Paul Sabatier (1858–1928)
Paul Sabatier (1858–1928) was a French Protestant pastor and historian whose 1893 Vie de S. François d'Assise reshaped modern Franciscan studies. The English translation by Louise Seymour Houghton circulated widely. Catholics should read him with care: the Holy See placed the Life on the Index in 1894, and later Franciscan scholarship revised several of his source theories, while still acknowledging his role in reopening the critical study of the early legends.
Non-Catholic Christian · Protestant (French Reformed)
Sabatier's Life is historically important and often moving, but it is not a Catholic hagiography. He tended to cast Francis as a Gospel free spirit later constrained by Rome and the Order. Catholic readers may profit from his source work and narrative gift while also reading Thomas of Celano, St Bonaventure, and later Catholic biographers, Chesterton among them, for an ecclesial reading of the saint.
Read also: Saint Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton, The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi by Candide Chalippe, O.F.M., and The Little Flowers of Saint Francis.
Bibliotheca Catholica lists some writers outside the Catholic communion whose books are read alongside the Catholic tradition. Listing is not endorsement; see the Fidelity & Editorial Policy.
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Born 1858, died 1928. Non-Catholic Christian: Protestant (French Reformed). Sources checked 2026-11-09.