Abstract

The encounter between Francis of Assisi and sultan Malik al-Kamil in 1219 became in its immediate aftermath object of several historiographic, hagiographic and literary accounts. One can see that a common, yet variously developed element of all these reports is the record of the future saint surprising his audience by the frankness of his preaching of the Christian faith. This continuity stretches from the Old French Chronique d’Ernoul, which firstly introduced this aspect, to Dante’s Commedia. Actually, in the light of the eye-witness account of Thomas of Split, an enthusiastic speech of Francis at the Egyptian court could well respond to the facts: following the model of the contemporary political concionatori and their biblical archetype, Salomon, Francis surely preached in a simple but theologically profound way the Truth of Christian relevation, trusting that Divine wisdom in humility is superior to an approach which is grounded exclusively in human knowledge.