Chesterton's work on St. Francis of Assisi starts with some good introductory remarks. I was especially impressed by chapter 2. Chesterton starts by explaining why the context of St. Francis' life is important. Then he provides a wonderful view of the early Middle Ages (the 'dark ages') as a time when nature had to be 'purged' from paganism.
Paganism started very 'natural' by worshiping nature, but this had become a very unnatural thing over the centuries. 'Pagans were wiser than paganism; that is why pagans became Christians.'. These early Christians, however, still had tainted views of nature: everything still had references to the old idolatry. So in the dark ages, Christians detached themselves from nature. Just before the time of St. Francis (and St. Thomas), people began to realize that nature was pure. They could again see nature as a creation by God. This new-found innocence provides part of the context of St. Francis' live.
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