This book examines the potential of conducting studies in comparative hagiology, through parallel literary and historical analyses of spiritual life writings pertaining to distinct religious contexts. In particular, it focuses on a comparative analysis of the early sources on the medieval Christian Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) and the Tibetan Buddhist Milarepa (c. 1052-1135), up to and including the so-called standard versions of their life stories written by Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (1221-1274) and Tsangnyon Heruka (1452-1507) respectively.

The book thus demonstrates how in...