“(...) Que o estudo não extinga o espírito da santa oração e devoção”: reflexões sobre a educação na Ordem dos Frades Menores a partir das primeiras hagiografias em prosa sobre Antônio de Pádua

Abstract

In the 13th century, when the Order of Friars Minor emerges, two phenomena pointed out by historiography coexisted in the Medieval West: the desecration of writing and a critical perspective in relation to those who obtained school education, due to the association between education, social prestige and abandonment of the principles of faith. In the document known as “Letter from Sao Francisco to Santo Antonio”, it is possible to identify the tension between the importance of the study and its potential to shake the “spirit”. Antonio, to whom the letter was addressed, was, according to the testimonies, one of the first religious to join the Order of Friars Minor with theological training, as he was educated with the ruling clerics. The objective of this article is to analyze the first subtitles about Antonio, the Legend Assidua, Vida Segunda and the Dialogus das Gestas de Santo Antonio, written between 1232 to 1245, in order to discuss the role of school knowledge in the characterization of the friar and, for extension within the Order of Friars Minor in the 1230s and 1240s.