Observant Reforms and Cultural Production in Europe: Introductory Remarks

Bert Roest studied intellectual history and medieval studies at the Universities of Groningen and Toronto, and completed his PhD at Groningen on the intellectual contexts of medieval Franciscan historiography in 1996. Since 2008 he works as a lecturer at Radboud University Nijmegen, and he holds a Status Only position as Associate Professor at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto. His research focuses on the cultural and intellectual history of religious orders between the thirteenth and the seventeenth century. His publications comprise various monographs, such as <i>A History of Franciscan Education</i> (Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2000); <i>Franciscan Literature of Religious Instruction Before the Council of Trent</i> (Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2004); <i>Order and Disorder: The Poor Clares Between Foundation and Reform</i> (Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2013), and <i>Franciscan Learning, Preaching and Mission c. 1220-1650: Cum scientia sit donum Dei, armatura ad defendendam sanctam Fidem catholicam…</i>(Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2015), as well as many articles and essays on mendicant preaching, Observant religious and literary culture, and demonology. Together with Maarten van der Heijden, he maintains the Franciscan Authors Website (<a href="https://applejack.science.ru.nl/franciscanauthors/">https://applejack.science.ru.nl/franciscanauthors/</a>).