As with Aquinas, Saint Bonaventure (1217-1274), the Seraphic Doctor, joined one of the two revolutionary new religious orders that arose at the beginning of the 13th century, the Dominicans and the Franciscans. These were mendicant orders, distinct from the long-established monastic orders. The material culture of western Europe started to recover in the 12th century from its long post-Roman inanition. Commerce and urbanization increased. The monasteries (in the tradition of Benedict) were outside these urban centers, and often had amassed great amounts of property. Some who wanted a return to the fervor of the primordial apostolic life turned to the mendicants, who begged for their sustenance and centered their ministry in cities.

Saint Bonaventure followed Saint Francis; indeed, he would serve as Minister General of the Franciscan Order. Though learned in Aristotle, Bonaventure’s fundamental instincts were Platonic and Augustinian, and he argued for the comprehensiveness of theology with regard to philosophy, as well as the primacy of mysticism over even theological learning. The Journey of the Mind into God is one of the supreme works of mystical-speculative theology, patterned on the vision Saint Francis had on receiving the stigmata (the wounds of Christ): that of a crucified seraph (a six-winged angel).