Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Saint Bonaventure

Bonaventure was the son of an Italian physician, and was said to have been healed of a childish illness by St Francis. He become a friar in 1243, and studied under Alexander of Hales, the first head of the Franciscan school in Paris and the author of a vast theological anthology which served as a textbook for the order. Having received his licence to teach in 1248, Bonaventure wrote a great Commentary on the Sentences, and became head of the Paris Franciscans in 1253. He held the post for only four years, and was then elected Minister General of the Franciscans. The Order was in some disarray, with different factions, after St Francis’ death in 1226, claiming to be the sole authentic perpetuators of his spirit. Bonaventure, a capable administrator as well as a model ascetic, reunited and reorganized the Order; he wrote the official life of St Francis, and attempted to have all others destroyed. He was made a Cardinal in 1273, and a year later he died at the Council of Lyons, which briefly reunited the separated Greek and Latin churches. His administrative duties allowed him little time for study during his later years, but he retained his interest in philosophy. His best known work is a short mystical treatise entitled The Journey of the Mind to God.