Sheds needed light on an obscure aspect of medieval mendicancy and is a great resource for those studying medieval religious institutional and social history.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW
A fine study. [...] Deals elegantly with the difficulty of reconstructing the past from primarily normative sources and makes deft use of such evidence of personal experience and opinion as is extant. [...] In investigating this through a rare comparative study, Andrews has performed a great service to students of medieval religion.
ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW
Would provide a valuable service even if it did no more than introduce readers to the variety of mendicant profession in thirteenth-century Europe. As it is, it does very much more than this. [...] Andrews manages to present her thesis with great clarity of organisation and lucidity of expression, yet without compromising the deep scholarship that obviously forms the bedrock of the book.
JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
[An] interesting and thought-provoking study. Essential to anyone conducting research on the mendicant orders. Highly recommended.
CHOICE
A history that is both lively and definitive. [...] This is a very fine book, rescuing from obscurity an entire chapter of the medieval past.
THE TABLET
Students of late medieval religion will be glad to have this book, not only because it lacks a competitor but especially because of its solidity. TLS Definitely a volume to be welcomed.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY JOURNAL