Excerpt from Homes of the First Franciscans: In Umbria, the Borders of Tuscany, and the Northern Marches Knowing and loving the places where he lived. And here it is not a question of geographical, ex ternal knowledge, but of something more intimate and more vital. Without knowing anything about Greece, one may understand Plato; but it is not possible to understand S. Francis without knowing Umbria. A knowledge of the places where events occurred is indispensable to political history, but here it is quite another matter. It is not only because the eyes of 5. Francis rested, glowing with hope or burning with pain, on these hills which the setting sun leaves so reluctantly, that we want to see them and feel their spirit. It is because, as we look on them in the light of his temperament, a faculty far transcending our intellect comes to birth within us - a beginning of harmony, then communion and if we could follow it to the end, there would spring up in us a sincere desire Of fellow-service. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.