Jacopone da Todi entered the Order of Friars Minor during the last quarter of the thirteenth century when the conflict between the Franciscan Conventuals and Spirituals was raging. His lauds, which long have had an established place in the history of Italian poetry, sing the praises of poverty, insist on the supremacy of the love of God above all others loves, and inveigh against the worldliness of the Church under the reign of Pope Boniface VIII. In this volume, Serge and Elizabeth Hughes have given us a fresh, highly-readable rendition of Jacopone's poetry.
