Frances Andrews, The Other Friars: Carmelite, Augustinian, Sack and Pied Friars in the Middle Ages

Abstract

This book is published in The Boydell Press’ series Monastic Orders following Michael Robson’s volume on The Franciscans in the  Middle Ages. Persons keen to promote Carmelite Studies may be disappointed that the Order apparently does not merit a unique  volume alongside those listed in the frontispiece as currently in production: the Benedictines, the Canons Regular, and the  Carthusians. Such persons might likewise be disappointed that the Carmelites and the Augustinians – as survivors of the 1274 Council  of Lyons prohibition on new religious orders – should be placed alongside two orders that were suppressed (the Pied Friars and Friars  of the Sack), perhaps reinforcing the view that the Carmelites always played second fiddle to the Dominicans and Franciscans.  However, Andrews make a convincing case for the comparison, given the parallel concerns and chronological links between the ‘Other Friars’. Whilst the title of the book might sound disparaging, it highlights the all too liminal place that Carmelites have occupied in  Medieval Studies thus far, and Andrews’ book presents a persuasive case for reassessing the importance of the medieval Order.