If scholarly bias is in some ways analogous to war between opposing camps, those who win certain battles for a time may not win the war in the long run. Or at least it sometimes seems that way. History is often written by victors whose crimes are erased along with the suffering of the vanquished. How does this apply to Shakespeare and Francis of Assisi? [Images, L-R: Secret Shakespeare by Richard Wilson (2004) , and The Saint and the Sultan by Paul Moses (2009). ] * Shakespeare incorporated not only Protestant, Puritan, and Catholic themes in his plays, but often specifically Franciscan themes. In both literal and figurative violence of religious and cultural wars in medieval and Early Modern Europe, Franciscans were twice the losers, first to Rome, then to England. Francis of Assisi (c.1181-1226) was a reformer in his own right who recognized ways that money, power, and violence had corrupted the Catholic church. He expressed solidarity with and love for the sick and poor. ...
