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Glossary

St Bonaventure

Bonaventure (1221 - 1274) was a Franciscan. He taught in Paris (the great university of the time), where he knew Thomas Aquinas. He became the head of the Franciscan Order, and later the cardinal bishop of Albano.

He was a considerable intellectual and wrote many works of philosophy and theology, and a life of Saint Francis. His writings are still a source of information on the saints and on devotional subjects and mysticism. He was known as 'The Seraphic Teacher'. His attribute is a cardinal's hat.