Sharpe, Rosemary Ann
(1993)
Franciscan values and social contexts: A sociological study of founders of Anglican Franciscan Third Orders, 1882-1939.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
This thesis is an account of how certain resources and the values they expressed came to be available and visible in society, and of how these values were taken up, transformed and used in particular ways. It will demonstrate how four individuals, in different social contexts, acquired and transformed these values, as they attempted to initiate varying forms of the same type of organisation. The values with which the thesis is concerned are those inferred from the life of St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226). Part One sketches how (a) Roman Catholics made the values they ascribed to St. Francis available as resources and (b) those outside the Roman Catholic Church, especially in the period 1882-1939, came to know of these resources and values, and modified them. Part Two consists of four life-history narratives constructed from oral history, manuscripts and printed materials. They recount how four people in this period came to be stimulated by these resources, and attempted to institutionalise the values they absorbed from them in different forms of an Anglican Franciscan Third Order. The first narrative traces part of the mercurial life of James Adderley, who encouraged individuals to express Franciscan values through attempting to bring about social justice. The second narrative explains how Emily Marshall came to connect Franciscan values with her desire to see women's ministry recognised by the Church of England. The third and fourth narratives are set mainly in India. John Winslow in the 'High Noon' of the British Empire linked Franciscan and Indian bhakti values to form an ashram, Christa Seva Sangha. Verrier Elwin merged Franciscan and Gandhian values while living among aboriginal tribes. The final chapter analyses the complex interplay between Franciscan values and social contexts which is demonstrated by these four examples, and draws some sociological conclusions from the research.
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