Pope Gregory IX

Ugolino di Conti's birth year is suggested as somewhere between 1145 and 1170, but there are suggestions that he was in his 90s at his death in 1241, so if that is true the 1145 date looks more likely. Only 14 of those years were as pope, which is probably just as well. His legacy is largely negative because of his establishing the Papal Inquisition (not the original Inquisition), his formalizing of anti-semitism in church doctrine (that lasted into the 20th century), and (although this is a result of speculative hindsight and is likely erroneous thinking) the Bubonic plague.

He was first elevated to Cardinal-Deacon in December 1198 by his cousin, Pope Innocent III. In 1206 he was made Cardinal Bishop, and named Dean of the College of Cardinals in 1218. At the request of Francis of Assisi, Pope Honorius III made him Cardinal Protector of the Franciscans. (He had been a friend of Francis already, as well as of Clare of Assisi and St. Dominic.)

Honorius died on 18 March 1227 after trying to establish the Fifth Crusade that had been called by Innocent III. Innocent intended for this one to be led by the papacy, in order to avoid the disaster of the Fourth Crusade. Cardinal Ugolino was elected pope one day after the death of Honorius, taking the name "Gregory" because he was at the monastery of St. Gregory when he accepted the position.

One of his first acts was to expand the powers of an inquisition taking place in Germany. He also established a Papal Inquisition (mostly managed by Dominicans and Franciscans) to formalize what had already been begun and was being handled differently across Christendom. His aim was to introduce due process and objectivity, because too often executions were done by unruly mobs on the innocent in the name of defeating heresy.

He also called for Crusades in places other than the Holy Land, to bring Eastern Europe into alignment with the papacy. These Northern or Baltic Crusades were against the pagan Baltic, Finnic, and West Slavic peoples.

Some modern writers blame Gregory for the Black Death because of a bull he wrote that demonized cats. The widespread killing of cats (the thinking goes) removed a deterrent to the rats that spread the plague. What the proponents of this theory leave out, however, is that papal decree does not run to India and China where the plague was just as widespread as in Europe. Also, one would have to assume the killing of cats was consistent for over a century, since the plague arrived in Europe about 120 years after Gregory's bull.

We will not condemn every act of Gregory: In 1229, when the University of Paris had a strike, he wrote a bull that helped resolve the differences between Town and Gown.

One of his lasting achievements, however, was to institutionalize anti-semitism in the Church. For that, we will wait another day. See you tomorrow.

The Patron Saint of Television

Inspired by Francis of Assisi, Clare of Assisi (16 July 1194 - 11 August 1253) founded a new order for women, the "Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano." She lived with them for the rest of her life; ten years after her death, the order was renamed the "Order of St. Clare." Her mother, Ortolana, and her sisters Beatrice and Catarina (who took the name Agnes and was also later declared a saint) joined her in the order.

Francis himself ruled the order at first, but finally convinced Clare to become abbess. She disliked the title, and often referred to herself as "mother" or "handmaid" or "servant." In 1215, the Fourth Lantern Council declared that any communities had to adopt an established order, similar to the Rule of St. Benedict. This clashed with Clare's preference, because her desire for strict poverty was not approved by the Benedictine rule. Pope Gregory IX feared that her strict poverty was too physically unhealthy. She eventually convinced him to relent, and he approved for her order what was called Privilegium Paupertatis ("Privilege of Paupers").

In her lifetime, she was credited with a few miracles. In 1234, the army of Frederick II of Sicily was plundering the part of Italy where Assisi is. His men set up ladders to scale the walls in order to enter the convent at San Damiano. Clare grabbed the ciborium—the vessel that holds the host—and carried it to a window. When she held it up at the window, the men fell off the ladders and fled.

Her tendency to fast and deprive herself made her often ill. One Christmas, she was too ill to attend Mass and stayed in her cell. She later reported to her comrades that she had seen the Mass performed in a vision while confined to bed. This incident inspired Pope Pius XII in 1958 to declare her the patron saint of television.

Pope Gregory IX knew Francis and Clare personally, starting when he was a cardinal. His name has been woven throughout this blog for many years, but he has not had center stage. Tomorrow I'll talk about his life and some of the terrible things he did.

St. Clare of Assisi

Similar to St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare of Assisi (born Chiara Offreduccio) was born to a wealthy family—her father was a count—but she gave it all up to follow a life of poverty and devotion to God.

Her mother, Ortolana—who went on pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Santiago de Compostela—raised Clare and her sister Catarina to be devout Christians. When Clare was 12, her parents arranged a good marriage for her, but Clare begged to be allowed to hold off marriage until she was 18. Later, with the age of 18 approaching, she heard Francis of Assisi preach during Lent in 1212. She went to him and asked his advice on living a life inspired by the Gospels.

On Palm Sunday (20 March), she left her family along with her Aunt Bianca and went to Francis. There her hair was cut short, she put on a plain robe, and took the name Clare. She went into a convent of Benedictine nuns. Her father and others tried to bribe her to come home, but she would not give up the life she had chosen. Shortly after this attempt, Francis moved her to a Benedictine monastery farther away. Two weeks later, Catarina joined her, choosing the same lifestyle and changing her name to Agnes ("lamb").

The two eventually moved back to Assisi, to a small building made for them next to the church of San Damiano, which Francis had repaired as one of his first acts of devotion to his new lifestyle. It became the center of a new order founded by Clare. Originally known as the Poor Ladies of San Damiano, they were formalized as the Order of St. Clare in 1236. (This was 10 years after Clare had died.)

Prior to her death, she experienced an event that would later cause her to be named the patron saint of television. We will get to the story next time.

Francis the Saint

In 1224, Francis of Assisi was on the mountain of Verna, enduring a 40-day fast prior to Michaelmas. He had a companion, Brother Leo, who recorded the result of a vision Francis had in mid-September: "Suddenly he saw a vision of a seraph, a six-winged angel on a cross. This angel gave him the gift of the five wounds of Christ."

After the vision, Francis showed stigmata. The stigmata, from Greek for "mark" or "brand," are the wounds suffered by Jesus from the Scourging and Crucifixion. They are wounds on the hands and feet, the head from the Crown of Thorns, and on the side from the Holy Lance.

He was taken for medical attention for these open wounds, but no one could help heal them. Two years after the vision and the appearance of the stigmata, he died, on 3 October 1226.

Less than two years later, Pope Gregory IX, who as Cardinal Ugolino Conti had been given the task of guiding the Franciscan Order, and who was a friend of Francis, declared Francis a saint. He also founded the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, under which Francis' body was interred in 1230. The threat of Saracen invaders caused the tomb to be hidden to avoid desecration; it was not found until 1818! His tomb was renovated between 1927 and 1930. His remains were examined, confirmed to be those of the saint, and put in the tomb in a glass urn. He was named a patron saint of Italy in 1939, along with Catherine of Siena. He is the patron saint of animals and ecology, the patron against fire, and the patron saint against dying alone.

The order he founded has about 16,000 members in 1500 houses across the world. It inspired offshoots such as the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, and the Third Order of Saint Francis (who desire a religious life but not a monastic one).

He also co-founded the Order of Saint Clare, also called the Poor Clares, after Clare of Assisi, who is sometimes referred to as Francis' sister. She wasn't, but she had a similar story to his. I'll tell you about her tomorrow, and why she is the patron saint of television.

Francis the Brother of All

One of the most familiar mental images of Francis of Assisi is his connection with Nature.

While traveling through the Spoleto Valley, Francis saw several birds of all kinds. He ran towards the birds, which did not fly away. He told them

"My brother and sister birds, you should praise your Creator and always love Him: He gave you feathers for clothes, wings to fly and all other things that you need. It is God who made you noble among all creatures, making your home in the air. Without sowing or reaping, you receive God's guidance and protection."

The birds spread their wings and started singing. Francis was able to walk among them and touch them without them flying from him. He realized that animals and birds should be exposed to the Word of God and made it his habit from then on to spend time in finding animals to preach to.

His relationship with animals produced many anecdotes. One time while preaching to people, he had to ask birds to quiet down; they did until his sermon was done. Another time he was brought a rabbit that had been caught in a trap. Francis advised the rabbit to be more careful about traps in the future, and when the rabbit was released it hopped back to Francis' lap.

One day, while in the town of Gubbio, Francis learned that a wolf was menacing the town, killing and eating animals and people. He decided to meet the wolf despite the warnings of the townspeople. He went out from the town, accompanied by a fellow friar and some townspeople who wished to witness the event. The townspeople soon gave up and fell behind. Francis and the friar went on, and were soon faced with the wolf. Francis made the sign of the Cross and said "Come to me, Brother Wolf. In the name of Christ, I order you not to hurt anyone."

He continued, explaining to the wolf that it had been killing people who are made in the image of God. "Brother Wolf, I want to make peace between you and the people of Gubbio. They will harm you no more and you must no longer harm them. All past crimes are to be forgiven." Francis asked the wolf to make a pledge. He extended his hand, and the wolf extended a paw to place in his hand. The wolf then followed Francis back to Gubbio to show the townspeople that the conflict was over. The wolf lived another two years in the town, going from door to door and being fed by the townspeople.

Francis also bought two lambs from a man who was selling them to be slaughtered. One of them followed him everywhere after that. He would return caught fish to the water, telling them to be more careful in the future. On his deathbed, he thanked his donkey for carrying him everywhere, and the donkey wept.

Francis' life was an inspiration for many, and his sainthood was predictable. Let's conclude the story of Francis with his most remarkable sign of his devoutness and his canonization.

Francis the Leader

Francis of Assisi, prior to his episode on the Fifth Crusade, traveled to Rome with his followers to request of the pope permission to found a new order. This was in 1209, a couple years after he started preaching in his home town. Although we call this order the Franciscans, the actual name is the Ordo Fratrum Minorum ("Order of Lesser Brothers"). They were also referred to as Friars Minor.

The catalyst for this was a Mass in February 1208 at the chapel of St. Mary of the Angels. The Gospel lesson from Matthew was about the Apostles going out to proclaim the Kingdom of God. He began preaching and collected 11 followers who lived with him in an abandoned leper colony near Assisi called Rivo Porto.

The original rules of the order that Francis presented to Pope Innocent III are not now known, but according to his biographer and friend, Thomas of Celano, it was some passages from the Gospels. It was revised and expanded over time, but its basis was a rejection of personal property, as well as obedience and chastity. Francis and his followers were also tonsured while in Rome as a sign of their formal endorsement by the pope. Official recognition as an order and their fervent preaching helped the order to grow quickly.

The Rule of the order was revised each year, according to Jacques de Vitry in a letter he wrote in 1216. Amendments were proposed, and Francis would berate them for errors in behavior. While Francis was traveling in the East because of the Crusade, he had to leave the Order in others' hands. First was Brother Peter Catani, but he died within months. Then it went to Brother Elias. Some times, those left in charge of the Order in Italy were making changes that Francis did not want. One was a prohibition against eating meat, but Francis pointed out (on his return) that Acts 10:15 says "What God has made clean, you are not to call profane."

A final re-formulation of the Rule came in 1223, and it is what is followed today.

The most familiar image of Francis was not writing rules or traveling in the East, it is him among animals. Let's look at that facet of his life and beliefs tomorrow.

Francis the Crusader

When Francis of Assisi  looked for inspiration about how he should be organizing his new-found life of devotion to God—and because he was drawing others to him who wanted guidance—he decided to look into the Bible. The sections he randomly opened to were about a rich young man being told to give all he had to the poor, Jesus telling the Apostles to take nothing on their journey, and the idea to take up the cross every day. He told those following him that these were their guiding rules. Francis wanted them to live by the Gospel.

Becoming the leader of an organized group was not a goal he sought. That involved a formality and an authoritative role that he did not think was appropriate for him. He simply wanted to foster the idea of brotherhood among people from all walks of life who came to listen to him. He urged his followers to go forth in pairs to preach God's love, and they did. People soon realized that these poorly clothed and barefoot itinerant preachers seemed very happy with their simple life. The idea that one could be happy without owning anything became attractive to more and more people. Rather than fight poverty, they made poverty acceptable, and even more: desirable.

Although he did not want to be seen as special, he at least once did something that looked self-aggrandizing. During the Fifth Crusade in 1219 he went to Egypt to speak directly to the Muslim leader and convert him. al-Kamil was the Sultan of Egypt, and he received this beggar-looking man and listened to him. Supposedly, al-Kamil told Francis that he liked what he heard and would have converted to what Francis was talking about, "but we would both be killed." Francis' "soft approach" to Crusading was more successful than the papal legate's. al-Kamil supposedly gave Francis permission to visit sites in the Holy Land. We do know that Francis went to Acre and then took a ship to Italy. (A sermon by St. Bonaventure in 1267 claimed that al-Kamil had a death-bed conversion due to the meeting with Francis.)

The presence of "Franciscans" was growing more noticeable, and if so many people were going to be wandering and preaching, it was felt there should be some organization to control their message. Let's look at the birth of the Franciscan Order next time.

Francis the Convert

When young Francesco di Bernardone realized he wanted to live a more devout and pious life, the change did not happen all at once. His encounter with the leper (see link above) was a turning point, but there was more to do on this journey.

He went to the old church at San Damiano to pray, during which he heard Christ on the Cross say to him "Francis, repair my church." Taking this to mean repairing the building of San Damiano, he went to his father's shop and took some of the fine fabrics, selling them on the street so he could give the money to the church.

His father, Pietro, was furious. He took Francis to the bishop in the town square, accusing Francis of theft and demanding that he be forced to repay for the cloth he took. The bishop took Pietro's side and told Francis to return the money and not worry, because "God would provide." Francis not only gave his father the money, but right there in the town square he divested himself of his clothing (since it had come from his father), stripping down to just a hair shirt he had been wearing. He declared "Pietro Bernardone is no longer my father. From now on I can say with complete freedom, 'Our Father who art in heaven.'"

He walked away from town to live in the woods, a hermit with nothing. He later begged people to bring him stones and started to rebuild the crumbling San Damiano himself. He started to preach openly about returning to God and obeying the Church. People started to listen. Then they started to adopt his lifestyle, wanting to live simply, rejecting shelter and money. They slept in the open and begged for food.

Now that he had followers, Francis became concerned about the responsibilities of leadership. He now had to think about how his actions were influencing others. To do that, he had to think more deliberately about what his actions should be. He decided to open the Bible randomly and take its advice. He opened it in three places, and his inspiration formed the basis for his life and the Order he reluctantly founded. The first steps on the path to the Franciscans were taken. We will see how that turned out next.

Francis the Youth

About 1181 in Assisi in Umbria, Pica di Bourlemont gave birth to a son. Her husband, the cloth merchant Pietro Bernardone, was in France on business at the time, and returned home to find that she had named the boy Giovanni, after John the Baptist. Pietro was not happy: he did not want his son associated with religion; he wanted his son to eventually join him in business. Because Pietro had trade connections in France, he re-named his son Francesco, "Frenchman."

Francesco was a happy child, with no wants because of his father's wealth. He had a very permissive lifestyle in a permissive time and was well-liked by everyone. He took trips to France with his father, falling in love with the country and its troubadours. A natural leader, his biographer (Thomas of Celano, who knew him) said "In other respects an exquisite youth, he attracted to himself a whole retinue of young people addicted to evil and accustomed to vice."

When Assisi declared war on its neighbor, Perugia, Francesco saw an opportunity to win attention and glory. Assisi lost, horribly, and it was only Francesco's family wealth that saved him to be imprisoned and ransomed, not killed.

When the Fourth Crusade came along, Francesco saw a better opportunity for glory. He needed a horse and armor—an easy "get" for someone with his family wealth. He had the armor decorated with gold, and accompanied by a magnificent cloak. With all in place, he set off from Assisi to go and free the Holy Land.

One day out from Assisi, he had a dream in which God told him to return home. He followed the dream, even though it led to ridicule from neighbors and anger from his father for the money wasted on the armor and horse. He worked in his father's business, and waited for God's plan to unfold. He started praying more, looking for guidance. Finally, a simple yet profound moment came.

He was riding his horse through the mountains when he came upon a leper. Despite the fear of leprosy, he dismounted and kissed the leper's hand. When the kiss was reciprocated, he felt a sense of joy. Remounting and riding away, he turned to wave goodbye and could not see the leper anywhere. He saw this as a test from God that he passed.

Francesco now had a better idea of the direction of his life, but his first obstacle was his father. We'll see how that turned out tomorrow.

Third Orders

While explaining oblates I mentioned that there was a group called "Third Orders."

"Third Order" signifies a lay member of a Christian religious order; that is, a person who wishes to be a member of a religious order and follow certain rules and lifestyle options, but does not live in a monastery or nunnery. Even today, people who fall into this category—sharing in the spirit of a religious order but living a secular life—can be found in Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism.

Originally, these tertiaries (Latin tertiarii, "third") began in the 12th century. If there is a third, then what are the first and second? First denotes the male order, since the male monastic version was usually the first founded. Second was when women wished to participate in the same order. For example: St. Francis, after being credited with establishing the Friars Minor, then established the Poor Clares, and afterward the Third Order of St. Francis. The Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis has become the standard for other third orders.

Those wishing to follow a third order often gathered in communities, called confraternities. There exists a Durham Liber Vitae, the Durham "Book of Lives," which is a confraternity book with a list of about 20,000 names (from the 9th century to about 1300) of those who were visited and supported the church in Durham. Donors to churches were often called confraters, a nice honorary title in exchange for their patronage. Groups like the Templars also had systems by which lay people could be confraters and support their mission.

The Second Vatican Council codified the "lay vocation" of the third orders, distinguishing it from a consecrated state. The various third orders had to revise their rules and submit them to the Vatican for approval. The term "third order" began to be replace by "secular order" to indicate that they were living "in the world" as opposed to cloistered.

An example of a third order religious who was active and influential in the secular world was Catherine of Siena, briefly mentioned here but sorely deserving of more attention, which I will give her next time. Until then...

6 October - Potpourri

A collection of notes related to the date and to this blog*:

St. Francis was first mentioned here, then the phenomenon of his stigmata here. Today is the Feast Day of St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds (born into the very prominent Gallo family). Despite initial opposition from her family, she entered the Third Order of St. Francis in 1731, and she also experienced the stigmata.

I have mentioned, more than once, the alteration of the calendar to correct inaccuracies. Because of the change described here, and the implementation of the Gregorian reform, 6 October 1582 does not exist in the historical calendars of Italy, Poland, Spain or Portugal.

In the entry on Good King Wenceslaus, I mentioned that he was never a king, but that there was a King Wenceslaus of Bohemia. King Wenceslaus of Bohemia was born on 6 October 1289.

The entry "Not One Iota of Difference" has an image showing what is called the Trinitarian shield. That design, shown here, is the heraldic emblem attributed in the Middle Ages to St. Faith, also known as Sainte Foy to the French and Santa Fe to the Spanish. She was reputedly tortured to death in Rome in about 287 or 290 CE for refusing to make pagan sacrifices. Her name and life seem more legendary than historical, but there is an Abbey of Sainte-Foy in Conques in southern France that holds her relics, and the area has centuries of tales of miracles—often amusing and "prank-like—attributed to her.

Wycliffe's daring translation of the Bible into English was first described here. The death sentence offered or anyone with a copy kept the idea of an English language Bible "off the table" for a long time. William Tyndale (c.1492-1536) produced the first complete English language Bible that was mass-produced on a printing press and that was a translation from Greek and Hebrew versions that were earlier than the Latin version. Tyndale left England in order to be able to produce his Bible, and moved around Europe to avoid authorities who wished to stop him. He was eventually arrested, imprisoned, strangled as a heretic, and then his body burned at the stake, on this date in 1536.

*Plus two UNrelated to this blog: it is the date Frodo gets stabbed on Weathertop, and years later, the date on which Maeve is born.

St. Francis & Stigmata

Painting, Vincenzo Foppa (1430-1515)

St. Francis of Assisi has already been mentioned, but since this is the anniversary of his death ...

One of the fascinating events in the St. Francis story is the appearance of the stigmata. In September 1224, while Francis was fasting for 40 days leading up to Michaelmas (29 September), he had a vision of the Exaltation of the Cross (one of the feasts used to venerate the cross on which Christ was crucified).

After that vision, stigmata appeared on him. Stigmata is the plural of the Greek στίγμα, stigma, meaning a mark or brand. In the religious context, the word refers to marks that mirror the wounds received by Christ. Francis was the first person in history known to have experienced the stigmata.

Were they real? Can we know? Unlike, say, the legends of St. Rémy or "Good" King Wenceslaus, which grew long after their lives, Francis had biographers shortly after his death, who would have known Francis' contemporaries. St. Bonaventure (1221-1274), one of those biographers, became a Franciscan almost 20 years after Francis' death, but would have met people who knew the saint. In fact, one of Francis' companions, his secretary and confessor Brother Leo, was with him at the time of the vision, and said of the event:

Suddenly he saw a vision of a seraph, a six-winged angel on a cross. This angel gave him the gift of the five wounds of Christ.

We are also told that he sought aid for these wounds (and an eye disease) in Siena and other cities, but no one could explain or stop the flow of blood. Francis returned to the Portiuncula, a small church near Assisi. Feeling the end was near for him, he dictated some memoirs and guidance for his followers. He passed away 3 October 1226, singing Psalm 141: "Lord, I cry unto thee."
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Mendicants—Grey

St. Francis of Assisi

The Mendicant Orders were a 13th century movement that stirred up great controversy in the Middle Ages. Called so from the Latin verb mendicare (to beg), they rejected wealth and possessions in order to emulate their view of the ideal Christian life.

The first group that earned the title "mendicant" was founded by St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). Deciding that a life without material possessions was more godly, he created a group that he called the Ordo Fratrum Minorum. Literally, this means Order of Minor Brothers—Francis himself referred to his members as fraticelli, "little brothers"—but from Latin frater through French frere the word became friar to denote these men. Therefore, it is usually now officially called (in English) the Order of the Friars Minor, or the Grey Friars, although colloquially they are called simply Franciscans. His first step was to gather 12 disciples; then he presented his group to Pope Innocent III for official recognition. Innocent was reticent at first, and wanted Francis to return when his group was larger and better established, but (supposedly) he had a dream in which he saw Francis supporting the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the Pope's "seat" in his role as Bishop of Rome. Innocent accepted that Francis would support the Church, so he approved the new Order. He had the men tonsured; ordained or not (and Francis never was, another reason that they were "minor" brothers), tonsuring was a mark of their Church connection, and was a way to say "you're part of the team now, so stick with approved doctrine!"

Francis wrote a set of rules that included this:

And let those who have promised obedience take one tunic with a hood, and let those who wish it have another without a hood. And those who must may wear shoes. All the brothers are to wear inexpensive clothing, and they can use sackcloth and other material to mend it with God's blessing.

Maybe it was a dissatisfaction with the growing wealth and opulence of the church, or a desire to do something toward Salvation that didn't require traveling on Crusade, or merely the eloquence of the messengers and the attraction of the message, but the Order grew quickly. Franciscans traveled to preach in England, France, Spain, Hungary; Francis went to Egypt, but returned to make sure the message of the Friars Minor was not being diluted by too many new ideas. Still, he did not feel the need to "rule" his Order: in 1220, he resigned his position as its head, leaving it to Peter of Cattaneo (who died in 1221) and then Elias of Cortona (who, with Franciscan humility, always signed his name "Brother Elias, sinner).

St. Clare of Assisi

He also formed, with St. Clare of Assisi, a sister order; as well as the Third Order of St. Francis for lay people who wish to live as nearly as possible a godly life while still being part of the world.

The nice thing about being a saintly person and creating your own fan club while alive is that, upon your death, your memory is likely to spur people to action. Elias of Cortona immediately started to raise funds for building a church to Francis in Assisi, and labored to get him canonized—which he was, less than than 2 years after his death, by Pope Gregory IX. The new church was far enough along by June 1230 to receive Francis' body.

The Mendicant Orders, and the Franciscans especially, would become involved in serious debates in the future over whether priests or the Church should own property. Those arguments are what provided Umberto Eco with the setting for his best-selling first novel, The Name of the Rose.