- Publication - Known for many years for its critical editions of leading medieval Franciscan philosophers and theologians, Franciscan Institute Publications has more recently endeavored to make available to a wider reading public the very best of modern scholarship on the history, spirituality and intellectual tradition of the Franciscan movement. The newly reinvigorated Bonaventure Texts in Translation Series is a case in point. The latest online version of the FIP catalog reveals a good number of monographs, translations and several new scholarly series that attempt to bridge the medieval and contemporary worlds.
