Fr. Noel Muscat is presenting the first ever English translation of The Chronicle of the 24 Ministers General of the Order of Friars Minor. The translation features the first part of this voluminous Chronicle, and is dedicated to the theme of the life of Saint Francis and his early companions.

The “Chronica XXIV Generalium Ordinis Fratrum Minorum” is a voluminous history of the Franciscan Order from the time of its foundation by Saint Francis to the Minister General Leonard di Giffoni (1373-1378). The year 1378 marked the beginning of the Great Schism (which lasted till 1417), when two popes were elected, Urban VI in Rome and Clement VII in Avignon.
The author of The Chronicle of the 24 Generals of the Order of Friars Minor is today considered to be brother Arnald of Sarrant. The Franciscan scholars of Quaracchi who edited this work in the third volume of “Analecta Franciscana”, say that he came from France and was a member of the Franciscan Province of Aquitaine, since he includes his own name in the list of Ministers of that Province. Arnald of Sarrant is also considered to be the author of the “De Cognatione S. Francisci” (The Kinship of St. Francis), which paved the way for the famous “De Conformitate vitae beati Francisci ad vitam Domini Iesu” (Book of Conformities), published at the very end of the 14th century by Bartholomew of Pisa. In the Book of Conformities, brother Bartholomew of Pisa says that Arnald came from Sarrant, that he was Minister of his province for a long time (circa 1361-1383), and that he collected and wrote whatever information he found regarding Saint Francis. Luke Wadding explicitly indicates Arnald of Sarrant as the author of the Chronicle of the 24 Generals.

For a complete text of the translation of this Chronicle, go to the Franciscan Studies section, under the sub-heading “Franciscan Texts”.