FOOTNOTES1.Easy as it is to seize the large outlines of her life, it is with difficulty that one makes a detailed and documentary study of it. There is nothing surprising in this, for the Clarisses felt the rebound of the struggles which divided and rapidly transformed the Order of the Brothers Minor. The greater number of the documents have disappeared; we give summary indication of those which will most often be cited: 1. Life of St. Clara by an anonymous author. A. SS.,Aug., t. ii., pp. 739-768. 2. Her Will, given by Wadding (Annales, 1253, No. 5), but which does not appear to be free from alteration. (Compare, for example, the opening of this will with Chapter VI. of the Rule of the Damianites approved by Innocent IV., August 8, 1253.) 3. The bull of canonization, given September 26, 1255—that is to say, two years after Clara's death; it is much longer than these documents ordinarily are, and relates the principal incidents of her life. A. SS.,loc. cit., p. 749; Potthast, 16,025. 4. Her correspondence. Unhappily we have only fragments of it; the Bollandists, without saying whence they drew them, have inserted four of her letters in theActaof St. Agnes of Bohemia, to whom they were addressed. (A. SS.,Martii, t. i., pp. 506-508.)2.Reading the Chronicle of Fra Salimbeni, which represents the average Franciscan character about 1250, one sees with what reason the Rule had multiplied minute precautions for keeping the Brothers from all relations with women.The desire of Celano to present the facts in the life of Francis as the norm of the acts of the friars appears still more in the chapters concerning St. Clara than in all the others. Vide 2 Cel., 3, 132:Non credatis, charissimi (dixit Franciscus), quodeas perfecte non diligam.... Sed exemplum do vobis, ut quemadmodum ego facio, ita et vos faciatis.Cf. ibid., 134.3.2 Cel., 3, 55.Fateor veritatem ... nullam me si aspicerem recogniturum in facie nisi duas. This chapter and the two following give us a sort of caricature, in which Francis is represented as so little sure of himself that he casts down his eyes for fear of yielding to desire. The stories of Francis and Jacqueline of Settesoli give a very different picture of the relations between the Brothers and the women in the origin of the Order from that which was given later. Bernard de Besse (Turin MS., fo. 113) relates at length the coming of Jacqueline to Portiuncula to be present at St. Francis's death. Cf.Spec., 107; 133; Bon., 112. Also Clara's repast at Portiuncula.Fior., 15;Spec., 139b.; A. SS.Aug. Vita Clar., No. 39 ff.4.Isaiah, lxiii., 8 and 9 (Ségond's [French] translation). At the Mass on Holy Monday Isaiah lxiii. is read for the Epistle and Mark xiv. for the Gospel.5.San Paolo on the Chiasco, near Bastia.6.At the present day diocesan seminary of Assisi, "Seminarium seraphicum." In the thirteenth century the north gate of the city was there. The houses which lie between there and the Basilica form the new town, which is rapidly growing and will unite the city with Sacro Convento.7.Nam steteramus in alio loco, licet parum. Test. Clar.It is truly strange that there is not a word here for the house where the first days of her religious life were passed. Cf.Vit., no. 10:S. Angelus de Panse ... ubi cum non plene mens ejus quiesceret.8.Mittarelli,Annales Camaldulenses(Venice, 1755-1773, 9 vols., fo.), t. iv., app. 431 and 435. Cf. 156.9.The act of donation is still in the archives of Assisi. An analysis of it will be found in Cristofani, t. i., p. 133. Their munificence remained without result; the bullAb Ecclesiaof July 27, 1232, shows that they were suppressed less than twenty years after.Sbaralea, t. 1, p. 81. Potthast, 8984. Cf., ib., p. 195, note c, and 340, note a, and the bulls which are there indicated.10.Seep. 81, note ii.11.1 Cel., 18; 21; 3 Soc., 24; 2 Cel., 1, 8.12.An. Perus., A. SS., p. 600. Cf. 3 Soc., 60. The three Orders are contemporary, one might even say, the four, including among them the one that miscarried among the secular priests (see below).In a letter St. Clara speaks of her Order as making only a part with that of the Brothers:Sequaris consilia Reverendi Patris nostri fratris Eliæ Ministri generalis totius ordinis. A. SS., Martii, t. i., p. 507.13.This point of view is brought into relief by an anecdote in theDe laudibusof Bernard of Besse (Turin MS., 113a). This is how he ends chap. vii. on the three Orders:Nec Santus his contentus ordinibus satagebat omnium generi salutis et penitentiæ viam dare. Unde parochiali cuidam sacerdoti dicenti sibi quod vellet suus, retenta tamen ecclesia. Frater esse, dato vivendi et induendi modo, dicitur indixisse ut annuatim, collectis Eclesiæ fructibus daret pro Deo, quod de præteritis superesset.14.See the lovely story in theFior., 13. Cf.Spec., 65a;Conform., 168b. 1.15.The text of it was doubtless formerly inserted in chapter vi. of the Rule granted to the Clarisses of St. Damian, August 9, 1253, by the bullSolet annuere. Potthast, 15,086. But this chapter has been completely changed in many editions. The text of theSpeculum, Morin, Rouen 1509, should be read.Tractiii., 226b. The critical study to be made upon this text by comparing the indications given by the bullAngelis guadiumof May 11, 1238, Sbaralea, i., p. 242, is too long to find a place here.16.2 Cel., 3, 132. Cf.Test. B. Clar.17.In illa gravi infirmitate ... faciebat se erigi ... et sedens filabat.A. SS., 760e.Sic vult eas [sorores] operare manibus suis.Ib. 762a.18.Fior.33.19.Rule of 1221, chap xii.Et nulla penitus mulier ab aliquo frater recipiatur ad obedientiam, sed dato sibi consilio spirituali, ubi voluerit agat penitentiam.Cf. below,p. 252, note 1, the remainder of this chapter and the indication of the sources. This proves, 1, that the friars had received women into the Order; 2, that at the beginning they said The Order in the singular, and under this appellation included Sisters as well as Brothers. We see how far the situation was, even at the end of 1221, from being what it became a few years later. It is to be noted that in all the reforming sects of the commencement of the thirteenth century the two sexes were closely united. (VideBurchardi chronicon, Pertz, 1, 23, p. 376. Cf. Potthast, 2611, bullCum otimof Nov. 25, 1205.)On the 7th of June, 1201 (bullIncunubit nobis), Innocent III. had approved the Rule of the Humiliants. This was a religious association whose members continued to live in their own homes, and who offer surprising points of contact with the Franciscan Order, though they took no vow of poverty. From them issued a more restricted association which founded convents where they worked in wool; these convents received both men and women. Vide Jacques de Vitry,Hist. Occidentalis, cap. 28.De religione et regula Humiliatorum(Douai, 1597, pp. 334-337). The time came when from these two Orders issued a third, composed solely of priests. TheseHumiliatiare too little known, though they have had a historian whose book is one of the noble works of the eighteenth century: Tiraboschi,Vetera Humiliatorum monumenta(Milan, 3 vols., 4to, 1766-1768). Toward 1200 they had monopolizedl'arte della lanain all upper Italy as far as to Florence; it is evident, therefore, that Francis's father must have had relations with them.20.The bull approving the Rule of St. Damian is of August 9, 1253. Clara died two days later.21.1 Cel., 122. Cf. Potthast, 8194 ff.; cf. ib., 709.22.A. SS.,Vita Cl., p. 758. Cf. bull of canonization.23.Vit. S. Clar., A. SS., p. 758. This petition was surely made by the medium of Francis; and there are several indications of his presence in Perugia in the latter part of the life of Innocent III.In obitu suo [Alexandri papæ] omnes familiares sui deseruerunt eum præter fratres Minores. Et similiter Papam Gregorium et Honorium et Innocentium in cujus obitu fuit præsentialiter S. Franciscus.Eccl. xv.Mon. Germ. hist. Script., t. 28 p. 568. Sbaralea puts forth doubts as to the authenticity of this privilege, the text of which he gives; wrongly, I think, for Clara alludes to it in her will, A. SS., p. 747.24.He was born about 1147, created cardinal in 1198. Vide Raynald,ann., 1217, § 88, the eulogy made upon him by Honorius III.Forma decorus et venustus aspectu ... zelator fidei, disciplina virtutis, ... castitatis amator et totius sanctitatis exemplar: Muratori,Scriptores rer. Ital., iii., 1, 575.25.1 Cel., 74.26.The bullLitteræ tuæof August 27, 1218, shows him already favoring the Clarisses. Sbaralea, i., p. 1. Vide 3 Soc., 61.Offero me ipsum, dixit Hugolinus, vobis, auxilium et consilium, atque protectionem paratus impendere.27.In the Conformities, 107a, 2, there is a curious story which shows Ugolini going to the Carceri to find Francis, and asking him if he ought to enter his Order. Cf.Spec., 217.28.He succeeded so well that Thomas of Celano himself seems to forget that, at least at St. Damian, the Clarisses followed the Rule given by St. Francis himself:Ipsorum vita mirifica et institutio gloriosa a domino Papa Gregorio, tunc Hostiensi episcopo.1 Cel. 20. Cf.Honorii OperaHoroy, t. iii., col. 363; t. iv., col. 218; Potthast, 6179 and 6879 ff.29.This privilege is inserted in the bullSacrosanctaof December 9, 1219.Honorii opera, Horoy, t. iii., col. 363 ff.30.G. Levi,Registri dei Cardinali, no. 125. Vide below,p. 400. Cf. Campi,Hist. eccl. di Piacenza, ii., 390.31.See, for example, the letter given by Wadding: Annals, ii., p. 16 (Rome, 1732).Tanta me amaritudo cordis, abundantia lacrymarum et immanitas doloris invasit, quod nisi ad pedes Jesu, consolationem solitæ pietatis invenirem, spiritus meus forte deficeret et penitus anima liquefieret.Wadding's text should be corrected by that of the Riccardi MS., 279. fo80a and b. Cf. Mark of Lisbon, t. i., p. 185; Sbaralea, i., p. 37.32.BullAngelis gaudiumof May 11, 1238; it may be found in Sbaralea, i., p. 242. Cf. Palacky,Literarische Reise nach Italien, Prague, 1838, 4to, no. 147. Potthast, 10,596; cf. 11,175.33.A. SS.,Vit. Clar., p. 762. Cf.Conform., 84b, 2.34.A. SS.,Aprilis, t. iii., p. 239a;Conform., 54a, 1; 177a, 2.35.A. SS.,Vit. Clar., p. 764d.36.The bull of canonization says nothing of the Saracens whom she put to flight. Her life in the A. SS. relates the fact, but shows her simply in prayer before the Holy Sacrament. Cf.Conform., 84b, 1. Mark of Lisbon t. i., part 2, pp. 179-181. None of these accounts represents Clara as going to meet them with a monstrance.37.Bon., 173;Fior.16;Spec., 62b;Conform., 84b, 2; 110b 1; 49a, 1. With these should be comparedSpec., 220b:Frater Leo narravit quod Sanctus Franciscus surgens orare(sic)venit ad fratres suos dicens: "Ite ad sæculum et dimittatis habitum, licentio vos."38.2 Cel., 3, 134.
1.Easy as it is to seize the large outlines of her life, it is with difficulty that one makes a detailed and documentary study of it. There is nothing surprising in this, for the Clarisses felt the rebound of the struggles which divided and rapidly transformed the Order of the Brothers Minor. The greater number of the documents have disappeared; we give summary indication of those which will most often be cited: 1. Life of St. Clara by an anonymous author. A. SS.,Aug., t. ii., pp. 739-768. 2. Her Will, given by Wadding (Annales, 1253, No. 5), but which does not appear to be free from alteration. (Compare, for example, the opening of this will with Chapter VI. of the Rule of the Damianites approved by Innocent IV., August 8, 1253.) 3. The bull of canonization, given September 26, 1255—that is to say, two years after Clara's death; it is much longer than these documents ordinarily are, and relates the principal incidents of her life. A. SS.,loc. cit., p. 749; Potthast, 16,025. 4. Her correspondence. Unhappily we have only fragments of it; the Bollandists, without saying whence they drew them, have inserted four of her letters in theActaof St. Agnes of Bohemia, to whom they were addressed. (A. SS.,Martii, t. i., pp. 506-508.)2.Reading the Chronicle of Fra Salimbeni, which represents the average Franciscan character about 1250, one sees with what reason the Rule had multiplied minute precautions for keeping the Brothers from all relations with women.The desire of Celano to present the facts in the life of Francis as the norm of the acts of the friars appears still more in the chapters concerning St. Clara than in all the others. Vide 2 Cel., 3, 132:Non credatis, charissimi (dixit Franciscus), quodeas perfecte non diligam.... Sed exemplum do vobis, ut quemadmodum ego facio, ita et vos faciatis.Cf. ibid., 134.3.2 Cel., 3, 55.Fateor veritatem ... nullam me si aspicerem recogniturum in facie nisi duas. This chapter and the two following give us a sort of caricature, in which Francis is represented as so little sure of himself that he casts down his eyes for fear of yielding to desire. The stories of Francis and Jacqueline of Settesoli give a very different picture of the relations between the Brothers and the women in the origin of the Order from that which was given later. Bernard de Besse (Turin MS., fo. 113) relates at length the coming of Jacqueline to Portiuncula to be present at St. Francis's death. Cf.Spec., 107; 133; Bon., 112. Also Clara's repast at Portiuncula.Fior., 15;Spec., 139b.; A. SS.Aug. Vita Clar., No. 39 ff.4.Isaiah, lxiii., 8 and 9 (Ségond's [French] translation). At the Mass on Holy Monday Isaiah lxiii. is read for the Epistle and Mark xiv. for the Gospel.5.San Paolo on the Chiasco, near Bastia.6.At the present day diocesan seminary of Assisi, "Seminarium seraphicum." In the thirteenth century the north gate of the city was there. The houses which lie between there and the Basilica form the new town, which is rapidly growing and will unite the city with Sacro Convento.7.Nam steteramus in alio loco, licet parum. Test. Clar.It is truly strange that there is not a word here for the house where the first days of her religious life were passed. Cf.Vit., no. 10:S. Angelus de Panse ... ubi cum non plene mens ejus quiesceret.8.Mittarelli,Annales Camaldulenses(Venice, 1755-1773, 9 vols., fo.), t. iv., app. 431 and 435. Cf. 156.9.The act of donation is still in the archives of Assisi. An analysis of it will be found in Cristofani, t. i., p. 133. Their munificence remained without result; the bullAb Ecclesiaof July 27, 1232, shows that they were suppressed less than twenty years after.Sbaralea, t. 1, p. 81. Potthast, 8984. Cf., ib., p. 195, note c, and 340, note a, and the bulls which are there indicated.10.Seep. 81, note ii.11.1 Cel., 18; 21; 3 Soc., 24; 2 Cel., 1, 8.12.An. Perus., A. SS., p. 600. Cf. 3 Soc., 60. The three Orders are contemporary, one might even say, the four, including among them the one that miscarried among the secular priests (see below).In a letter St. Clara speaks of her Order as making only a part with that of the Brothers:Sequaris consilia Reverendi Patris nostri fratris Eliæ Ministri generalis totius ordinis. A. SS., Martii, t. i., p. 507.13.This point of view is brought into relief by an anecdote in theDe laudibusof Bernard of Besse (Turin MS., 113a). This is how he ends chap. vii. on the three Orders:Nec Santus his contentus ordinibus satagebat omnium generi salutis et penitentiæ viam dare. Unde parochiali cuidam sacerdoti dicenti sibi quod vellet suus, retenta tamen ecclesia. Frater esse, dato vivendi et induendi modo, dicitur indixisse ut annuatim, collectis Eclesiæ fructibus daret pro Deo, quod de præteritis superesset.14.See the lovely story in theFior., 13. Cf.Spec., 65a;Conform., 168b. 1.15.The text of it was doubtless formerly inserted in chapter vi. of the Rule granted to the Clarisses of St. Damian, August 9, 1253, by the bullSolet annuere. Potthast, 15,086. But this chapter has been completely changed in many editions. The text of theSpeculum, Morin, Rouen 1509, should be read.Tractiii., 226b. The critical study to be made upon this text by comparing the indications given by the bullAngelis guadiumof May 11, 1238, Sbaralea, i., p. 242, is too long to find a place here.16.2 Cel., 3, 132. Cf.Test. B. Clar.17.In illa gravi infirmitate ... faciebat se erigi ... et sedens filabat.A. SS., 760e.Sic vult eas [sorores] operare manibus suis.Ib. 762a.18.Fior.33.19.Rule of 1221, chap xii.Et nulla penitus mulier ab aliquo frater recipiatur ad obedientiam, sed dato sibi consilio spirituali, ubi voluerit agat penitentiam.Cf. below,p. 252, note 1, the remainder of this chapter and the indication of the sources. This proves, 1, that the friars had received women into the Order; 2, that at the beginning they said The Order in the singular, and under this appellation included Sisters as well as Brothers. We see how far the situation was, even at the end of 1221, from being what it became a few years later. It is to be noted that in all the reforming sects of the commencement of the thirteenth century the two sexes were closely united. (VideBurchardi chronicon, Pertz, 1, 23, p. 376. Cf. Potthast, 2611, bullCum otimof Nov. 25, 1205.)On the 7th of June, 1201 (bullIncunubit nobis), Innocent III. had approved the Rule of the Humiliants. This was a religious association whose members continued to live in their own homes, and who offer surprising points of contact with the Franciscan Order, though they took no vow of poverty. From them issued a more restricted association which founded convents where they worked in wool; these convents received both men and women. Vide Jacques de Vitry,Hist. Occidentalis, cap. 28.De religione et regula Humiliatorum(Douai, 1597, pp. 334-337). The time came when from these two Orders issued a third, composed solely of priests. TheseHumiliatiare too little known, though they have had a historian whose book is one of the noble works of the eighteenth century: Tiraboschi,Vetera Humiliatorum monumenta(Milan, 3 vols., 4to, 1766-1768). Toward 1200 they had monopolizedl'arte della lanain all upper Italy as far as to Florence; it is evident, therefore, that Francis's father must have had relations with them.20.The bull approving the Rule of St. Damian is of August 9, 1253. Clara died two days later.21.1 Cel., 122. Cf. Potthast, 8194 ff.; cf. ib., 709.22.A. SS.,Vita Cl., p. 758. Cf. bull of canonization.23.Vit. S. Clar., A. SS., p. 758. This petition was surely made by the medium of Francis; and there are several indications of his presence in Perugia in the latter part of the life of Innocent III.In obitu suo [Alexandri papæ] omnes familiares sui deseruerunt eum præter fratres Minores. Et similiter Papam Gregorium et Honorium et Innocentium in cujus obitu fuit præsentialiter S. Franciscus.Eccl. xv.Mon. Germ. hist. Script., t. 28 p. 568. Sbaralea puts forth doubts as to the authenticity of this privilege, the text of which he gives; wrongly, I think, for Clara alludes to it in her will, A. SS., p. 747.24.He was born about 1147, created cardinal in 1198. Vide Raynald,ann., 1217, § 88, the eulogy made upon him by Honorius III.Forma decorus et venustus aspectu ... zelator fidei, disciplina virtutis, ... castitatis amator et totius sanctitatis exemplar: Muratori,Scriptores rer. Ital., iii., 1, 575.25.1 Cel., 74.26.The bullLitteræ tuæof August 27, 1218, shows him already favoring the Clarisses. Sbaralea, i., p. 1. Vide 3 Soc., 61.Offero me ipsum, dixit Hugolinus, vobis, auxilium et consilium, atque protectionem paratus impendere.27.In the Conformities, 107a, 2, there is a curious story which shows Ugolini going to the Carceri to find Francis, and asking him if he ought to enter his Order. Cf.Spec., 217.28.He succeeded so well that Thomas of Celano himself seems to forget that, at least at St. Damian, the Clarisses followed the Rule given by St. Francis himself:Ipsorum vita mirifica et institutio gloriosa a domino Papa Gregorio, tunc Hostiensi episcopo.1 Cel. 20. Cf.Honorii OperaHoroy, t. iii., col. 363; t. iv., col. 218; Potthast, 6179 and 6879 ff.29.This privilege is inserted in the bullSacrosanctaof December 9, 1219.Honorii opera, Horoy, t. iii., col. 363 ff.30.G. Levi,Registri dei Cardinali, no. 125. Vide below,p. 400. Cf. Campi,Hist. eccl. di Piacenza, ii., 390.31.See, for example, the letter given by Wadding: Annals, ii., p. 16 (Rome, 1732).Tanta me amaritudo cordis, abundantia lacrymarum et immanitas doloris invasit, quod nisi ad pedes Jesu, consolationem solitæ pietatis invenirem, spiritus meus forte deficeret et penitus anima liquefieret.Wadding's text should be corrected by that of the Riccardi MS., 279. fo80a and b. Cf. Mark of Lisbon, t. i., p. 185; Sbaralea, i., p. 37.32.BullAngelis gaudiumof May 11, 1238; it may be found in Sbaralea, i., p. 242. Cf. Palacky,Literarische Reise nach Italien, Prague, 1838, 4to, no. 147. Potthast, 10,596; cf. 11,175.33.A. SS.,Vit. Clar., p. 762. Cf.Conform., 84b, 2.34.A. SS.,Aprilis, t. iii., p. 239a;Conform., 54a, 1; 177a, 2.35.A. SS.,Vit. Clar., p. 764d.36.The bull of canonization says nothing of the Saracens whom she put to flight. Her life in the A. SS. relates the fact, but shows her simply in prayer before the Holy Sacrament. Cf.Conform., 84b, 1. Mark of Lisbon t. i., part 2, pp. 179-181. None of these accounts represents Clara as going to meet them with a monstrance.37.Bon., 173;Fior.16;Spec., 62b;Conform., 84b, 2; 110b 1; 49a, 1. With these should be comparedSpec., 220b:Frater Leo narravit quod Sanctus Franciscus surgens orare(sic)venit ad fratres suos dicens: "Ite ad sæculum et dimittatis habitum, licentio vos."38.2 Cel., 3, 134.
1.Easy as it is to seize the large outlines of her life, it is with difficulty that one makes a detailed and documentary study of it. There is nothing surprising in this, for the Clarisses felt the rebound of the struggles which divided and rapidly transformed the Order of the Brothers Minor. The greater number of the documents have disappeared; we give summary indication of those which will most often be cited: 1. Life of St. Clara by an anonymous author. A. SS.,Aug., t. ii., pp. 739-768. 2. Her Will, given by Wadding (Annales, 1253, No. 5), but which does not appear to be free from alteration. (Compare, for example, the opening of this will with Chapter VI. of the Rule of the Damianites approved by Innocent IV., August 8, 1253.) 3. The bull of canonization, given September 26, 1255—that is to say, two years after Clara's death; it is much longer than these documents ordinarily are, and relates the principal incidents of her life. A. SS.,loc. cit., p. 749; Potthast, 16,025. 4. Her correspondence. Unhappily we have only fragments of it; the Bollandists, without saying whence they drew them, have inserted four of her letters in theActaof St. Agnes of Bohemia, to whom they were addressed. (A. SS.,Martii, t. i., pp. 506-508.)
2.Reading the Chronicle of Fra Salimbeni, which represents the average Franciscan character about 1250, one sees with what reason the Rule had multiplied minute precautions for keeping the Brothers from all relations with women.
The desire of Celano to present the facts in the life of Francis as the norm of the acts of the friars appears still more in the chapters concerning St. Clara than in all the others. Vide 2 Cel., 3, 132:Non credatis, charissimi (dixit Franciscus), quodeas perfecte non diligam.... Sed exemplum do vobis, ut quemadmodum ego facio, ita et vos faciatis.Cf. ibid., 134.
3.2 Cel., 3, 55.Fateor veritatem ... nullam me si aspicerem recogniturum in facie nisi duas. This chapter and the two following give us a sort of caricature, in which Francis is represented as so little sure of himself that he casts down his eyes for fear of yielding to desire. The stories of Francis and Jacqueline of Settesoli give a very different picture of the relations between the Brothers and the women in the origin of the Order from that which was given later. Bernard de Besse (Turin MS., fo. 113) relates at length the coming of Jacqueline to Portiuncula to be present at St. Francis's death. Cf.Spec., 107; 133; Bon., 112. Also Clara's repast at Portiuncula.Fior., 15;Spec., 139b.; A. SS.Aug. Vita Clar., No. 39 ff.
4.Isaiah, lxiii., 8 and 9 (Ségond's [French] translation). At the Mass on Holy Monday Isaiah lxiii. is read for the Epistle and Mark xiv. for the Gospel.
5.San Paolo on the Chiasco, near Bastia.
6.At the present day diocesan seminary of Assisi, "Seminarium seraphicum." In the thirteenth century the north gate of the city was there. The houses which lie between there and the Basilica form the new town, which is rapidly growing and will unite the city with Sacro Convento.
7.Nam steteramus in alio loco, licet parum. Test. Clar.It is truly strange that there is not a word here for the house where the first days of her religious life were passed. Cf.Vit., no. 10:S. Angelus de Panse ... ubi cum non plene mens ejus quiesceret.
8.Mittarelli,Annales Camaldulenses(Venice, 1755-1773, 9 vols., fo.), t. iv., app. 431 and 435. Cf. 156.
9.The act of donation is still in the archives of Assisi. An analysis of it will be found in Cristofani, t. i., p. 133. Their munificence remained without result; the bullAb Ecclesiaof July 27, 1232, shows that they were suppressed less than twenty years after.Sbaralea, t. 1, p. 81. Potthast, 8984. Cf., ib., p. 195, note c, and 340, note a, and the bulls which are there indicated.
10.Seep. 81, note ii.
11.1 Cel., 18; 21; 3 Soc., 24; 2 Cel., 1, 8.
12.An. Perus., A. SS., p. 600. Cf. 3 Soc., 60. The three Orders are contemporary, one might even say, the four, including among them the one that miscarried among the secular priests (see below).
In a letter St. Clara speaks of her Order as making only a part with that of the Brothers:Sequaris consilia Reverendi Patris nostri fratris Eliæ Ministri generalis totius ordinis. A. SS., Martii, t. i., p. 507.
13.This point of view is brought into relief by an anecdote in theDe laudibusof Bernard of Besse (Turin MS., 113a). This is how he ends chap. vii. on the three Orders:Nec Santus his contentus ordinibus satagebat omnium generi salutis et penitentiæ viam dare. Unde parochiali cuidam sacerdoti dicenti sibi quod vellet suus, retenta tamen ecclesia. Frater esse, dato vivendi et induendi modo, dicitur indixisse ut annuatim, collectis Eclesiæ fructibus daret pro Deo, quod de præteritis superesset.
14.See the lovely story in theFior., 13. Cf.Spec., 65a;Conform., 168b. 1.
15.The text of it was doubtless formerly inserted in chapter vi. of the Rule granted to the Clarisses of St. Damian, August 9, 1253, by the bullSolet annuere. Potthast, 15,086. But this chapter has been completely changed in many editions. The text of theSpeculum, Morin, Rouen 1509, should be read.Tractiii., 226b. The critical study to be made upon this text by comparing the indications given by the bullAngelis guadiumof May 11, 1238, Sbaralea, i., p. 242, is too long to find a place here.
16.2 Cel., 3, 132. Cf.Test. B. Clar.
17.In illa gravi infirmitate ... faciebat se erigi ... et sedens filabat.A. SS., 760e.Sic vult eas [sorores] operare manibus suis.Ib. 762a.
18.Fior.33.
19.Rule of 1221, chap xii.Et nulla penitus mulier ab aliquo frater recipiatur ad obedientiam, sed dato sibi consilio spirituali, ubi voluerit agat penitentiam.Cf. below,p. 252, note 1, the remainder of this chapter and the indication of the sources. This proves, 1, that the friars had received women into the Order; 2, that at the beginning they said The Order in the singular, and under this appellation included Sisters as well as Brothers. We see how far the situation was, even at the end of 1221, from being what it became a few years later. It is to be noted that in all the reforming sects of the commencement of the thirteenth century the two sexes were closely united. (VideBurchardi chronicon, Pertz, 1, 23, p. 376. Cf. Potthast, 2611, bullCum otimof Nov. 25, 1205.)
On the 7th of June, 1201 (bullIncunubit nobis), Innocent III. had approved the Rule of the Humiliants. This was a religious association whose members continued to live in their own homes, and who offer surprising points of contact with the Franciscan Order, though they took no vow of poverty. From them issued a more restricted association which founded convents where they worked in wool; these convents received both men and women. Vide Jacques de Vitry,Hist. Occidentalis, cap. 28.De religione et regula Humiliatorum(Douai, 1597, pp. 334-337). The time came when from these two Orders issued a third, composed solely of priests. TheseHumiliatiare too little known, though they have had a historian whose book is one of the noble works of the eighteenth century: Tiraboschi,Vetera Humiliatorum monumenta(Milan, 3 vols., 4to, 1766-1768). Toward 1200 they had monopolizedl'arte della lanain all upper Italy as far as to Florence; it is evident, therefore, that Francis's father must have had relations with them.
20.The bull approving the Rule of St. Damian is of August 9, 1253. Clara died two days later.
21.1 Cel., 122. Cf. Potthast, 8194 ff.; cf. ib., 709.
22.A. SS.,Vita Cl., p. 758. Cf. bull of canonization.
23.Vit. S. Clar., A. SS., p. 758. This petition was surely made by the medium of Francis; and there are several indications of his presence in Perugia in the latter part of the life of Innocent III.In obitu suo [Alexandri papæ] omnes familiares sui deseruerunt eum præter fratres Minores. Et similiter Papam Gregorium et Honorium et Innocentium in cujus obitu fuit præsentialiter S. Franciscus.Eccl. xv.Mon. Germ. hist. Script., t. 28 p. 568. Sbaralea puts forth doubts as to the authenticity of this privilege, the text of which he gives; wrongly, I think, for Clara alludes to it in her will, A. SS., p. 747.
24.He was born about 1147, created cardinal in 1198. Vide Raynald,ann., 1217, § 88, the eulogy made upon him by Honorius III.Forma decorus et venustus aspectu ... zelator fidei, disciplina virtutis, ... castitatis amator et totius sanctitatis exemplar: Muratori,Scriptores rer. Ital., iii., 1, 575.
25.1 Cel., 74.
26.The bullLitteræ tuæof August 27, 1218, shows him already favoring the Clarisses. Sbaralea, i., p. 1. Vide 3 Soc., 61.Offero me ipsum, dixit Hugolinus, vobis, auxilium et consilium, atque protectionem paratus impendere.
27.In the Conformities, 107a, 2, there is a curious story which shows Ugolini going to the Carceri to find Francis, and asking him if he ought to enter his Order. Cf.Spec., 217.
28.He succeeded so well that Thomas of Celano himself seems to forget that, at least at St. Damian, the Clarisses followed the Rule given by St. Francis himself:Ipsorum vita mirifica et institutio gloriosa a domino Papa Gregorio, tunc Hostiensi episcopo.1 Cel. 20. Cf.Honorii OperaHoroy, t. iii., col. 363; t. iv., col. 218; Potthast, 6179 and 6879 ff.
29.This privilege is inserted in the bullSacrosanctaof December 9, 1219.Honorii opera, Horoy, t. iii., col. 363 ff.
30.G. Levi,Registri dei Cardinali, no. 125. Vide below,p. 400. Cf. Campi,Hist. eccl. di Piacenza, ii., 390.
31.See, for example, the letter given by Wadding: Annals, ii., p. 16 (Rome, 1732).Tanta me amaritudo cordis, abundantia lacrymarum et immanitas doloris invasit, quod nisi ad pedes Jesu, consolationem solitæ pietatis invenirem, spiritus meus forte deficeret et penitus anima liquefieret.Wadding's text should be corrected by that of the Riccardi MS., 279. fo80a and b. Cf. Mark of Lisbon, t. i., p. 185; Sbaralea, i., p. 37.
32.BullAngelis gaudiumof May 11, 1238; it may be found in Sbaralea, i., p. 242. Cf. Palacky,Literarische Reise nach Italien, Prague, 1838, 4to, no. 147. Potthast, 10,596; cf. 11,175.
33.A. SS.,Vit. Clar., p. 762. Cf.Conform., 84b, 2.
34.A. SS.,Aprilis, t. iii., p. 239a;Conform., 54a, 1; 177a, 2.
35.A. SS.,Vit. Clar., p. 764d.
36.The bull of canonization says nothing of the Saracens whom she put to flight. Her life in the A. SS. relates the fact, but shows her simply in prayer before the Holy Sacrament. Cf.Conform., 84b, 1. Mark of Lisbon t. i., part 2, pp. 179-181. None of these accounts represents Clara as going to meet them with a monstrance.
37.Bon., 173;Fior.16;Spec., 62b;Conform., 84b, 2; 110b 1; 49a, 1. With these should be comparedSpec., 220b:Frater Leo narravit quod Sanctus Franciscus surgens orare(sic)venit ad fratres suos dicens: "Ite ad sæculum et dimittatis habitum, licentio vos."
38.2 Cel., 3, 134.
The early Brothers Minor had too much need of the encouragement and example of Francis not to have very early agreed with him upon certain fixed periods when they would be sure to find him at Portiuncula. Still it appears probable that these meetings did not become true Chapters-General until toward 1216. There were at first two a year, one at Whitsunday, the other at Michaelmas (September 29th). Those of Whitsunday were the most important; all the Brothers came together to gain new strength in the society of Francis, to draw generous ardor and grand hopes from him with his counsels and directions.
The members of the young association had everything in common, their joys as well as their sorrows; their uncertainties as well as the results of their experiences. At these meetings they were particularly occupied with the Rule, the changes that needed to be made in it, and above all, how they might better and better observe it;1then, in perfect harmony, they settled the allotment of the friars to the various provinces.
One of Francis's most frequent counsels bore upon the respect due to the clergy; he begged his disciples toshow a very particular deference to the priests, and never to meet them without kissing their hands. He saw only too well that the Brothers, having renounced everything, were in danger of being unjust or severe toward the rich and powerful of the earth; he, therefore, sought to arm them against this tendency, often concluding his counsels with these noble words: "There are men who to-day appear to us to be members of the devil who one day shall be members of Christ."
"Our life in the midst of the world," said he again, "ought to be such that, on hearing or seeing us, every one shall feel constrained to praise our heavenly Father. You proclaim peace; have it in your hearts. Be not an occasion of wrath or scandal to anyone, but by your gentleness may all be led to peace, concord, and good works."
It was especially when he undertook to cheer his disciples, to fortify them against temptations and deliver them from their power, that Francis was most successful. However anxious a soul might be, his words brought it back to serenity. The earnestness which he showed in calming sadness became fiery and terrible in reproving those who fell away, but in these days of early fervor he seldom had occasion to show severity; more often he needed gently to reprove the Brothers whose piety led them to exaggerate penances and macerations.
When all was finished and each one had had his part in this banquet of love, Francis would bless them, and they would disperse in all directions like strangers and travellers. They had nothing, but already they thought they saw the signs of the grand and final regeneration. Like the exile on Patmos they saw "the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, like a bride adorned for her husband ... and the throne upon which is seated the Desired of all nations,the Messiah of the new times, he who is to make all things new."2
Yet all eyes were turned toward Syria, where a French knight, Jean de Brienne, had just been declared King of Jerusalem (1210), and toward which were hastening the bands of the children's crusade.
The conversion of Francis, radical as it was, giving a new direction to his thoughts and will, had not had power to change the foundation of his character. "In a great heart everything is great." In vain is one changed at conversion—he remains the same. That which changes is not he who is converted, but his surroundings; he is suddenly introduced into a new path, but he runs in it with the same ardor. Francis still remained a knight, and it is perhaps this which won for him in so high a degree the worship of the finest souls of the Middle Ages. There was in him that longing for the unknown, that thirst for adventures and sacrifices, which makes the history of his century so grand and so attractive, in spite of many dark features.
Those who have a genius for religion have generally the privilege of illusion. They never quite see how large the world is. When their faith has moved a mountain they thrill with rapture, like the old Hebrew prophets, and it seems to them that they see the dawning of the day "when the glory of the Lord will appear, when the wolf and the lamb will feed together." Blessed illusion, that fires the blood like a generous wine, so that the soldiers of righteousness hurl themselves against the most terrific fortresses, believing that these once taken the war will be ended.
Francis had found such joys in his union with poverty that he held it for proven that one needed only to be a man to aspire after the same happiness, and that theSaracens would be converted in crowds to the gospel of Jesus, if only it were announced to them in all its simplicity. He therefore quitted Portiuncula for this new kind of crusade. It is not known from what port he embarked. It was probably in the autumn of 1212. A tempest having cast the ship upon the coast of Slavonia, he was obliged to resign himself either to remain several months in those parts or to return to Italy; he decided to return, but found much difficulty in securing a passage on a ship which was about to sail for Ancona. He had no ill-will against the sailors, however, and the stock of food falling short he shared with them the provisions with which his friends had overloaded him.
No sooner had he landed than he set out on a preaching tour, in which souls responded to his appeals3with even more eagerness than in times past. We may suppose that he returned from Slavonia in the winter of 1212-1213, and that he employed the following spring in evangelizing Central Italy. It was perhaps during this Lent that he retired to an island in Lake Trasimeno, making a sojourn there which afterward became famous in his legend.4However that may be, a perfectly reliable document shows him to have been in the Romagna in the month of May, 1213.5One day Francis and his companion, perhaps Brother Leo, arrived at the chateau of Montefeltro,6between Macerata and San Marino. A grand fête was being given for the reception of a new knight, but the noise and singing did not affright them, and without hesitation they entered the court, where allthe nobility of the country was assembled. Francis then taking for his text the two lines,
Tanto è il bene ch' aspettoCh'ogni pena m'è diletto,7
preached so touching a sermon that several of those present forgot for a moment the tourney for which they had come. One of them, Orlando dei Cattani, Count of Chiusi in Casentino, was so much moved that, drawing Francis aside, "Father," he said to him, "I desire much to converse with you about the salvation of my soul." "Very willingly," replied Francis; "but go for this morning, do honor to those friends who have invited you, eat with them, and after that we will converse as much as you please."
So it was done. The count came back and concluded the interview by saying, "I have in Tuscany a mountain especially favorable to contemplation; it is entirely isolated and would well suit anyone who desired to do penance far from the noises of the world; if it pleased you I would willingly give it to you and your brethren for the salvation of my soul."
Francis accepted it joyfully, but as he was obliged to be at Portiuncula for the Whitsunday chapter he postponed the visit to the Verna8to a more favorable time.
It was perhaps in this circuit that he went to Imola; at least nothing forbids the supposition. Always courteous, he had gone immediately on his arrival to present himself to the bishop, and ask of him authority to preach. "I am not in need of anyone to aid me in my task,"replied the bishop dryly. Francis bowed and retired, more polite and even more gentle than usual. But in less than hour he had returned. "What is it, brother, what do you want of me again?" "Monsignor," replied Francis, "when a father drives his son out at the door he returns by the window."
The bishop, disarmed by such pious persistence, gave the desired authorization.9
The aim of Francis at that time, however, was not to evangelize Italy; his friars were already scattered over it in great numbers; and he desired rather to gain them access to new countries.
Not having been able to reach the infidels in Syria, he resolved to seek them in Morocco. Some little time before (July, 1212), the troops of the Almohades had met an irreparable defeat in the plains of Tolosa; beaten by the coalition of the Kings of Aragon, Navarre, and Castile, Mohammed-el-Naser had returned to Morocco to die. Francis felt that this victory of arms would be nothing if it were not followed by a peaceful victory of the gospel spirit.
He was so full of his project, so much in haste to arrive at the end of his journey, that very often he would forget his companion, and hastening forward would leave him far behind. The biographers are unfortunately most laconic with regard to this expedition; they merely say that on arriving in Spain he was so seriously ill that a return home was imperative. Beyond a few local legends, not very well attested, we possess no other information upon the labors of the Saint in this country, nor upon the route which he followed either in going or returning.10
This silence is not at all surprising, and ought not to make us undervalue the importance of this mission. Theone to Egypt, which took place six years later, with a whole train of friars, and at a time when the Order was much more developed, is mentioned only in a few lines by Thomas of Celano; but for the recent discovery of the Chronicle of Brother Giordano di Giano and the copious details given by Jacques de Vitry, we should be reduced to conjectures upon that journey also. The Spanish legends, to which allusion has just been made, cannot be altogether without foundation, any more than those which concern the journey of St. Francis through Languedoc and Piedmont; but in the actual condition of the sources it is impossible to make a choice, with any sort of authority, between the historic basis and additions to it wholly without value.
The mission in Spain doubtless took place between the Whitsunday of 1214 and that of 1215.11Francis, I think, had passed the previous year12in Italy. Perhaps he was then going to see the Verna. The March of Ancona and the Valley of Rieti would naturally have attracted him equally about this epoch, and finally the growth of the two branches of the Order must have made necessary his presence at Portiuncula and St. Damian. The rapidity and importance of these missions ought in no sense to give surprise, nor awaken exaggerated critical doubts. It took only a few hours to become a member of the fraternity, and we may not doubt the sincerity of these vocations, since their condition was the immediategiving up of all property of whatever kind, for the benefit of the poor. The new friars were barely received when they in their turn began to receive others, often becoming the heads of the movement in whatever place they happened to be. The way in which we see things going on in Germany in 1221, and in England in 1224, gives a very living picture of this spiritual germination.
To found a monastery it was enough that two or three Brothers should have at their disposition some sort of a shelter, whence they radiated out into the city and the neighboring country. It would, therefore, be as much an exaggeration to describe St. Francis as a man who passed his life in founding convents, as to deny altogether the local traditions which attribute to him the erection of a hundred monasteries. In many cases a glance is enough to show whether these claims of antiquity are justified; before 1220 the Order had only hermitages after the pattern of the Verna or the Carceri, solely intended for the Brothers who desired to pass some time in retreat.
Returned to Assisi, Francis admitted to the Order a certain number of learned men, among whom was perhaps Thomas of Celano. The latter, in fact, says that God at that time mercifully remembered him, and he adds further on: "The blessed Francis was of an exquisite nobility of heart and full of discernment; with the greatest care he rendered to each one what was due him, with wisdom considering in each case the degree of their dignities."
This does not harmonize very well with the character of Francis as we have sketched it; one can hardly imagine him preserving in his Order such profound distinctions as were at that time made between the different social ranks, but he had that true and eternal politenesswhich has its roots in the heart, and which is only an expression of tact and love. It could not be otherwise with a man who saw in courtesy one of the qualities of God.
We are approaching one of the most obscure periods of his life. After the chapter of 1215 he seems to have passed through one of those crises of discouragement so frequent with those who long to realize the ideal in this world. Had he discovered the warning signs of the misfortunes which were to come upon his family? Had he come to see that the necessities of life were to sully and blight his dream? Had he seen in the check of his missions in Syria and Morocco a providential indication that he had to change his method? We do not know. But about this time he felt the need of turning to St. Clara and Brother Silvestro for counsel on the subject of the doubts and hesitations which assailed him; their reply restored to him peace and joy. God by their mouth commanded him to continue his apostolate.13
Immediately he rose and set forth in the direction of Bevagna,14with an ardor which he had never yet shown. In encouraging him to persevere Clara had in some sort inoculated him with a new enthusiasm. One word from her had sufficed to give him back all his courage, and from this point in his life we find in him more poetry, more love, than ever before.
Full of joy, he was going on his way when, perceiving some flocks of birds, he turned aside a little from the road to go to them. Far from taking flight, they flocked around him as if to bid him welcome. "Brother birds," he said to them then, "you ought to praise and love your Creator very much. He has given you feathers forclothing, wings for flying, and all that is needful for you. He has made you the noblest of his creatures; he permits you to live in the pure air; you have neither to sow nor to reap, and yet he takes care of you, watches over you and guides you." Then the birds began to arch their necks, to spread out their wings, to open their beaks, to look at him, as if to thank him, while he went up and down in their midst stroking them with the border of his tunic, sending them away at last with his blessing.15
In this same evangelizing tour, passing through Alviano,16he spoke a few exhortations to the people, but the swallows so filled the air with their chirping that he could not make himself heard. "It is my turn to speak," he said to them; "little sister swallows, hearken to the word of God; keep silent and be very quiet until I have finished."17
We see how Francis's love extended to all creation, how the diffused life shed abroad upon all things inspired and moved him. From the sun to the earthworm which we trample under foot, everything breathed in his ear the ineffable sigh of beings that live and suffer and die, and in their life as in their death have a part in the divine work.
"Praised be thou, Lord, with all thy creatures, especially for my brother Sun which gives us the day and by him thou showest thy light. He is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; of thee, Most High, he is the symbol."
Here again, Francis revives the Hebrew inspiration, the simple and grandiose view of the prophets of Israel. "Praise the Lord!" the royal Psalmist had sung,"praise the Lord, fire and frost, snow and mists, stormy winds that do his will, mountains and all hills, fruit-trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and fowls with wings, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth, young men and maidens, old men and children, praise the Lord, praise ye the Lord!"
The day of the birds of Bevagna remained in his memory as one of the most beautiful of his whole life, and though usually so reserved he always loved to tell of it;18it was because he owed to Clara these pure ardors which brought him into a secret and delicious communion with all beings; it was she who had revived him from sadness and hesitation; in his heart he bore an immense gratitude to her who, just when he needed it, had known how to return to him love for love, inspiration for inspiration.
Francis's sympathy for animals, as we see it shining forth here, has none of that sentimentalism, so often artificial and exclusive of all other love, which certain associations of his time noisily displayed; in him it is only a manifestation of his feeling for nature, a deeply mystical, one might say pantheistic, sentiment, if the word had not a too definitely philosophical sense, quite opposite to the Franciscan thought.
This sentiment, which in the poets of the thirteenth century is so often false and affected, was in him not only true, but had in it something alive, healthy, robust.19It is this vein of poetry which awoke Italy to self-consciousness, made her in a few years forget the nightmare of Catharist ideas, and rescued her from pessimism. By it Francis became the forerunner of the artistic movement which preceded the Renaissance, the inspirer of that group of Pre-Raphaelites, awkward, grotesque in drawing though at times they were, to whom we turn to-day with a sort of piety, finding in their ungraceful saints an inner life, a moral feeling which we seek for elsewhere in vain.
If the voice of the Poverello of Assisi was so well understood it was because in this matter, as in all others, it was entirely unconventional. How far we are, with him, from the fierce or Pharisaic piety of those monks which forbids even the females of animals to enter their convent! His notion of chastity in no sense resembles this excessive prudery. One day at Sienna he asked for some turtle-doves, and holding them in the skirt of his tunic, he said: "Little sisters turtle-doves, you are simple, innocent, and chaste; why did you let yourselves be caught? I shall save you from death, and have nests made for you, so that you may bring forth young and multiply according to the commandment of our Creator."
And he went and made nests for them all, and the turtle-doves began to lay eggs and bring up their broods under the eyes of the Brothers.20
At Rieti a family of red-breasts were the guests of the monastery, and the young birds made marauding expeditionson the very table where the Brothers were eating.21Not far from there, at Greccio,22they brought to Francis a leveret that had been taken alive in a trap. "Come to me, brother leveret," he said to it. And as the poor creature, being set free, ran to him for refuge, he took it up, caressed it, and finally put it on the ground that it might run away; but it returned to him again and again, so that he was obliged to send it to the neighboring forest before it would consent to return to freedom.23
One day he was crossing the Lake of Rieti. The boatman in whose bark he was making the passage offered him a tench of uncommon size. Francis accepted it with joy, but to the great amazement of the fisherman put it back into the water, bidding it bless God.24
We should never have done if we were to relate all the incidents of this kind,25for the sentiment of nature was innate with him; it was a perpetual communion which made him love the whole creation.26He is ravished with the witchery of great forests; he has the terrors of a child when he is alone at prayer in a deserted chapel, but he tastes ineffable joy merely in inhaling the perfume of a flower, or gazing into the limpid water of a brook.27
This perfect lover of poverty permitted one luxury—he even commanded it at Portiuncula—that of flowers; the Brother was bidden not to sow vegetables and useful plants only; he must reserve one corner of good groundfor our sisters, the flowers of the fields. Francis talked with them also, or rather he replied to them, for their mysterious and gentle language crept into the very depth of his heart.28
The thirteenth century was prepared to understand the voice of the Umbrian poet; the sermon to the birds29closed the reign of Byzantine art and of the thought of which it was the image. It is the end of dogmatism and authority; it is the coming in of individualism and inspiration; very uncertain, no doubt, and to be followed by obstinate reactions, but none the less marking a date in the history of the human conscience.30Many among the companions of Francis were too much the children of their century, too thoroughly imbued with its theologicaland metaphysical methods, to quite understand a sentiment so simple and profound.31But each in his degree felt its charm. Here Thomas of Celano's language rises to an elevation which we find in no other part of his works, closing with a picture of Francis which makes one think of the Song of Songs.32
Of more than middle height, Francis had a delicate and kindly face, black eyes, a soft and sonorous voice. There was in his whole person a delicacy and grace which made him infinitely lovely. All these characteristics are found in the most ancient portraits.33
FOOTNOTES1.3 Soc., 57; cf.An. Perus., A. SS., p. 599.2.Rev. xxi.; 1 Cel., 46; 3 Soc., 57-59;An. Perus., A. SS., p. 600.3.1 Cel., 55 and 56; Bon., 129-132.4.Fior., 7;Spec., 96;Conform., 223a, 2. The fact of Francis's sojourn on an island in this lake is made certain by 1 Cel., 60.5.Vide below,p. 400. Cf. A. SS., pp. 823 f.6.At present Sasso-Feltrio, between Conca and Marecchio, south of and about two hours' walk from San Marino.7.The happiness that I expect is so great that all pain is joyful to me. All the documents give Francis's text in Italian, which is enough to prove that it was the language not only of his poems but also of his sermons.Spec.92a ff.Conform.113a, 2; 231a, 1;Fior., Prima consid.8.Seep. 400.9.2 Cel., 3, 85; Bon., 82.10.1 Cel., 56; Bon., 132.11.Vide Wadding,ann. 1213-1215. Cf. A. SS., pp. 602, 603, 825-831. Mark of Lisbon,lib.i.,cap.45, pp. 78-80; Papini,Storia di S. Francesco, i., p. 79 ff. (Foligno, 1825, 2 vols., 4to). It is surprising to see Father Suysken giving so much weight to theargumentum a silentio.12.From Pentecost, 1213, to that of 1214.—Post non multum vero temporis versus Marochium iter arripuit, says Thomas of Celano (1 Cel., 56), after having mentioned the return from Slavonia. Taking into account the author'susus loquendithe phrase appears to establish a certain interval between the two missions.13.Conform., 110b, 1;Spec., 62b;Fior., 16; Bon., 170-174.14.Village about two leagues S. W. from Assisi. The time is indirectly fixed by Bon., 173, and 1 Cel., 58.15.1 Cel. 58; Bon., 109 and 174;Fior., 16;Spec., 62b;Conform., 114b, 2.16.About halfway between Orvieto and Narni.17.1 Cel., 59; Bon., 175.18.Ad hæc, ut ipse dicebat... 1 Cel., 58.19.Francis has been compared in this regard to certain of his contemporaries, but the similarity of the words only makes more evident the diversity of inspiration. Honorius III. may say:Forma rosæ est inferius angusta, superius ampla et significat quod Christus pauper fuit in mundo, sed est Dominus super omnia et implet universa. Nam sicut forma rosæ, etc. (Horoy, t. i., col. xxiv. and 804), and make a whole sermon on the symbolism of the rose; these overstrained dissertations have nothing to do with the feeling for nature. It is the arsenal of mediæval rhetoric used to dissect a word. It is an intellectual effort, not a song of love. The Imitation would say:If thy heart were right all creatures would be for thee a mirror of life and a volume of holy doctrine, lib. ii., cap. 2. The simple sentiment of the beauty of creation is absent here also; the passage is a pedagogue in disguise.20.Spec., 157.Fior.; 22.21.2 Cel., 2, 16;Conform., 148a, 1, 183b, 2. Cf. the story of the sheep of Portiuncula: Bon., 111.22.Village in the valley of Rieti, two hours' walk from that town, on the road to Terni.23.1 Cel., 60; Bon., 113.24.1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114.25.2 Cel., 3, 54; Bon., 109; 2 Cel., 3; 103 ff.; Bon., 116 ff.; Bon., 110; 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114, 113, 115; 1 Cel., 79;Fior., 13, etc.26.2 Cel., 3, 101 ff.; Bon., 123.27.2 Cel., 3, 59; 1 Cel., 80 and 81.28.2 Cel., 3, 101;Spec., 136a; 1 Cel., 81.29.This is the scene in his life most often reproduced by the predecessors of Giotto. The unknown artist who (before 1236) decorated the nave of the Lower Church of Assisi gives five frescos to the history of Jesus and five to the life of St. Francis. Upon the latter he represents: 1, the renunciation of the paternal inheritance; 2, Francis upholding the Lateran church; 3, the sermon to the birds; 4, the stigmata; 5, the funeral. This work, unhappily very badly lighted, and about half of it destroyed at the time of the construction of the chapels of the nave, ought to be engraved before it completely disappears. The history of art in the time of Giunta Pisano is still too much enveloped in obscurity for us to neglect such a source of information. M. Thode (Franz von Assisi und die Anfänge der Kunst, Berlin, 1885, 8vo. illust.) and the Rev. Father Fratini (Storia della Basilica d'Assisi, Prato, 1882, 8vo) are much too brief so far as these frescos are concerned.30.It is needless to say that I do not claim that Francis was the only initiator of this movement, still less that he was its creator; he was its most inspired singer, and that may suffice for his glory. If Italy was awakened it was because her sleep was not so sound as in the tenth century; the mosaics of the façade of the Cathedral of Spoleto (the Christ between the Virgin and St. John) already belong to the new art. Still, the victory was so little final that the mural paintings of St. Lawrence without the walls and of the Quattro Coronate, which are subsequent to it by half a score of years, relapse into a coarse Byzantinism. See also those of the Baptistery of Florence.31.Hence the more or less subtile explanations with which they adorn these incidents.—As to the part of animals in thirteenth century legends consult Cæsar von Heisterbach, Strange's edition, t. ii., pp. 257 ff.32.1 Cel., 80-83.33.1 Cel., 83;Conform., 111a. M. Thode (Anfänge, pp. 76-94) makes a study of some thirty portraits. The most important are reproduced inSaint François(1 vol., 4to, Paris, 1885); 1, contemporary portrait, by Brother Eudes, now at Subiaco (loc. cit., p. 30); 2, portrait dating about 1230, by Giunta Pisano (?); preserved at Portiuncula (loc. cit., p. 384); 3, finally, portrait dated 1235, by Bon. Berlinghieri, and preserved at Pescia, in Tuscany (loc. cit., p. 277). In 1886 Prof. Carattoli studied with great care a portrait which dates from about those years and of which he gives a picture (also preserved of late years at Portiuncula).Miscellanea francescanat. i., pp. 44-48; cf. pp. 160, 190, and 1887, p. 32. M. Bonghi has written some interesting papers on the iconography of St. Francis (Francesco di Assisi, 1 vol., 12mo, Citta di Castello, Lapi, 1884. Vide pp. 103-113).
1.3 Soc., 57; cf.An. Perus., A. SS., p. 599.2.Rev. xxi.; 1 Cel., 46; 3 Soc., 57-59;An. Perus., A. SS., p. 600.3.1 Cel., 55 and 56; Bon., 129-132.4.Fior., 7;Spec., 96;Conform., 223a, 2. The fact of Francis's sojourn on an island in this lake is made certain by 1 Cel., 60.5.Vide below,p. 400. Cf. A. SS., pp. 823 f.6.At present Sasso-Feltrio, between Conca and Marecchio, south of and about two hours' walk from San Marino.7.The happiness that I expect is so great that all pain is joyful to me. All the documents give Francis's text in Italian, which is enough to prove that it was the language not only of his poems but also of his sermons.Spec.92a ff.Conform.113a, 2; 231a, 1;Fior., Prima consid.8.Seep. 400.9.2 Cel., 3, 85; Bon., 82.10.1 Cel., 56; Bon., 132.11.Vide Wadding,ann. 1213-1215. Cf. A. SS., pp. 602, 603, 825-831. Mark of Lisbon,lib.i.,cap.45, pp. 78-80; Papini,Storia di S. Francesco, i., p. 79 ff. (Foligno, 1825, 2 vols., 4to). It is surprising to see Father Suysken giving so much weight to theargumentum a silentio.12.From Pentecost, 1213, to that of 1214.—Post non multum vero temporis versus Marochium iter arripuit, says Thomas of Celano (1 Cel., 56), after having mentioned the return from Slavonia. Taking into account the author'susus loquendithe phrase appears to establish a certain interval between the two missions.13.Conform., 110b, 1;Spec., 62b;Fior., 16; Bon., 170-174.14.Village about two leagues S. W. from Assisi. The time is indirectly fixed by Bon., 173, and 1 Cel., 58.15.1 Cel. 58; Bon., 109 and 174;Fior., 16;Spec., 62b;Conform., 114b, 2.16.About halfway between Orvieto and Narni.17.1 Cel., 59; Bon., 175.18.Ad hæc, ut ipse dicebat... 1 Cel., 58.19.Francis has been compared in this regard to certain of his contemporaries, but the similarity of the words only makes more evident the diversity of inspiration. Honorius III. may say:Forma rosæ est inferius angusta, superius ampla et significat quod Christus pauper fuit in mundo, sed est Dominus super omnia et implet universa. Nam sicut forma rosæ, etc. (Horoy, t. i., col. xxiv. and 804), and make a whole sermon on the symbolism of the rose; these overstrained dissertations have nothing to do with the feeling for nature. It is the arsenal of mediæval rhetoric used to dissect a word. It is an intellectual effort, not a song of love. The Imitation would say:If thy heart were right all creatures would be for thee a mirror of life and a volume of holy doctrine, lib. ii., cap. 2. The simple sentiment of the beauty of creation is absent here also; the passage is a pedagogue in disguise.20.Spec., 157.Fior.; 22.21.2 Cel., 2, 16;Conform., 148a, 1, 183b, 2. Cf. the story of the sheep of Portiuncula: Bon., 111.22.Village in the valley of Rieti, two hours' walk from that town, on the road to Terni.23.1 Cel., 60; Bon., 113.24.1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114.25.2 Cel., 3, 54; Bon., 109; 2 Cel., 3; 103 ff.; Bon., 116 ff.; Bon., 110; 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114, 113, 115; 1 Cel., 79;Fior., 13, etc.26.2 Cel., 3, 101 ff.; Bon., 123.27.2 Cel., 3, 59; 1 Cel., 80 and 81.28.2 Cel., 3, 101;Spec., 136a; 1 Cel., 81.29.This is the scene in his life most often reproduced by the predecessors of Giotto. The unknown artist who (before 1236) decorated the nave of the Lower Church of Assisi gives five frescos to the history of Jesus and five to the life of St. Francis. Upon the latter he represents: 1, the renunciation of the paternal inheritance; 2, Francis upholding the Lateran church; 3, the sermon to the birds; 4, the stigmata; 5, the funeral. This work, unhappily very badly lighted, and about half of it destroyed at the time of the construction of the chapels of the nave, ought to be engraved before it completely disappears. The history of art in the time of Giunta Pisano is still too much enveloped in obscurity for us to neglect such a source of information. M. Thode (Franz von Assisi und die Anfänge der Kunst, Berlin, 1885, 8vo. illust.) and the Rev. Father Fratini (Storia della Basilica d'Assisi, Prato, 1882, 8vo) are much too brief so far as these frescos are concerned.30.It is needless to say that I do not claim that Francis was the only initiator of this movement, still less that he was its creator; he was its most inspired singer, and that may suffice for his glory. If Italy was awakened it was because her sleep was not so sound as in the tenth century; the mosaics of the façade of the Cathedral of Spoleto (the Christ between the Virgin and St. John) already belong to the new art. Still, the victory was so little final that the mural paintings of St. Lawrence without the walls and of the Quattro Coronate, which are subsequent to it by half a score of years, relapse into a coarse Byzantinism. See also those of the Baptistery of Florence.31.Hence the more or less subtile explanations with which they adorn these incidents.—As to the part of animals in thirteenth century legends consult Cæsar von Heisterbach, Strange's edition, t. ii., pp. 257 ff.32.1 Cel., 80-83.33.1 Cel., 83;Conform., 111a. M. Thode (Anfänge, pp. 76-94) makes a study of some thirty portraits. The most important are reproduced inSaint François(1 vol., 4to, Paris, 1885); 1, contemporary portrait, by Brother Eudes, now at Subiaco (loc. cit., p. 30); 2, portrait dating about 1230, by Giunta Pisano (?); preserved at Portiuncula (loc. cit., p. 384); 3, finally, portrait dated 1235, by Bon. Berlinghieri, and preserved at Pescia, in Tuscany (loc. cit., p. 277). In 1886 Prof. Carattoli studied with great care a portrait which dates from about those years and of which he gives a picture (also preserved of late years at Portiuncula).Miscellanea francescanat. i., pp. 44-48; cf. pp. 160, 190, and 1887, p. 32. M. Bonghi has written some interesting papers on the iconography of St. Francis (Francesco di Assisi, 1 vol., 12mo, Citta di Castello, Lapi, 1884. Vide pp. 103-113).
1.3 Soc., 57; cf.An. Perus., A. SS., p. 599.
2.Rev. xxi.; 1 Cel., 46; 3 Soc., 57-59;An. Perus., A. SS., p. 600.
3.1 Cel., 55 and 56; Bon., 129-132.
4.Fior., 7;Spec., 96;Conform., 223a, 2. The fact of Francis's sojourn on an island in this lake is made certain by 1 Cel., 60.
5.Vide below,p. 400. Cf. A. SS., pp. 823 f.
6.At present Sasso-Feltrio, between Conca and Marecchio, south of and about two hours' walk from San Marino.
7.The happiness that I expect is so great that all pain is joyful to me. All the documents give Francis's text in Italian, which is enough to prove that it was the language not only of his poems but also of his sermons.Spec.92a ff.Conform.113a, 2; 231a, 1;Fior., Prima consid.
8.Seep. 400.
9.2 Cel., 3, 85; Bon., 82.
10.1 Cel., 56; Bon., 132.
11.Vide Wadding,ann. 1213-1215. Cf. A. SS., pp. 602, 603, 825-831. Mark of Lisbon,lib.i.,cap.45, pp. 78-80; Papini,Storia di S. Francesco, i., p. 79 ff. (Foligno, 1825, 2 vols., 4to). It is surprising to see Father Suysken giving so much weight to theargumentum a silentio.
12.From Pentecost, 1213, to that of 1214.—Post non multum vero temporis versus Marochium iter arripuit, says Thomas of Celano (1 Cel., 56), after having mentioned the return from Slavonia. Taking into account the author'susus loquendithe phrase appears to establish a certain interval between the two missions.
13.Conform., 110b, 1;Spec., 62b;Fior., 16; Bon., 170-174.
14.Village about two leagues S. W. from Assisi. The time is indirectly fixed by Bon., 173, and 1 Cel., 58.
15.1 Cel. 58; Bon., 109 and 174;Fior., 16;Spec., 62b;Conform., 114b, 2.
16.About halfway between Orvieto and Narni.
17.1 Cel., 59; Bon., 175.
18.Ad hæc, ut ipse dicebat... 1 Cel., 58.
19.Francis has been compared in this regard to certain of his contemporaries, but the similarity of the words only makes more evident the diversity of inspiration. Honorius III. may say:Forma rosæ est inferius angusta, superius ampla et significat quod Christus pauper fuit in mundo, sed est Dominus super omnia et implet universa. Nam sicut forma rosæ, etc. (Horoy, t. i., col. xxiv. and 804), and make a whole sermon on the symbolism of the rose; these overstrained dissertations have nothing to do with the feeling for nature. It is the arsenal of mediæval rhetoric used to dissect a word. It is an intellectual effort, not a song of love. The Imitation would say:If thy heart were right all creatures would be for thee a mirror of life and a volume of holy doctrine, lib. ii., cap. 2. The simple sentiment of the beauty of creation is absent here also; the passage is a pedagogue in disguise.
20.Spec., 157.Fior.; 22.
21.2 Cel., 2, 16;Conform., 148a, 1, 183b, 2. Cf. the story of the sheep of Portiuncula: Bon., 111.
22.Village in the valley of Rieti, two hours' walk from that town, on the road to Terni.
23.1 Cel., 60; Bon., 113.
24.1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114.
25.2 Cel., 3, 54; Bon., 109; 2 Cel., 3; 103 ff.; Bon., 116 ff.; Bon., 110; 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114, 113, 115; 1 Cel., 79;Fior., 13, etc.
26.2 Cel., 3, 101 ff.; Bon., 123.
27.2 Cel., 3, 59; 1 Cel., 80 and 81.
28.2 Cel., 3, 101;Spec., 136a; 1 Cel., 81.
29.This is the scene in his life most often reproduced by the predecessors of Giotto. The unknown artist who (before 1236) decorated the nave of the Lower Church of Assisi gives five frescos to the history of Jesus and five to the life of St. Francis. Upon the latter he represents: 1, the renunciation of the paternal inheritance; 2, Francis upholding the Lateran church; 3, the sermon to the birds; 4, the stigmata; 5, the funeral. This work, unhappily very badly lighted, and about half of it destroyed at the time of the construction of the chapels of the nave, ought to be engraved before it completely disappears. The history of art in the time of Giunta Pisano is still too much enveloped in obscurity for us to neglect such a source of information. M. Thode (Franz von Assisi und die Anfänge der Kunst, Berlin, 1885, 8vo. illust.) and the Rev. Father Fratini (Storia della Basilica d'Assisi, Prato, 1882, 8vo) are much too brief so far as these frescos are concerned.
30.It is needless to say that I do not claim that Francis was the only initiator of this movement, still less that he was its creator; he was its most inspired singer, and that may suffice for his glory. If Italy was awakened it was because her sleep was not so sound as in the tenth century; the mosaics of the façade of the Cathedral of Spoleto (the Christ between the Virgin and St. John) already belong to the new art. Still, the victory was so little final that the mural paintings of St. Lawrence without the walls and of the Quattro Coronate, which are subsequent to it by half a score of years, relapse into a coarse Byzantinism. See also those of the Baptistery of Florence.
31.Hence the more or less subtile explanations with which they adorn these incidents.—As to the part of animals in thirteenth century legends consult Cæsar von Heisterbach, Strange's edition, t. ii., pp. 257 ff.
32.1 Cel., 80-83.
33.1 Cel., 83;Conform., 111a. M. Thode (Anfänge, pp. 76-94) makes a study of some thirty portraits. The most important are reproduced inSaint François(1 vol., 4to, Paris, 1885); 1, contemporary portrait, by Brother Eudes, now at Subiaco (loc. cit., p. 30); 2, portrait dating about 1230, by Giunta Pisano (?); preserved at Portiuncula (loc. cit., p. 384); 3, finally, portrait dated 1235, by Bon. Berlinghieri, and preserved at Pescia, in Tuscany (loc. cit., p. 277). In 1886 Prof. Carattoli studied with great care a portrait which dates from about those years and of which he gives a picture (also preserved of late years at Portiuncula).Miscellanea francescanat. i., pp. 44-48; cf. pp. 160, 190, and 1887, p. 32. M. Bonghi has written some interesting papers on the iconography of St. Francis (Francesco di Assisi, 1 vol., 12mo, Citta di Castello, Lapi, 1884. Vide pp. 103-113).
The missionary journey, undertaken under the encouragement of St. Clara and so poetically inaugurated by the sermon to the birds of Bevagna, appears to have been a continual triumph for Francis.1Legend definitively takes possession of him; whether he will or no, miracles burst forth under his footsteps; quite unawares to himself the objects of which he has made use produce marvellous effects; folk come out from the villages in procession to meet him, and the biographer gives us to hear the echo of those religious festivals of Italy—merry, popular, noisy, bathed in sunshine—which so little resemble the fastidiously arranged festivals of northern peoples.
From Alviano Francis doubtless went to Narni, one of the most charming little towns in Umbria, busy with building a cathedral after the conquest of their communal liberties. He seems to have had a sort of predilection for this city as well as for its surrounding villages.2From thence he seems to have plunged into the valley of Rieti, where Greccio, Fonte-Colombo, San Fabiano, Sant-Eleuthero, Poggio-Buscone retain even stronger traces of him than the environs of Assisi.
Thomas of Celano gives us no particulars of the route followed, but, on the other hand, he goes at length into the success of the apostle in the March of Ancona, and especially at Ascoli. Did the people of these districts still remember the appeals which Francis and Egidio had made to them six years before (1209), or must we believe that they were peculiarly prepared to understand the new gospel? However this may be, nowhere else was a like enthusiasm shown; the effect of the sermons was so great that some thirty neophytes at once received the habit of the Order.
The March of Ancona ought to be held to be the Franciscan provincepar excellence. There are Offida, San-Severino, Macerata, Fornaro, Cingoli, Fermo, Massa, and twenty other hermitages where, during more than a century, poverty was to find its heralds and its martyrs; from thence came Giovanni della Verna, Jacopo di Massa, Conrad di Offida, Angelo Clareno, and those legions of nameless revolutionists, dreamers, and prophets, who since theextirpésin 1244 by the general of the Order, Crescentius of Jesi, never ceased to make new recruits, and by their proud resistance to all powers filled one of the finest pages of religious history in the Middle Ages.
This success, which bathed the soul of Francis with joy, did not arouse in him the smallest movement of pride. Never has man had a greater power over hearts, because never preacher preached himself less. One day Brother Masseo desired to put his modesty to the test.