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Life of St. Francis of Assisi

Paul Sabatier

Aragon_, Ripoll, n. 41 (_Archiv._, t. i., p. 148). There is one in the National Library of Paris, Latin alcove, No. 3817, which includes a curious note: "_Apud Perusium felix domnus papa Gregorius nonus gloriosi secundo pontificus sui anno, quinto kal. martii (February 25, 1229) legendam hanc recepit, confirmavit et censuit fore tenendam._" Another manuscript, which merits attention, both because of its age, thirteenth century, and because of the correction in the text, and which appears to have escaped the researches of the students of the Franciscans, is the one owned by the Ecole de Medicine at Montpellier, No. 30, in vellum folio: _Passionale vetus ecclesiae S. Benigni divionensis_. The story of Celano occupies in it the fos. 257a-271b. The text ends abruptly in the middle of paragraph 112 with _supiriis ostendebant_. Except for this final break it is complete. Cf. Archives Pertz, t. vii., pp. 195 and 196. Vide General catalogue of the manuscripts of the public libraries of the departments, t. i., p. 295. [8] Vide 1 Cel., Prol. _Jubente domino et glorioso Papa Gregorio_. Celano wrote it after the canonization (July 16, 1228) and before February 25, 1229, for the date indicated above raises no difficulty. [9] 1 Cel., 56. Perhaps he was the son of that Thomas, Count of Celano, to whom Ryccardi di S. Germano so often made allusion in his chronicle: 1219-1223. See also two letters of Frederick II. to Honorius III., on April 24 and 25, 1223, published in Winckelmann: _Acta imperii inedita_, t. i., p. 232. [10] Giord., 19. [11] Giord., 30 and 31. [12] Giord., 59. Cf. Glassberger, ann. 1230. The question whether he is the author of the _Dies irae_ would be out of place here. [13] This is so true that the majority of historians have been brought to believe in two generalates of Elias, one in 1227-1230, the other in 1236-1239. The letter _Non ex odio_ of Frederick II. (1239) gives the same idea: _Revera papa iste quemdam religiosum et timoratum fratrem Helyam, ministrum ordinis fratrum minorum ab ipso beato Francisco patre ordinis migrationis suae tempore constitutum ... in odium nostrum ... deposuit_. Huillard-Breholles: _Hist. dipl. Fred. II._, t. v., p. 346. [14] He is named only once, 1 Cel., 48. [15] 1 Cel., 95, 98, 105, 109. The account of the Benediction is especially significant. _Super quem inquit (Franciscus) tenes dexteram meam? Super fratrem Heliam, inquiunt. Et ego sic volo, sit...._ 1 Cel., 108. Those last words obviously disclose the intention. Cf. 2 Cel., 3, 139. [16] 1 Cel., 102; cf. 91 and 109. Brother Leo is not even named in the whole work. Nor Angelo, Illuminato, Masseo either! [17] 1 Cel., Prol., 73-75; 99-101; 121-126. Next to St. Francis, Gregory IX. and Brother Elias (1 Cel., 69; 95; 98; 105; 108; 109) are in the foreground. [18] 1 Cel., 18 and 19; 116 and 117. [19] Those which occurred during the absence of Francis (1220-1221). He overlooks the difficulties met at Rome in seeking the approbation of the first Rule; he mentions those connected neither with the second nor the third, and makes no allusion to the circumstances which provoked them. He recognized them, however, having lived in intimacy with Caesar of Speyer, the collaborator of the second (1221). [20] For example, Francis's journey to Spain. [21] 1 Cel., 1, 88. _Et sola quae necessaria magis occurrunt_ ad praesens _intendimus adnotare_. It is to be observed that in the prologue he speaks in the singular. [22] In 1238 he had sent Elias to Cremona, charged with a mission for Frederick II. Salembeni, ann. 1229. See also the reception given by Gregory IX. to the appellants against the General. Giord., 63. [23] See the letter of Frederick II. to Elias upon the translation of St. Elizabeth, May, 1236. Winkelmann, _Acta_ i., p. 299. Cf. Huillard-Breholles, _Hist. dipl._ Intr. p. cc. [24] The authorities for this story are: _Catalogus ministrorum_ of Bernard of Besse, _ap_ Ehrle, _Zeitschrift_, vol. 7 (1883), p. 339; _Speculum_, 207b, and especially 167a-170a; Eccl., 13; Giord., 61-63; _Speculum_, Morin., tract i., fo. 60b. [25] _Asserabat etiam ipse praedictus frater Helyas ... papam ... fraudem facere de pecunia collecta ad succursum Terrae Sanctae, scripta etiam ad beneplacitum suum in camera sua bullare clam et sine fratrum assensu et etiam cedulas vacuas, sed bullatas, multas nunciis suis traderet ... et alia multa enormia imposuit domino papae ponens os suum in celo_. Matth. Paris, _Chron. Maj._, _ann. 1239_, _ap Mon. Ger. hist. Script._, t. 28, p. 182. Cf. Ficker, n. 2685. [26] Vide Ryccardi di S. Germano, _Chron._, _ap Mon. Ger. hist. Script._, t. 19, p. 380, ann. 1239. The letter of Frederick complaining of the deposition of Elias (1239): Huillard-Breholles, _Hist. Dipl._, v., pp. 346-349. Cf. the Bull, _Attendite ad petram_, at the end of February, 1240, ibid., pp. 777-779; Potthast, 10849. [27] He was without doubt one of the bitterest adversaries of the emperor. His village had been burnt in 1224, by order of Frederick II., and the inhabitants transported to Sicily, afterward to Malta. Ryccardi di S. Germano, _loc. cit._, _ann._ 1223 and 1224. [28] Vide the prologue to 2 Cel. and to the 3 Soc. Cf. Glassberger, ann. 1244, _An. fr._, ii., p. 68. _Speculum_, Morin, tract. i., 61b. [29] _Catalogus ministrorum_, edited by Ehrle: _Zeitschrift_, t. 7 (1883). no. 5. Cf. _Spec._, 208a. Mark of Lisbon speaks of it a little more at length, but he gives the honor of it to Giovanni of Parma, ed. Diola, t. ii., p. 38. On the other hand, in manuscript 691 of the archives of the Sacro-Convento at Assisi (a catalogue of the library of the convent made in 1381) is found, fo. 45a, a note of that work: "_Dyalogus sanctorum fratrum cum postibus cujus principium est: Venerabilia gesta patrum dignosque memoria, finis vero; non indigne feram me quoque reperisse consortem. In quo libro omnes quaterni sunt xiii_." [30] The text was published for the first time by the Bollandists (A. SS., Octobris, t. ii., pp. 723-742), after a manuscript of the convent of the Brothers Minor of Louvain. It is from this edition that we make our citations. The editions published in Italy in the course of this century, cannot be found, except the last, due to Abbe Amoni. This one, unfortunately, is too faulty to serve as the basis of a scientific study. It appeared in Rome in 1880 (8vo, pp. 184) under the title: _Legenda S. Francisci Assisiensis quae dicitur Legenda trium sociorum ex cod. membr._ _Biblioth. Vatic. num. 7339._ [31] 2 Cel., 2, 5; 3, 7; 1 Cel., 60; Bon., 113; 1 Cel., 84; Bon., 149; 2 Cel., 2, 14; 3, 10. [32] Giovanni di Parma retired thither in 1276 and lived there almost entirely until his death (1288). _Tribul._, _Archiv._, vol. ii. (1886), p. 286. [33] 3 Soc., 25-67. [34] 3 Soc., 68-73. [35] The minister-general Crescentius of Jesi was an avowed adversary of the Zealots of the Rule. The contrary idea has been held by M. Mueller (_Anfaenge_, p. 180); but that learned scholar is not, it appears, acquainted with the recitals of the Chronicle of the Tribulations, which leave not a single doubt as to the persecutions which he directed against the Zealots (_Archiv._, t. ii., pp. 257-260). Anyone who attempts to dispute the historical worth of this proof will find a confirmation in the bulls of August 5, 1244, and of February 7, 1246 (Potthast, 11450 and 12007). It was Crescentius, also, who obtained a bull stating that the Basilica of Assisi was _Caput et Mater ordinis_, while for the Zealots this rank pertained to the Portiuncula (1 Cel., 106; 3 Soc., 56; Bon., 23; 2 Cel., 1, 12; _Conform._, 217 ff). (See also on Crescentius, Glassberger, ann. 1244, _An. fr._, p. 69; Sbaralea, _Bull. fr._, i., p. 502 ff; _Conform._, 121b. 1.) M. Mueller has been led into error through a blunder of Eccleston, 9 (_An. fr._, i., p. 235). It is evident that the chapter of Genoa (1244) could not have pronounced against the _Declaratio Regulae_ published November 14, 1245. On the contrary, it is Crescentius who called forth this _Declaratio_, against which, not without regret, the Zealots found a majority of the chapter of Metz (1249) presided over by Giovanni of Parma, a decided enemy of any _Declaratio_ (_Archiv._, ii., p. 276). This view is found to be confirmed by a passage of the Speculum Morin (Rouen, 1509), f^o 62a: _In hoc capitulo (Narbonnae) fuit ordinatum quod declaratio D. Innocentii, p. iv., maneat suspensa sicut in Capitulo_ METENSI. _Et praeceptum est omnibus ne quis utatur ea in iis in quibus expositioni D. Gregorii IX. contradicit._ [36] Published with all necessary scientific apparatus by F. Ehrle, S. J., in his studies _Zur Vorgeschichte des Concils von Vienne_. _Archiv._, ii., pp. 353-416; iii., pp. 1-195. [37] See, for example, _Archiv._, iii., p. 53 ff. Cf. 76. _Adduxi verba et facta b. Francisci sicut est aliquando in legenda et sicut a sociis sancti patris audivi et in cedulis sanctae memoriae fratris Leonis legi manu sua conscriptis, sicut ab ore beati Francisci audivit._ Ib., p. 85. [38] _Haec omnia patent per sua [B. Francisci] verba expressa per sanctum fratrem virum Leonem ejus socium tam de mandato sancti patris quam etiam de devotione praedicti fratris fuerunt solemniter conscripta, in libro qui habetur in armario fratrum de Assisio et in rotulis ejus, quos apud me habeo, manu ejusdem fratris Leonis conscriptis. Archiv._, iii., p. 168. Cf. p. 178. [39] 3 Soc., Prol. _Non contenti narrare solum miracula ... conversationis insignia et pii beneplaciti voluntatem_. [40] _Leggenda di S. Francesco, tipografia Morici et Badaloni_, Recanati, 1856, 1 vol., 8vo. [41] See Father Stanislaus's preface. [42] 3 Soc., 68-73. [43] The book lacks little of representing St. Francis as taking up the work of Jesus, interrupted (by the fault of the secular clergy) since the time of the apostles. The _viri evangelici_ consider the members of the clergy _filios extraneos._ 3 Soc., 48 and 51. Cf. 3 Soc., 48. _Inveni virum ... per quem, credo Dominus velit in toto mundo fedem sanctae Ecclesiae reformare_. Cf. 2 Cel., 3, 141. _Videbatur revera fratri et omnium comitatium turbae quod Christi et b. Francisci una persona foret_. [44] A. SS. p. 552. [45] _Venetiis, expensis domini Jordani de Dinslaken per Simonem de Luere_, 30 januarii, 1504. _Impressum Metis per Jasparem Hochffeder_, Anno Domini 1509. These two editions are identical, small 12mos, of 240 folios badly numbered. Edited under the same title by Spoelberch, Antwerp, 1620, 2 tomes in one volume, 8vo, 208 and 192 pages, with a mass of alterations. The most