Life of St. Francis of Assisi
miraculum: antiqua legenda hoc refertur in hunc modum_." Cf.
225a, 2m. "_Et quia fr. Bonaventura succincte multa tangit et in
brevi: pro evidentia prefatorum notandum est ... ut dicit
antiqua legenda._"
[42] However, it is necessary to note that not only are there
considerable differences between the editions published, but
also that the first (that of Milan, 1510) has been completed and
revised by its editor. The judgments passed upon Raymond
Ganfridi, 104a, 1, and Boniface VIII., 103b, 1, show traces of
later corrections. (Cf. 125a, 1. At f^o 72a, 2m, is indicated
the date of the death of St. Bernardin, which was in 1444, etc.)
Besides, we are surprised to find beside the pages where the
sources are indicated with clearness others where stories follow
one another coming one knows not from whence.
[43] F^o 70a, 1: "_Cujus nomen non reperi._" 1a, 2: "_Multaque
non ex industria sed quia ea noscere non valui omittendo._"
[44] F^o 78a, 1: _Informationes quas non scribo quia imperfectas
reperi._ Cf. 229b, 2: "_De aliis multis apparitionibus non
reperi scripturam, quare hic non pono._"
[45] F^o 69a, 1: "_Hec ut audivi posui quia ejus legendam non
vidi._" Cf. 68b, 2m: _Fr. Henricus generalis minister mihi
magistro Bartholomeo dixit ipse oretenus._
[46] The citations from Bonaventura are decidedly more frequent.
We should not be surprised, since this story is the official
biography of St. Francis; the chapter from which Bartolommeo
takes his quotations is almost always indicated, and, naturally,
follows the old division in five parts. Opening the book at
hazard at folio 136a I find no less than six references to the
_Legenda Major_ in the first column. To give an idea of the
style of Bartolommeo of Pisa I shall give in substance the
contents of a page of his book. See, for example, f^o 111a (lib.
i., conform. x., pars. ii., Franciscus predicator). In the third
line he cites Bonaventura: "_Fr. Bonaventura in quarta parte
majoris legende dicit quod b. Franciscus videbatur intuentibus
homo alterius seculi._" Textual citation of Bonaventure, 45.
Three lines further on: "_Verum qualis esset b. F. quoad
personam sic habetur in legenda antiqua ... homo facundissimus,
facie hilaris_, etc." The literal citation of the sketch of
Francis follows as 1 Celano, 83, gives it as far as: "_inter
peccatores quasi unus ex illis_," and to mark the end of the
quotation Bartolommeo adds: "_Hec legenda antiqua_." In the next
column paragraph 4 commences with the words: _B. Francisci
predicationem reddebat mirabilem et gloriosam ipsius sancti
loquutio: etenim legenda trium Sociorum dicit et Legenda major
parte tertia: B. Francisei eloquia erant non inania, neo risu
digna_, etc., which corresponds literally with 3 Soc., 25, and
Bon., 28. Then come two chapters of Bonaventura almost entire,
beginning with: _In duodecima parte legende majoris dicit Fr.
Bonaventura: Erat enim verbum ejus_, etc. Textual quotation of
Bon., 178 and 179. The page ends with another quotation from
Bonaventura: _Sic dicebat prout recitat Bonaventura in octava
parte Legende majoris: Hac officium patri misericordiarum_. Vide
Bonav., 102 end and 103 entire. This suffices without doubt to
show with what precision the authorities have been quoted in
this work, with what attention and confidence ought to be
examined those portions of documents lost or mislaid which he
has here preserved for us.
[47] F^o 31b, 2: _ut dicit fr. Thomas in sua legenda_, cf. 2
Cel., 3, 60.--140a, 2: _Fr. in leg. fr. Thome_, cf. 2 Cel., 3,
60.--140a 1, cf. 2 Cel., 3 16.--142b, 1: _Fr. in leg. Thome
capitulo de charitate_, cf. 2 Cel., 3, 115.--144b, 1: _Fr. in
leg. fr. Thome capitulo de oratione_, cf. 2 Cel., 3, 40.--144b,
1, cf. 2 Cel., 3, 65.--144b, 2, cf. 2 Cel., 3, 78.--176b, 2, cf.
2 Cel., 3, 79.--182b, 2, cf. 2 Cel., 2, 1.--241b, 1, cf. 2 Cel.,
3, 141.--181a, 2, cf. 1 Cel., 27. It is needless to say that
these lists of quotations do not pretend to be complete.
[48] F^o 36b, 2. _Ut enim habetur in leg._ 3 Soc., cf. 3 Soc.,
10.--46b, 1, cf. 3 Soc., 25-28.--38b 2, cf. 3 Soc. 3.--111a, 2,
cf. 3 Soc., 25.--134a, 2, cf. 3 Soc., 4.--142b, 2, cf. 3 Soc., 57
and 58.--167b, 2, cf. 3 Soc., 3 and 8.--168a, 1, cf. 3 Soc.,
10.--170b, 1, cf. 3 Soc., 39, 4.--175b, 2, cf. 3 Soc.,
59.--180b, 2, cf. 3 Soc., 4.--181a, 1, cf. 3 Soc., 5, 7, 24, 33,
and 67.--181a. 2, cf. 3 Soc., 36.--229b, 2, cf. 3 Soc., 14. etc.
The reading of 3 Soc. which Bartolommeo had before his eyes was
pretty much the same we have to day, for he says, 181a, 2.
referring to 3 Soc., 67: "_Ut habetur quasi in fine leg_. 3
_Soc._"
[49] F^o 111a, 1, _Sic habetur in leg. ant._, corresponds
literally with 1 Cel., 83.--144a, 2. _Franciscus in leg. ant.
cap. v. de zelo ad religionem_, to 1 Cel. 106.
[50] F^o 111b, 1. _De predicantibus loqueus sic dicebat in ant.
leg._ Cf. 2 Cel., 3, 99 and 106. 140b, 1. Cf. 2 Cel., 3,
84.--144b, 1, cf. 2 Cel., 3, 45--144a, 1, cf. 2 Cel., 3, 95 and
15.--225b, 2, cf. 2 Cel., 3, 116.
[51] F^o 31a, 1. Vide 2 Cel., 3, 83.--143a, 2. Vide 2 Cel., 3,
65 and 116.--144a, 1. Vide 2 Cel., 3, 94.--170b. 1. Vide 2 Cel.,
3, 11.
[52] F^o 14a, 2.--32a. 1.--101a, 2.--169b, 1.--144b, 2.--142a,
2.--143b, 2.--168b, 1.--144b, 1.
[53] Chapters 18 (chapter of the mats) and 25 (lepers cured) of
the _Fioretti_ are found in Latin in the Conf. as borrowed from
the Leg. Ant. Vide 174b, 1, and 207a. 1.
Finally, according to f^o 168b, 2, it is also from the Leg. Ant.
that the description of the coat, such as we find at the end of
the _Chronique des Tribulations_, was borrowed. See _Archiv._,
t. ii., p. 153.
[54] F^o 182a, 2; cf. 51b, 1; 144a, 1.
[55] He died December 12, 1306, at Bastia, near Assisi. See upon
him _Chron. Tribul. Archiv._, ii.; 311 and 312; _Conform._, 60,
119, and 153.
[56] Although the history of the Indulgence of Portiuncula was
of all subjects the one most largely treated in the
Conformities, 151b, 2--157a, 2, not once does Bartolommeo of
Pisa refer to it in the _Legenda Antiqua_. It seems, then, that
this collection also was silent as to this celebrated pardon.
[57] Published with extreme care by the Franciscan Fathers of
the Observance in t. ii. of the _Analecta Franciscana, ad Clarae
Aquas_ (Quaracchi, near Florence), 1888, 1 vol., crown 8vo, of
xxxvi.-612 pp. This edition, as much from the critical point of
view of the text, its correctness, its various readings and
notes, as from the material point of view, is perfect and makes
the more desirable a publication of the chronicles of the xxiv.
generals and of Salimbeni by the same editors. The beginning up
to the year 1262 has been published already by Dr. Karl Evers
under the title _Analecta ad Fratrum Minorum historiam_,
Leipsic, 1882, 4to of 89 pp.
[58] I have been able only to procure the Italian edition
published by Horatio Diola under the title _Croniche degli
Ordini instituti dal P. S. Francesco_, 3 vols., 8vo, Venice,
1606.
* * * * *
V
CHRONICLES OUTSIDE OF THE ORDER
I. JACQUES DE VITRY
The following documents, which we can only briefly indicate, are of
inestimable value; they emanate from men particularly well situated to
give us the impression which the Umbrian prophet produced on his
generation.
Jacques de Vitry[1] has left extended writings on St. Francis. Like a
prudent man who has already seen many religious madmen, he is at first
reserved; but soon this sentiment disappears, and we find in him only a
humble and active admiration for the _Apostolic Man_.
He speaks of him in a letter which he wrote immediately after the taking
of Damietta (November, 1219), to his friends in Lorraine, to describe it
to them.[2] A few lines suffice to describe St. Francis and point out
his irresistible influence. There is not a single passage in the
Franciscan biographers which gives a more living idea of the apostolate
of the Poverello.
He returns to him more at length in his _Historia Occidentalis_,
devoting to him the thirty-second chapter of this curious work.[3]
These pages, vibrating with enthusiasm, were written during Francis's
lifetime,[4] at the time when the most enlightened members of the
Church, who had believed themselves to be living in the evening of the
world, _in vespere mundi tendentis ad occasum_, suddenly saw in the
direction of Umbria the light of a new day.
II. THOMAS OF SPALATO
An archdeacon of the Cathedral of Spalato, who in 1220 was studying at
Bologna, has left us a very living portrait of St. Francis and the
memory of the impression which his preachings produced in that learned
town.[5]
Something of his enthusiasm has passed into his story; we feel that that
day, August 15, 1220, when he met the Poverello of Assisi, was one of
the best of his life.[6]
III. DIVERS CHRONICLES
The continuation of William of Tyre[7] brings us a new account of
Francis's attempt to conquer the Soudan. This narrative, the longest of
all three we have on this subject, contains no feature essentially new,
but it gives one more witness to the historic value of the Franciscan
legends.
Finally, there are two chronicles written during Francis's life, which,
without giving anything new, speak with accuracy of his foundation, and
prove how rapidly that religious renovation which started in Umbria was
being propagated to the very ends of Europe. The anonymous chronicler of
Monte Sereno[8] in fact wrote about 1225, and tells us, not without
regret, of the brilliant conquests of the Franciscans.
Burchard,[9] Abbot Premontre d'Ursberg (died in 1226), who was in Rome
in 1211, leaves us a very curious criticism of the Order.
The Brothers Minor appeared to him a little like an orthodox branch of
the Poor Men of Lyons. He even desires that the pope, while approving
the Franciscans, should do so with a view to satisfy, in the measure of
the possible, the aspirations manifested by that heresy and that of the
Humiliati.
It is impossible to attribute any value whatever to the long pages given
to St. Francis by Matthew Paris.[10] His information is correct
wherever the activities of the friars are concerned, and he could
examine the work around him.[11] They are absolutely fantastic when he
comes to the life of St. Francis, and we can only feel surprised to find
M. Hase[12] adopting the English monk's account of the stigmata.
The notice which he gives of Francis contains as many errors as
sentences; he makes him born of a family illustrious by its nobility,
makes him study theology from his infancy (_hoc didicerat in litteris et
theologicis disciplinis quibus ab aetate tenera incubuerat, usque ad
notitiam perfectam_), etc.[13]
It would be useless to enlarge this list and mention those chroniclers
who simply noticed the foundation of the Order, its approbation, and the
death of St. Francis,[14] or those which spoke of him at length, but
simply by copying a Franciscan legend.[15]
It suffices to point out by way of memory the long chapter consecrated
to St. Francis in the Golden Legend. Giachimo di Voraggio ([Cross]