The book presents a sympathetic outsider's portrait of a medieval religious figure, seeking to reconcile apparent contradictions between lively, romantic instincts and rigorous asceticism. It situates him in his historical and social context, recounts episodes that show him as a fighter for reform, a builder of religious communities, a wandering minstrel and a proponent of radical poverty, and explains the development of his associated orders. The narrative emphasizes his mystical orientation toward Christ, addresses reported miracles and the reception of the stigmata, and follows his final illness, death, and testament, arguing that these elements combine into a coherent spiritual vocation rather than disparate anomalies.