Francesco: A Story of Saint Francis of Assisi E-Book

Madeleine Pecora Nugent

• Herausgeber: anna ruggieri
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

He underwent a radical conversion. Began a religious movement that swept the whole world. Brought new life to the Church. Lived in deepest intimacy with Christ.

The story of Saint Francis of Assisi has been told many times. But never like this.

Madeline Nugent, CFP, masterfully weaves together years of research into a compelling biography that reads like a novel. She grounds her work in primary and modern sources, time spent in Assisi, and interviews with Franciscan experts to paint a vivid picture of the world of Saint Francis through the eyes of those who knew him best — and through the words of Francis himself.

Leseprobe

In Praise of Francesco

“There are any number of dry saint biographies that are meticulously researched but leave much to be desired as stories. There are still more that are filled with conjecture and assumption, often without even telling a compelling story. Francesco takes what’s best in both traditions, combining captivating storytelling with many years of research. What a relief to read a novelized hagiography and not second-guess each paragraph, wondering which scenes took place only in the author’s imagination. Madeline Nugent includes notes at the end of each chapter, describing which sources provide which material and which details are speculation, leaving the reader with the conviction that she has met the true Francis in these pages. The modern Church needs Saint Francis to call her to holiness—not the bunny-snuggling Francis of our statues and storybooks, but the real, raw, joyful, penitent Francis portrayed in Francesco.”

—Meg Hunter-Kilmer, author of Pray for Us: 75 Saints Who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness

“There are countless books written about my seraphic father, Francesco. However, Madeline’s wonderful work unleashes the potential to take you places you haven’t dared to dream of going. You can feel, as she writes, ‘as free as birds, enveloped in God’s love.’ Hallelujah!”

—Fr. Stan Fortuna, CFR, preacher, musician, and founder of Francesco Productions

“There will always be new books about the saint of Assisi. Eight hundred years after his passing from time to eternity, Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone continues to attract and fascinate. The personality of the Poverello is so rich that studies and publications, as good and deep as they can be, never satiate the interest he generates. With this book, Madeline Nugent gives us an original approach to the life and the spirit of Brother Francis. Basing her work on the primary sources and on the most recent scholarship, she connects the different stages of Francis’ life with major pieces of his sayings and writings. She also literally re-creates events that happened by staging them with a blend of historic and fictional characters. The result is a biography of Francis that is accurate, lively, and deeply spiritual. Enjoy the reading!”

— Jean-François Godet-Calogeras, Franciscan studies professor emeritus, Saint Bonaventure University

“Get to know Saint Francis of Assisi through the eyes of those whose lives he touched. Each vignette in Madeline Nugent’s carefully researched biography shows Francis’ impact on others. You’ll feel like a participant in every fascinating scene. A wonderful story!”

— Barb Szyszkiewicz, author of The Handy Little Guide to Prayer and editor at CatholicMom.com

Francesco

Francesco

A Story of Saint Francis of Assisi

By Madeline Pecora Nugent, cfp

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021951754

CIP data is available.

ISBN 10: 0-8198-2754-1

ISBN 13: 978-0-8198-2754-8

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Ryan McQuade

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

“P” and PAULINE are registered trademarks of the Daughters of St. Paul.

Copyright © 2022, Madeline Pecora Nugent

Published by Pauline Books & Media, 50 Saint Pauls Avenue, Boston, MA 02130-3491

www.pauline.org

Pauline Books & Media is the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul, an international congregation of women religious serving the Church with the communications media.

In gratitude to Fr. Julian Stead, OSB, who was spiritually part of this book from its conception until completion. May God grant him the reward of his many years of faith and service to God’s people.

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introductory Material

Early Franciscan Sources

Notes on the Chronology

Helpful Cultural Information

Translation of Italian Words Used

Penance—Then and Now

The Lay Franciscan Charism Today

Abbreviations for Primary Sources Referenced in the Chapter Notes

Prologue

Let Us All Love the Lord God Who Has Given Us . . . Our Whole Body

Madonna Pica (August 1182)

Part One

You Think That You Will Possess This World’s Vanities for a Long Time

1. Messer Pietro di Bernardone (November 1187)

2. Messer Giovanni di Sasso (September 1195)

3. Grullo (Spring 1196)

4. Madonna Latuza Sugulla (June 1197)

5. Messer Elia di Bonbarone (June 1197)

6. Messer Angelo di Pica (September 16, 1197)

Part Two

And Every Talent and Power and Knowledge That He Thought He Had Will Be Taken Away from Him

7. Madonna Bella (Spring 1198)

8. Dom Pietro (June 1199)

9. Cucciolo (November 1201)

10. Messer Rufino di Scipione (November 1201)

11. Messer Monaldo di Offreduccio (November 1202)

12. Messer Tancredi di Ugone (November 1202)

Part Three

Most High, Glorious God, Enlighten the Darkness of My Heart

13. Messer Rufino di Scipione (November 1202)

14. Messer Elia di Bonbarone (September 1204)

15. Ghita (February 1205)

16. Bishop Guido (March 1205)

17. Messer Enea (Early April 1205)

18. Messer Orsino (April 1205)

19. Messer Rufino di Scipione (Late April 1205)

20. Messer Elia di Bonbarone (Late April 1205)

21. Dom Pietro (May 1205)

22. Grandenaso (September 1205)

23. Palfrey (November 1205)

24. Palfrey (November 1205)

Part Four

And Afterward I Delayed a Little and Left the World

25. Ambrogio (November 1205)

26. Bishop Guido (Late November 1205)

27. Messer Elia di Bonbarone (Early December 1205)

28. Mouse (Early December 1205)

29. Dom Pietro (Early December 1205)

30. Dom Pietro (Mid-December 1205)

31. Dom Pietro (January 1206)

Part Five

O How Glorious It Is to Have a Holy and Great Father in Heaven!

32. Sabbatino (Early January 1206)

33. Madonna Pica (Late January 1206)

34. Messer Pietro di Bernardone (Late January 1206)

35. Unocchio (Late January 1206)

36. Frater Indosarre (Late January 1206)

37. Count Federico Spadalunga (Early February 1206)

38. Fazio (Early February 1206)

Part Six

And the Lord Gave Me Such Faith in Churches

39. Alonza (May 1206)

40. Dom Pietro (June 1206)

41. Alberto (June 1206)

42. Ghita (June 1206)

43. Messer Pietro di Bernardone (July 1206)

44. Messer Angelo di Pica (February 1207)

Part Seven

The Lord Gave Me Some Brothers

45. Dom Bonifacio (October 18, 1207)

46. Bishop Guido (Late October 1207)

47. Messer Bernardo di Quintavalle di Berardello (Early April 1208)

48. Pietro (Early April 1208)

49. Dom Silvestro (Late April 1208)

50. Egidio (April 23, 1208)

51. Prepotente (April 23, 1208)

Part Eight

Let Everyone Remain in That Trade and Office in Which He Has Been Called

52. Fra Egidio (Late April 1208)

53. Dom Amedeo Magnani (Early May 1208)

54. Elisa (June 1208)

55. Sabbatino (July 1208)

56. Messer Angelo di Tancredi (November 1208)

57. Morico (Early December 1208)

58. Giovanni di San Costanzo (January 1209)

59. Bishop Guido (February 1209)

Part Nine

And I Had This Written Down Simply and in a Few Words and the Lord Pope Confirmed This for Me

60. Messer Pietro di Catanio di Guiduccio (February 1209)

61. Bishop Guido (Mid-May 1209)

62. Pope Innocenzo III (Mid-May 1209)

63. Cardinal Giovanni di San Paolo (Mid-May 1209)

64. Pope Innocenzo III (Mid-May 1209)

65. Fra Morico (Early June 1209)

Part Ten

To All Christian Religious People: Clergy and Laity, Men and Women, and to All Who Live in the Whole World

66. Fra Angelo di Tancredi (June 1209)

67. Fra Filippo di Lungo (September 1209)

68. Siffredo (Spring 1210)

69. Fra Angelo di Tancredi (Spring 1210)

70. Dom Silvestro (Mid-Summer 1210)

71. Messer Monaldo di Offreduccio (Late Summer 1210)

72. Madonna Chiara di Favarone di Offreduccio (Late Autumn 1210)

Part Eleven

Do Not Look at the Life Without, for That of the Spirit Is Better

73. Madonna Ortulana di Favarone di Offreduccio (March 19, 1212)

74. Fra Egidio (Summer 1212)

75. Bogoslav (Summer 1212)

76. Aleksandar (Summer 1212)

77. Guglielmo di Lisciano (Summer 1212)

78. Bishop Guido (Summer 1212)

79. Madonna Jacopa dei Settesoli (Summer 1212)

80. Arrigo (Late September 1212)

81. Fra Leone (May 7, 1213)

82. Count Orlando dei Catani (Late Evening, May 8, 1213)

Part Twelve

Promises Obedience and Reverence to the Lord Pope Innocent and His Successors

83. Fra Bernardo di Quintavalle (Spring 1214)

84. Dom Impuro (Summer 1214)

85. Fra Masseo di Marignano (November 14, 1215)

86. Messer Elia di Bonbarone (Late December 1215)

87. Madonna Jacopa dei Settesoli (August 31, 1216)

Part Thirteen

Who Desires by Divine Inspiration to Go Among the Saracens and Other Nonbelievers

88. Fra Elia di Bonbarone (May 10, 1217)

89. Dom Silvestro (Summer 1217)

90. Cardinal Ugolino dei Conti di Segni (Summer 1217)

91. Ysidro (Late May 1218)

92. Fra Gregorio di Napoli (May 26, 1219)

93. Cardinal Pelagius (September 8, 1219)

94. Fra Illuminato (Late September 1219)

95. Cardinal Pelagius (November 5, 1219)

Part Fourteen

I Firmly Wish to Obey the General Minister of This Fraternity

96. Fra Pietro di Catanio di Guiduccio (February 2, 1220)

97. Cardinal Ugolino dei Conti di Segni (Early May 1220)

98. Fra Riccerio (Mid-August 1220)

99. Fra Giacomo the Simple (September 1220)

100. Fra Pietro di Catanio di Guiduccio (September 29, 1220)

101. Madonna Abriana (March 1, 1221)

102. Fra Pietro di Catanio di Guiduccio (March 6, 1221)

103. Lacole (Spring 1221)

Part Fifteen

Let Us Produce Worthy Fruits of Penance

104. Pope Onorio III (Late Spring 1221)

105. Fra Giordano di Giano (First Week of June 1221)

106. Madonna Buonadonna de Segni (Late Summer 1221)

107. Verdiana (Late Summer 1221)

108. Sultan Malik al-Kamil (September 8, 1221)

Part Sixteen

A Servant of God Can Be Known to Have the Spirit of the Lord in This Way

109. Magpie (Summer 1222)

110. Dorotea (August 15, 1222)

111. Fra Agnollo (Angelo) Tarlati (Late Summer 1222)

112. Cardinal Ugolino dei Conti di Segni (November 1223)

113. Fra Leone (Mid-December 1223)

Part Seventeen

Brother Francis, a Worthless and Weak Man, Your Very Little Servant

114. Messer Giovanni di Velita (December 25, 1223)

115. Fra Leone (January 1224)

116. Fra Antonio (March 1224)

117. Fra Agnello di Pisa (September 10, 1224)

118. Fra Leone (September 14, 1224)

Part Eighteen

We Must Be Servants and Subject to Every Human Creature for God’s Sake

119. Fra Leone (December 26, 1224)

120. Ludmilla (January 1225)

121. Dom Vignaiolo (Late September 1225)

122. Fra Angelo di Tancredi (Late October 1225)

Part Nineteen

This Is a Remembrance, Admonition, Exhortation, and My Testament

123. Messer Pasquale (Spring 1226)

124. Fra Riccerio di Muccia (Mid-September 1226)

125. Madonna Jacopa dei Settesoli (Late September 1226)

126. Fra Elia di Bonbarone (October 3, 1226)

127. Messer Girolamo di Giovanni di Gualterio (October 4, 1226)

Part Twenty

He Regards Himself the More Worthless and Esteems Himself Less Than All the Others

128. Count Orlando di Chiusi (Fall, 1227)

129. Prassede (March 1228)

130. Fra Elia di Bonbarone (Early Morning, April 1228)

Select Bibliography

Foreword

Reading the lives of the saints is a devotion going as far back as late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Meditating on the “legends” helps Christians connect with the saints—and through them, Christ—in a way that is spiritually nourishing. Books on the life of Saint Francis are no exception.

In 1228, Pope Gregory IX declared Francis a saint and commissioned an erudite friar in the Order, Thomas of Celano, to write the first “Vita” (Life). Soon after, several close companions of Francis wrote what became known as “The Legend of the Three Companions.” Concurrently, Thomas of Celano wrote a second Vita of Francis. In the following decades, more accounts of the life of Francis emerged. Some of these, however, presented divergent accounts of the person of Francis, reflecting partisan divisions within the Order. Finally, in 1263, the scholarly minister general of the Order, Saint Bonaventure, composed what he declared to be the “official” biography of Francis and ordered the destruction of all previous Vitae.

A century or so later, the “Fioretti” (“the Little Flowers of Saint Francis”) was written. This popular collection of stories about Francis was written in typical medieval hagiographical fashion. It was less concerned with accuracy and more focused on otherworldly miracles and supernatural phenomena in order to elevate Francis as a model of holiness as conceptualized in that era. And it was largely this “version” of Francis that survived the centuries. From the fourteenth through the late nineteenth century, knowledge of Francis was largely limited to tales from the Fioretti and images on dusty icons and fading frescoes.

But this all changed in the late nineteenth century beginning with the French clergyman and historian, Paul Sabatier. During the rational Enlightenment, intellectuals developed the historical method to study medieval subjects, knowledge of which was previously based on faith and tradition. Sabatier’s conclusions, however, reflected his biases as an anti-Catholic Huguenot, so the Catholic Church placed his breakthrough work on the life of Saint Francis on the Index of Prohibited Books, where it remained until the dissolution of the Index in 1966.

Shortly after Sabatier’s research, Catholic and Franciscan scholars began to use the same historical method to research the life of Francis, both to rebut Sabatier’s theses as well as to arrive at a truer understanding of who Francis really was. This began a period of critical research and modern biographies of the life of Saint Francis.

Countless books on Francis followed. However, just as the original medieval Vitae had their issues, the twentieth century books also vary wildly. In fact, many of the modern biographies of Saint Francis seem to be written about different people. The Francis who emerges is vastly different from one book to the next, revealing every conceivable bias inside and outside the Church.

Lately, it seems that a fresh new style—a genre, if you will—of writing about Francis is emerging, one that skirts many of the tired controversies and polemics of the contemporary biographies. Francis is not pushed as an early social reformer who bucks institutions and hierarchies; nor is he a humble subordinate who submits himself fully and meekly as an instrument at the service of the Church. Instead, readers are taken back in time and placed squarely in Francis’ milieu where they can make up their own minds about who Francis was. This is the approach Madeline Pecora Nugent uses in her captivating new book, Francesco: A Story of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Drawing on the early medieval sources—the “histories,” as she refers to them—Nugent brings the thirteenth century to life with creativity and sensitivity. Though the word “medieval” is often used pejoratively in contemporary English (synonymous with “cruel, uncivilized, or irrational”), the Middle Ages were a fascinating period, and the High Middle Ages even more so.

Francis lived during the age of chivalry: armored knights on horses; swords and shields; castles and damsels; tournaments and hunts; heraldry and banners; honor, mercy, courtesy, courage, justice. Minstrels meandered through towns, singing of the deeds of greats like Galahad, Arthur, Lancelot, and Tristan.

It was the age of the merchant. Feudalism—the outdated class system that maintained wealth and privilege in the families of the landed nobility—was being forced to reckon with the realities of the markets. Merchants and artisans were moving about, buying and selling their wares in city marketplaces, and making massive amounts of money. Thus, the economy was changing from a land-based system to one based on money.

It was the age of renewed mobility. Migrations and invasions that had plagued the earlier Middle Ages had subsided and people were safer and freer to move about. Thus, the roads were teeming with merchants, pilgrims, crusaders, preachers, and wandering minstrels.

It was the age of communal conflicts. Emboldened by their new wealth and status, the merchants (and other middle-class minors) were rising up everywhere and tearing down the old feudal castles—symbols and sources of their oppression. In place of the fortresses, they established independent city municipalities known as the comune.

It was the age of religion. The High Middle Ages were a golden age for Christendom. Soaring cathedrals, abbeys, and monasteries were under construction, and religious communities and movements were flourishing everywhere. City squares were forums for lay preachers and clerics alike who preached penance and salvation. Local pilgrims headed to nearby shrines to ask their saints for intercession, while the courageous set out on the journey of a lifetime to Compostela, Rome, Gargano, or Jerusalem. Conflict often broke out as heterodox and schismatic groups were denounced and excommunicated by the appropriate religious authority. Popes easily launched Crusades, setting off zealous knights and peasants alike to liberate the Holy Land.

In this dynamic world Francis lived and experienced his conversion. Before his conversion—when he was guided by the spirit of the world—he, too, sought the glories of knighthood and crusading. Yet, after a series of transcendent dreams, voices, and visions, he chose another way—that of serving lepers and embracing penance.

Nugent captures all this masterfully in her book. She makes this world accessible to the contemporary English reader who may have little to no familiarity with this period of history. She drops colorful names of people and places, carefully describes dress and trades, and reveals cultural and historical details that only a well-researched writer could do.

With keen insight, she tells the story not as a biographer, but through the narration of people who were present at the scene. This not only makes for delightful reading, but also serves to highlight the communal aspect of Francis’ story, as nothing he did was in isolation.

This latest work on Saint Francis could easily enter the Franciscan annals as a classic . . . and I hope it does.

Bret Thoman, OFS

Director of Saint Francis Pilgrimages

(www.stfrancispilgrimages.com)

December 13, 2019

Acknowledgments

Thanks to:

New City Press for allowing me to quote Francis’ words from Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, edited by Regis J. Armstrong, J. A. Wayne Hellmann, and William J. Short, Hyde Park, New York, 2000.

McKillop Library Staff at Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island, for their patient and diligent help in obtaining a plethora of requested articles and books consulted in the writing of this book.

Dr. Alexander Calenda and Mark Wilson for translating certain words and phrases into Italian.

Jean-François Godet-Calogeras for his many insights, patience, and scholarly help and for reading this manuscript and sharing his excellent insights and knowledge.

Bret Thoman, OFS, for his expertise in knowing the life and places of Saint Francis and for his insights into the Umbrian language used at the time of the saint. Thanks to Bret also for reading this manuscript and offering many insightful suggestions and corrections. This book would be far less accurate without his editing.

Sister Karolyn Grace, PSSC, and Sister Celeste Marie, PSSC, for reading this manuscript and sharing it with the other Poor Sisters of Saint Clare, all of whose prayers, suggestions, and insights have proven invaluable.

Paolo Rossi for his information on Giovanni the Simple, Madonna Jacopa dei Settesoli, and others.

Father Paolo Degasperi for translating several articles into English.

Brother Eunan McMullan, OFM, for his information about the cave at San Damiano.

My husband Jim, who consistently brought home works from McKillop Library that I could use and who—along with our children, whom I also thank—patiently supported the time spent on this work.

Tim Luncsford, who worked overtime to renovate the space where most of this writing took place.

Pauline Books & Media, who patiently waited over ten years for this manuscript.

All those who prayed for this effort.

Above all, thanks to the Lord, without Whom this book would never have been completed.

Madeline Pecora Nugent, CFP,

Queenship of Mary, August 22, 2019

Introductory Material

Early Franciscan Sources

This book attempts to portray, as accurately as possible, how Francis and his followers lived. Since his contemporaries would know this best, primary sources from the decades following the death of Saint Francis were the main documents used for researching this book.

Francis’ first biographer, Friar Thomas of Celano, writing within three years of the saint’s death, produced a fresh, no-holds-barred story referred to as the First Life of Saint Francis (abbreviated 1C). He wrote at the request of Pope Gregory IX, formerly Cardinal Ugolino, who knew Francis well and who canonized him. Thomas of Celano interacted with Saint Francis and held positions of responsibility and leadership in the Order during the later years of Francis’ life. Thomas apparently interviewed those who knew Francis, particularly Brother Elias, and used their recollections as well as his own to compose the saint’s first biography.

There are some historians who believe that, in his first biography, Celano intended to make Francis’ life correspond to that of previous holy men. For example, implying that Francis was a depraved youth compares him to Saint Augustine. Having Francis disrobe before the bishop recalls how, according to Saint John Cassian, new recruits to desert monasticism were stripped of their clothing and then reclothed in monastery dress. However, Francis died on October 3, 1226, and on February 25, 1229, Pope Gregory IX approved 1C as the official biography of the saint. The people of Assisi protested being negatively portrayed in the account, but no one claimed that Francis’ disrobing before the bishop or his initial rejection by his father and his native city was fiction. Assisi witnessed and knew the sad facts.

Thomas of Celano condensed his biography into a shorter work, at the request of Minister General Friar Elias, for short readings for the friars to share at mealtimes. This work (abbreviated 1.5C) was lost for centuries. Only recently did Franciscan scholar Jacques Dalarun find and publish it as The Rediscovered Life of Saint Francis of Assisi.

This work was followed by a number of other texts, including:

1240–1241: The Anonymous of Perugia (abbreviated AP), composed by Friar John of Perugia, who was an acquaintance of Friar Bernard of Assisi, Francis’ first follower, and a companion of Friar Giles, Francis’ third follower.

1241–1247: The Legend of the Three Companions (abbreviated L3C), composed by three of Saint Francis’ early followers, Friars Leo, Angelo, and Rufino.

1244–1260: The Assisi Compilation (abbreviated AC), seemingly compiled by Friars Leo, Angelo, Rufino, and possibly others.

Some of these were compiled by friars whose years of life with Saint Francis gave them intimate insights into his life. However, political intrigues in the Order, and the allegiances of the tale-tellers, influence the portrayal of certain incidents and personalities.

In 1247, Thomas of Celano wrote another work, The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul (abbreviated 2C), which combines material found in the previously mentioned sources while also adding details.

As time passed, the biographies tended to sanitize the early life of Francis, so that, by the time one reads Bonaventure’s Major Legend of Saint Francis (abbreviated LMj, written 1260–1263), the early Francis has been transformed from a sinful, arrogant dandy into a happy-go-lucky, innocent youth. Incidents that reflected poorly on the saintly qualities of a holy man were altered or eliminated.

When Bonaventure’s Major Legend was determined to be the definitive life, Bonaventure, as minister general of the Order, ordered the destruction of all previous biographies. Fortunately, a few manuscripts escaped destruction.

These early biographies, plus Francis’ own writings, have been intensely studied by modern Franciscan scholars, and a fuller and more accurate picture of Saint Francis is emerging.

Additional early sources that were used in researching this book include: Thirteenth Century Chronicles (abbreviated 13CC), the Mirror of Perfection (Lemmens Edition, abbreviated 1MP), Treatise on the Miracles of Saint Francis (3C), The Major Legend by Saint Bonaventure (abbreviated LMj), The Little Flowers of Saint Francis (abbreviated Fioretti, its name in Italian), and Chronicle of the Twenty-Four Generals of the Order of Friars Minor (abbreviated 24Gen).

Of the many works listed in the bibliography, two secondary sources that were important in researching this book are the following:

Arnaldo Fortini (abbreviated Fortini), Assisi mayor and historian, delved into Assisi archives and shared his research in Nova Vita di San Francesco (1926, revised edition 1959), translated by Helen Moak (1980). References to Fortini refer to the English translation.

Raffaele Pazzelli (abbreviated Pazzelli), in his book Saint Francis and the Third Order, locates Francis directly within the penitential movement of his time.

This book attempts to help the reader understand Francis as those who knew him may have experienced him. They, like us, had their own preconceived notions, prejudices, and concerns that influenced their perceptions. May one or more of Francis’ acquaintances resonate with you personally, and may their experiences assist you in your own spiritual journey.

Notes on the Chronology

Certain dates in the life of Saint Francis, like the dates of the Fourth Lateran Council and the date of Francis’ death, are recorded in history, but the exact dates for many other events in his life are uncertain. This book generally follows the chronology in the French edition of Early Documents with emendations suggested by Jean-François Godet-Calogeras, professor emeritus, theology and Franciscan studies, at Saint Bonaventure University (Saint Bonaventure, New York) and general editor of Franciscan Studies.

Francesco: A Story of Saint Francis of Assisi helps the reader to see Francis through the eyes of his contemporaries, without replicating events covered in Chiara: A Story of Saint Clare of Assisi and Antonio: A Story of Saint Anthony of Padua. Although Francesco can be read on its own, reading all three books will give a more complete picture of Saint Francis’ life and influence.

Incidents covered more completely in the other books are:

1200: Civil uprising in Assisi. Chiara: A Story of Saint Clare of Assisi, chapters 1 and 2

1205: Francis’ recovery after the battle of Colle della Strada. Chiara, chapter 4

1206: Francis disrobing before the bishop. Chiara, chapter 5

1210: Rufino joins Francis and his brothers. Chiara, chapter 7

1210: Clare begins to meet with Francis. Chiara, chapter 8

1212: Clare’s entering religious life and the bishop’s and Francis’ role in assisting her. Chiara, chapters 10–11

1212: Francis’ receiving Clare’s sister Catherine (renamed Agnes) into religious life. Chiara, chapter 13

1215: The Fourth Lateran Council, as it affected Francis and his brothers and Clare and her sisters. Chiara, chapter 17

1216: Porziuncula Indulgence. Chiara, chapter 22

1220: New regulations in Francis’ Order while he was in the Holy Land. Chiara, chapter 25

1220: First Franciscan martyrs and reception of Anthony of Padua into the Order. Antonio: A Story of Saint Anthony of Padua, chapter 1

1221: Gathering of friars in Chapter at the Porziuncula. Antonio, chapter 4

1221: Francis’ referring a potential sister to Clare and Clare’s misgivings. Chiara, chapter 28

1224: Changes, unapproved by Francis, being made to friars’ lifestyle. Antonio, chapter 11

1225: Francis’ stay at San Damiano while suffering from eye disease and other illnesses. Chiara, chapters 31–32

1225: Francis’ role in reconciling the bishop and mayor of Assisi. Chiara, chapters 33–34

1225: Francis’ leaving San Damiano for treatment of his eye disease. Chiara, chapter 35

1226?: Friar martyred with Rule in his hand. Antonio, chapter 15

1226: Francis’ body carried to San Damiano after his death. Chiara, chapter 36

Francesco: A Story of Saint Francis of Assisi omits some familiar incidents, such as Francis’ being born in a stable, an Assisi simpleton throwing his cloak to the ground in front of the unconverted young merchant, and Francis taming the wolf of Gubbio. These and other stories are found only in later biographies. Historians question their accuracy, feeling that later biographers may have fabricated these incidents to portray Francis as an image of Christ. Due to space constraints, this book also omits hundreds of other incidents recorded in the histories and local traditions as well as hundreds of Francis’ recorded words.

Helpful Cultural Information

Biblical Quotations: At the time of Saint Francis, there were no standard verse divisions in the Bible and standardized chapter divisions were just being introduced. In this book, biblical quotes are taken from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, except when they are part of a quotation from the writings of Saint Francis or another early source. The citations are given in the chapter notes found at the end of each chapter.

Canonical Hours: Time was divided into three-hour segments. The friars, like all penitents, clergy, and religious at the time, prayed, at specific “hours,” certain set prayers called “offices.” The modern name for the “hour” is given in parentheses:

Matins (Office of Readings): First prayer of the morning, usually combined with Lauds

Lauds (Morning Prayer): Prayer at dawn

Prime (This office is no longer prayed): 6 a.m.

Terce (Midmorning Prayer): 9 a.m.

Sext (Midday Prayer): Noon

None (Midafternoon Prayer): 3 p.m.

Vespers (Evening Prayer): between 3 and 6 p.m.

Compline (Night Prayer): 9 p.m. or when darkness was falling

Capitalization: All pronouns referring to God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are capitalized except those which Francis or his copyists did not capitalize in his quoted writings.

Chapter Notes: Chapter Notes at the end of each chapter provide important and interesting background information. They indicate some of the major references used in that chapter, including the source of the words of Saint Francis, and distinguish material in the historical record from what is supposition. In these notes, the references generally refer to the earliest mention of the incident in the Franciscan historical record. Later histories may also mention and often expand, the incident or information.

Horses: Just as modern society has many different models of cars, so medieval society had many different types of horses. Some types mentioned in this book are:

Courser: Light, fast horse, better for hard battle than a destrier

Destrier: Royalty of medieval horses. They were expensive, strong, agile, used for jousts

Palfrey: Ideal riding horse with comfortable gait

Rouncey: Least expensive war horse, also used as a pack animal

Locations: All places are in Italy unless otherwise mentioned. Some less familiar locations are:

Slavonia: Region in the eastern part of Croatia

Spalatum: Modern day city of Split in Croatia

Names and language: In order to give this book the “flavor” of the places in it, the text uses the current native language for the names of book characters, certain titles and phrases, and churches. (The names of nations, cities, and towns are current English usage.) The “native” names and words used, however, likely do not accurately reflect the language and dialects of the time.

People are named in relation to their ancestors. In Umbrian, Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone means “Francis, son of Peter who is the son of Bernard.”

Social Class: Medieval people were honored according to their social class, e.g., emperor, king, queen, lord, lady, baron, count. In the Church, clergy were also ranked: pope, cardinal, bishop, priest, deacon, cleric. The term “prelate” referred to any religious authority. The poor had no titles.

Social Mores: Power rested with the nobles, high religious leaders, and military. The merchants and middle classes were attempting to rise in power. The lower classes were powerless and generally disregarded. Below them were the beggars and then, at the lowest social level, the lepers, robbers, and other outcasts.

Clothing indicated social status and rank. The greatest scandal would be to go without clothing, not because nudity was sexually enticing (people slept in the nude, even in hospices where strangers shared beds) but because it indicated destitution and humiliation.

Stages of becoming a religious order: Francis began his conversion as a voluntary penitent. His first brothers were also lay penitents. However, penitents generally lived in their own homes, not in community. As Francis gained followers who lived a common life with him, their group began to resemble a religio.

Religio was the canonical term applied to a group of Christians who lived together a faithful life with certain common practices. The Church monitored a religio closely. Should it become sufficiently organized, a religio could become an approved ordine (religious order). The Church required a religio to submit a written rule of life, which the Church had to approve, before designating a religio as an ordine.

Time: In Francis’ time, the new year began on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation. However, because that system confuses modern readers, the years in this book reflect current usage.

Titles: The part titles in this book are Francis’ own words, taken from his writings.

Translation of Italian Words Used

Castello—Castle and its walled village

Comune—City-states that developed throughout northern and central Italy in the twelfth century

Custos (Latin)—Provincial minister (minister of one of the Franciscan Provinces)

Del, della—“Of” (the Piazza della San Rufino means the Plaza of the Cathedral of Saint Rufinus)

Dom—Title of respect for secular and diocesan priests

Domina—Lady (formal title) used for noble girls and women

Fra (shortened from Fratello, Frate)—Colloquial name for a religious brother

Frater—Latin name given to Benedictine monks who were not priests

Fraternità—Brotherhood

Grazie—Thank you

Locus—A “location.” The name the friars used for a place where they lived. These “locations” were not really hermitages, but definitely not convents or monasteries. Plural “loci.”

Madonna—Informal term for My Lady (used for noble girls and women)

Mamma—Mommy, Mum

Mercato—Marketplace

Messer—Old Umbrian title of respect for a man: Mister, Sir, Lord

Monte—Mountain

Mostaccioli—Almond cookies

Ordine—Religious Order

Pace e bene—Italian for the Latin greeting “Pax et bonum,” which means “Peace and all good.” This was the greeting that Saint Francis used.

Palazzo—Palace

Papà—Daddy

Pater—Latin title for Benedictine monks who were priests

Piazza—Wide-open space where several city streets meet, plaza, city square

Podestà—Head of the comune with a council to advise him

Poggio—Knoll

Porta—City gate

Porziuncula—Little portion of land

Religio—An intermediary stage in becoming a religious order

Rivo—Stream, brook

Rivo Torto—Twisted stream

San—Saint

Sì—Yes

Strada—Street

Vescovado—Bishop’s residence

Via—Street, road

Zuchetto—Roman Catholic cleric’s skullcap, black for a priest, purple for a bishop, red for a cardinal, and white for the pope

Penance—Then and Now

Penance means conversion as well as the sacrificial methods that foster it, such as fasting from food, giving alms, confessing sins, praying, living chastely, having minimal possessions, and doing good works.

Modern minds associate the season of Lent with penance. Lent is a time to see where one has strayed from following God, then do what is necessary to draw closer to Him. However, we are called to conversion and good works, not only during Lent, but always. Penance turns us away from self-indulgence and toward God.

For many people in Francis’ time, penance was more than a seasonal practice. Since they saw hell as a very real possibility for those who sinned seriously, penance was appealing as a means of gaining heaven through expiating serious sins. By defeating sinful human desires, penance also kept a person from seriously sinning again.

In medieval times, those who confessed grave sins were enrolled in the Order of Penitents, a recognized order in the Church, until completing the satisfaction given for the forgiveness of these sins. Penitents who had sinned mortally might be told, for example, to make a pilgrimage (or pilgrimages) to holy places, to build a hospital or a church, or to abstain from conjugal relations for a time.

Before Francis was born, a great penitential movement began to sweep Europe. No one knows exactly how it began, but many people began to see the need for a deeper relationship with God and realized that living a penitential life was a means to that end. Because they had not sinned mortally, they were not required to enter the Order of Penitents. Nevertheless, many lay people voluntarily began to live penitential lives because they wished to distance themselves from worldly concerns. Voluntary penitents embraced prayer, fasting, abstinence from food, simplicity of life, and doing good works as disciplines to help them surrender their own wills to God. Francis began his conversion as one of these voluntary penitents.

The Lay Franciscan Charism Today

An Internet search will reveal numerous Franciscan male and female religious orders, some of which evolved from Francis’ original foundation and others that are trying to live his original expression today. Lay expressions of the Franciscan charism include not only the largest group, the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS), but also many smaller ones. Those seeking a lifestyle resembling that of Francis’ first lay followers, several of whom appear in this book, may wish to consult the Confraternity of Penitents, whose members “live the Rule of 1221 as closely as possible to its original intent.” For more information, see www.penitents.org or write to Confraternity of Penitents, 1702 Lumbard Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46803 U.S.A.

Abbreviations for Primary Sources Referenced in the Chapter Notes

1C: The Life of Saint Francis by Friar Thomas of Celano.

1.5C: The Rediscovered Life of Saint Francis of Assisi (the name given by Franciscan scholar Jacques Dalarun), also by Friar Thomas of Celano.

AP: The Anonymous of Perugia, composed by Friar John of Perugia.

L3C: The Legend of the Three Companions, composed by three of Saint Francis’ early followers, Friars Leo, Angelo, and Rufino.

AC: The Assisi Compilation, seemingly compiled by Friars Leo, Angelo, Rufino, and possibly others.

2C: The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul by Thomas of Celano.

13CC: Thirteenth Century Chronicles.

1MP: Mirror of Perfection (Lemmens Edition).

3C: Treatise on the Miracles of Saint Francis.

LMj: The Major Legend by Saint Bonaventure.

Fioretti: The Little Flowers of Saint Francis (abbreviated by its name in Italian).

24Gen: Chronicle of the Twenty-Four Generals of the Order of Friars Minor.

Fortini: Arnaldo Fortini, Assisi mayor and historian, delved into Assisi archives and shared his research in Nova Vita di San Francesco.

Pazzelli: Raffaele Pazzelli, in his book Saint Francis and the Third Order.

Prologue

“Let Us All Love the Lord God Who Has Given Us . . . Our Whole Body”

Madonna Pica

Bernardone Stable (Assisi, August 1182)

An obviously pregnant Madonna Pica, holding the hand of her four-year-old son, Angelo, stood near a horse-drawn cart outside the doors to the Bernardone stable. They were waiting for Pica’s husband Pietro to emerge with a palfrey he’d selected for this journey to the fair of Saint Ayoul of Provins, held on September 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Unless this baby was extremely late in coming, Pietro would be away for the birth.

Leading his favorite roan, Pietro strode out of the stable. “Last fair before winter,” he proclaimed, taking Pica’s hand and kissing it. She knew what he’d say next, what he said before every business trip: “Madonna, I’ll bring back the best.”

“Of course,” she smiled.

“I’ll have those fabrics sold before the spring fair at Bar-sur-Abe.”

“Certainly,” Pica said.

Pietro stroked Angelo’s black hair. “Take good care of mamma. When I return, you and mamma will have a surprise for me.”

Angelo looked blankly at Pica. Of course, the baby would be a surprise for Angelo as well.

Pietro swung himself into the saddle. Decked out in blue and purple, he reminded Pica of a giant plum. Nodding to his family, Pietro reined his palfrey down the alley while the cart followed, manned by two servants. Outside the city, the threesome would join a caravan of merchants from Orvieto to travel to France. They found safety in numbers on roads frequented by thieves.

“God be with you!” Pica called. She started back toward the house with Angelo scuffling behind.

Every time Pietro left on a business trip, worry needled her. Suppose he died on the journey? Her first husband had been killed in an oxcart accident, leaving her a widow with one-year-old Angelo. God forbid she be widowed again.

With Pietro gone, Pica needed to arrange for Angelo’s care. Sending him to help in the shop, she approached Giacomo’s house next door and asked to see the mistress, who eagerly agreed to have Angelo play with their son Nicola when the time came for Pica to give birth.

Ten weeks later, Pica was breast-feeding the newborn when she heard Pietro’s merry voice at the foot of the stairs that led from the fabric shop to the upstairs living quarters.

“Where’s my little Francesco?” She heard a clattering on the steps; Pietro must have been taking them two at a time. Then his short, bulky body burst into the room. Pietro grabbed for the nursling, then, seeming to rethink his intention, knelt on the floor and tenderly stroked the child’s cheek.

Gently Pica used her little finger to break the baby’s suction on the nipple, then handed the drowsy bundle to Pietro. “Your son, Giovanni di Baptista.”

Pietro snatched the child to him with a ferocity more familiar than the tenderness Pica had just seen. “Giovanni! Di Baptista! Your deceased father’s name! The name of a saint who dressed in camel’s hair! No! My son’s name must make people think of fine French fabrics, not camel pelts! He’ll be the most renowned cloth merchant in Tuscany!” Pietro’s stare bored into Pica. “Never call him Giovanni! Francesco is his name.”

Notes

The quotation on the part page for the prologue is taken from Francis’ Earlier Rule, chapter XXIII, section 8.

The traditional date given for Francesco’s birth is September 26, either 1181 or, more commonly accepted, 1182. The year is extrapolated from 1C (First Book, Chapter I and Second Book, Chapter I). Pietro was away, most likely at a French cloth fair where he’d purchase French fabrics to resell. In Pietro’s absence, Pica had the baby baptized Giovanni after John the Baptist (2C, First Book, Chapter I) and possibly after her own father. Angry with the name, Pietro called his son Francesco, “the little Frenchman.”

Pica’s background is uncertain. Some historians believe that her baptismal name was Jeanne and that she came from the Picardy area of France, which gave her the nickname Pica. Others believe that she was a native of Umbria and that the name “Pica,” meaning “magpie,” had nothing to do with France.

In his biography of Saint Francis (p. 6), Augustine Thompson notes that, while Francis was always called Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone, Angelo was never called Angelo di Pietro di Bernardone but always Angelo di Pica. This seems to imply that Angelo was Pica’s son by a previous marriage and that the citizens of Assisi didn’t know Angelo’s father. If Angelo’s father had died, we don’t know how. Nor do we know how Pica met Pietro, nor if Pica’s dowry or Pietro’s hard work, or both, fostered Pietro’s success.

Historians postulate that Pietro was in his early twenties when he fathered Francesco.

If Angelo were Pica’s son by an earlier marriage, then he probably was born around 1178. As depicted in the story, it was common practice not to tell children when their mothers were expecting.

Fortini (p. 90, footnote) identifies Nicola di Giacomo as the Bernardones’ next-door neighbor. We don’t know his age compared to Angelo or Francesco.

Part One

“You Think That You Will Possess This World’s Vanities for a Long Time”

1

Messer Pietro di Bernardone

Church of San Nicoló, Assisi (November 1187)

As usual, Mass was endless. If it weren’t a mortal sin to miss Mass and work on Sunday, Pietro wouldn’t have come. No, he probably would’ve come because of Francesco who, fidgeting, was clinging to Pietro’s leg. Pietro wanted to be the best papà to his son.

A child certainly changes your life, Pietro often thought. Now, besides selling cloth, he had to raise his own flesh and blood to become a man of influence. In twenty years, Francesco would take over and advance Pietro’s cloth trade. By then, he might be married and have fathered Pietro’s first grandson who, in time, would assume the business from Francesco and continue Pietro’s legacy. Time would dim the embarrassing memory of Pietro’s father, Bernardone, hacking out a living as a poor burino in the Assisi marshes. The young Pietro had toiled on the family property before moving to the city. That land, in addition to many other lands which Pietro’s money and Pica’s dowry had acquired, would be Francesco’s and then his children’s after him.

If Francesco lived, of course. Diseases and accidents took many children’s lives. Pietro frowned. On his right, the knight Messer Scipione di Offreduccio was standing with his two-year-old son Rufino, alert to the Mass, in front of him. Quiet, well-behaved Rufino! Shy. Prudent. Cautious. He must be easy to rear. Unlike puny, impulsive Francesco. He’d approach stray mongrels, explore anything, and mock sword fight with such determination that Pietro feared he’d be hurt. If disease didn’t rob him of his son, Francesco’s own impetuousness might.

My God, protect him, Pietro prayed.

The priest Dom Vincenzo’s droning burst into a passionate, intense plea. Francesco stirred and stiffened.

What’s this? Pietro thought. Hardly six weeks ago, Saladin, leading his Muslim armies, had captured Jerusalem and seized the relic of the true cross. Assisi was still reeling when it heard that grief-stricken Pope Urbano III had died shortly thereafter. Quickly Pope Gregorio VIII had been elected. Now he was calling for a Third Crusade? Crusaders were to wear penitential garb? Dom Vincenzo was hammering out suggestions. Join the Crusade! If that’s impossible, do penance for the Crusade’s success! Attend Matins! Abstain from meat! Give alms! Pray!

Pietro groaned. He had a family and a business. He wasn’t going to join a Crusade! At the time of Matins, he was already working. Let Pica attend! Not eat meat, his favorite food? Give more alms to the poor? They already had enough. Pray? He didn’t have time.

When Mass ended, Pietro led his little family out of the church. Around him, his neighbors were muttering about the Crusade. He had about as much time to talk about the Crusade as to be in it. Fumbling in his pouch, he pulled out a few coins, which he handed to Francesco and Angelo.

“Do you remember what Dom Vincenzo said?”

“Sì, papà,” Angelo nodded.

“And you, my Franceschino?”

“He said to join the Crusade. Are we going?”

Pietro laughed. “No! We’re not going! We’re going to help the poor instead.”

“Papà, there’s a poor person!” Francesco was pointing to a figure clothed in a tattered yellow tunic. Pietro recognized the fabric as one he’d sold to the Dodici family. The tunic must have become so worn that the family gave it to the poor.

“May I give him my coins?” Angelo asked.

“Me, too?” Francesco echoed.

Pietro nodded, then felt his large, rough hand squeezed by a softer one. He looked into Pica’s smiling face.

“Grazie, Messer.”

As the boys dropped Pietro’s few coins into the beggar’s grimy palms, Pietro grinned with satisfaction.

Notes

The quotation for Part One is taken from Francis’ Earlier Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance (First Version of the Letter to the Faithful), 14.

The pope requested that all priests recruit Crusaders and spiritual and financial aid from their congregations. We don’t know Pietro’s response to this appeal.

According to Fortini, the Offreduccio (p. 329) and Dodici (p. 154) were two noble Assisi families. Rufino was Scipione di Offreduccio’s son (Fortini, p. 329), but his birth year is unknown. Several stories about him in the early Franciscan sources indicate that he, when older, was quiet and shy.

History did not record the name of the priest of San Nicoló, nor does it mention any of Francesco’s childhood escapades.

2

Messer Giovanni di Sasso

Scuola di San Giorgio, Assisi (September 1195)

Although standing made him appear shorter, Giovanni di Sasso rose from his stool in front of his class and straightened his shoulders. Too diminutive to intimidate his students by height, he relied on sharp, quick gestures. With his slender arms free to gesticulate, he paced in front of his class. “Now we’ll see who’s learned Psalm 57. Who wrote this psalm?” Several hands shot up. “Morico?”

“Davide, when he was fleeing from King Saul.”

“Excellent! Now, who can recite this psalm?”

Few hands were raised this time. “Sabbatino?”

“I know part of it.”

“Recite what you know.”

Twelve-year-old Sabbatino began in hesitant, awkward Latin. “Miserere mei, Deus, miserere mei, quoniam in te confidat anima mea.” Giovanni let the mistake pass. Confidat for confidit was, for Sabbatino, close enough. After a few more lines and a few more errors, Sabbatino stopped. “I’m not sure of the rest.”

“Francesco, can you complete it?” Giovanni asked. Of course, he could. Francesco had achieved the goal of recitation, to commit every psalm to memory. For Sabbatino, that goal was impossible.

In his strong, melodious voice, Francesco began the recitation. Too bad Giovanni wouldn’t hear him recite again. Nor would he be able to help Francesco improve his written Latin and master certain math skills. Francesco had just turned fourteen, and his father, wanting him to learn the cloth trade, was taking him out of school. “He’s learned enough from you,” Pietro declared. “Now he must learn from me.”

Notes

According to legal records discovered by Arnaldo Fortini (p. 95), Giovanni di Sasso was Francesco’s instructor at the school at Saint George’s Church. We don’t know Giovanni’s age or physical description or the names of Francesco’s classmates.

Learning the Psalter was a primary means of education in a typical lower primary school, such as the one at San Giorgio (Oktavian Schmucki, “Saint Francis’s Level of Education”).

Francesco’s scholastic achievements are postulated according to what we know of his abilities from his writings. Fourteen was the normal age for a young man to leave school and begin his occupation (Pazzelli, p. 75).

3

Grullo

Assisi (Spring 1196)

In this unrelenting famine, Grullo survived better than most. Today Nicola di Giacomo had asked Grullo to mend and polish his boots, a difficult task for an old peasant whose strength had left his arms. But Grullo was clever. He could use the heel of one boot to push the needle through the leather of the other.

Grullo’s growling stomach provided incentive, because Nicola, Assisi’s prominent young notary, would feed Grullo well when the job was completed. Ah, Grullo thought, God timed this weakness well. The fields will not produce again for some time.

Grullo didn’t know how he knew. But he knew. He knew more than the Assisiani who, ignoring his baptismal name of Bartolo, had dubbed him “Grullo” or “Crazy Man.” Crazy, was he? Crazy enough to know that, with his weakened arms, he could no longer plow the soil, hard as steel, nor plant the weakened grain in the dry furrows. He could not haul water from the trickles that used to be streams, nor could he root up tenacious weeds, shrunken and tough, that rivaled grain for dew. Unlike the starving landowners, Grullo owned no property to sell to rich lords or merchants or to wealthy abbeys, monasteries, and churches. He was almost glad that he had no money to spend on food, for even half a turnip cost an outrageous sum.

Grullo was crazy, all right. Crazy enough to find work here or there, repairing a lock, mending pottery, altering clothing, polishing shields. He was his own master, sleeping in churches at night, tinkering by day, and eating what he was given. And because he was deemed crazy, people talked to him and around him of things no one thought he would remember. They were wrong, even though Grullo shared little of what he heard. Sharing could be dangerous.

Here, on the street outside Nicola di Giacomo’s house, one could hear tales. Now he was overhearing Rufino and his father Scipione di Offreduccio, and Francesco and his father Pietro di Bernardone, arguing in Pietro’s cloth shop across the piazza. Did lords have the right to levy taxes on roads which merchants took to France to obtain their wares? Why did lords have power over a city made prosperous with merchants’ money? Didn’t people have a right to govern themselves?

The deep voices of the fathers were pitted against one another. But the more tremulous voices of their sons, both just coming into their manhood, didn’t always side with them. People had argued their positions in countless places around the city. They would be argued again. Someday, Grullo knew, more than words would be exchanged. Someday, weapons would be drawn, grappling hooks unleashed, and torches lit. The streets of Assisi, so often conquered and overrun by enemies, would run yet again with blood.

Grullo shoved the needle through the leather of Nicola’s boot, but he was thinking of the voices in the cloth shop instead of his mending. Scipione and his six brothers were great in power, all of them knights who lived in the contrada near the Cathedral of San Rufino. Each lord among them was strong, cunning, fearless, even cruel. Although Scipione was passionate about city affairs, all the knights took part, for they held vast possessions and lands in Assisi. Francesco’s father held lands, too. As the wealthiest city merchant, he wielded considerable influence. Rumor had it that Pietro wanted his sons to be lords. One social class buying its way into another! A new social order that would, Grullo knew, reshape Assisi and all of Umbria.

Ah, the arguing had died. The door of Pietro’s cloth shop swung open, and Rufino and Francesco, talking excitedly together, strode out.

“Good morning, my lords!” Grullo called as they walked past.

“Lords!” Rufino punched Francesco’s shoulder. “He calls you a lord!”

Francesco laughed. “I will be a lord some day! Papà and mamma wish it and so do I!” He made a flourishing bow to Grullo. “Messer Francesco thanks you, Grullo!” Then he laughed again.

“So, Francesco,” Rufino chided, “Someday you will be a lord, yet you decry what the lords claim as their rightful due? Shame, Messer Francesco.” The young nobleman bowed low to the merchant.

Grullo watched the exchange. He had no idea if Francesco would become a lord or not. He had called the young man what he wanted to hear. Giving people what they wanted led them to give Grullo what he wanted.

“I’ll be a lord since Grullo says so!” Francesco grinned. “And a better one than Mosca-in-cervello, ‘Fly-in-the-brain.’” Francesco gestured in the direction of the count’s fortress, Rocca Maggiore, clinging like a hawk’s nest to the heights of Monte Subasio.

“Count Conrad may not be as mad as you say,” Rufino countered. “Could a madman destroy Monte Rodone? Could he win fame in defense of Perugia?”

“Perugia! You defend our rival city? Grullo, Messer Rufino is defending Perugia!”

Grullo shrugged. The young men really didn’t want his opinion.

“I defend nothing,” Rufino protested. “I only point out the count’s prowess.”

“And I point out his capriciousness. What kind of man would kill everyone in Monte Rodone, women and infants alike? You feel safe with him perched up there? Suppose he turns on us?”

“He’s not as cruel as you say. When Empress Constance went into labor on her way to join the emperor in Sicilia, Count Conrad opened the Rocca so that she could give birth there!”

“Why not? He’s the emperor’s kinsman.”

“Not every kinsman welcomes his kin,” Rufino said. “Think of how many have killed, abused, or rejected relatives, even their own children, for honor or power.”

“You’re too gentle for a knight, Messer Rufino.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” Rufino admitted. “I don’t aspire to greatness as you do. I only aspire to enjoy my dinner.”

“Ah, now we agree! What delicacies will be for sale in the mercato? Capicola? Asiago? Mortaroli? Race you!” The young men sprinted forward, leaving Grullo behind.

Notes

Fortini (pp. 82–83, and 112–113) has found evidence of an unrelenting fifteen-year famine in Umbria, beginning with severe windstorms in 1182.

According to Fortini (p. 90, footnote), Nicola di Giacomo was a notary whose family house adjoined Francesco’s.

The seven Offreduccio knights (Fortini names five of them, pp. 328–329), well known in Assisi, likely bought Pietro’s cloth. Even though nobles and merchants were in different social classes, Francesco was a leader among his peers, and those peers likely included noblemen his age. Francesco’s friends dined with him, laughed with him, and went through the streets of Assisi singing and dancing with him as leader (1C, first book, chapter I, and 2C, first book, chapter III).

The history of wars, taxation, and occupation by the emperor and Count Conrad, nicknamed “Fly-in-the-brain,” is in the historical record.

Francesco’s skeletal remains in the Basilica of San Francesco indicate that he was about five feet two inches tall. Rufino’s remains, also buried in the Basilica, are those of a short, delicate-boned man.

4

Madonna Latuza Sugulla

San Lazzaro d’Arce, Assisi (June 1197)

Dodging questions, Madonna Latuza Sugulla darted into the forest surrounding San Lazzaro d’Arce. Today when the sun was grinning, she wanted to be alone with the poppies.

Latuza pushed her way in the direction of Assisi in which rose her opulent house. There she had entertained her friends and raised her children until being forced into the leper hospital four years ago. Her husband, abandoned like a widower, had given their oldest daughter in marriage two years ago. Their second child would wed in a few weeks. In time, the other three would follow. Latuza could not attend the ceremonies because Assisi statutes forbade lepers to enter the city. Should they try, they would be beaten and driven out. She could see her family only when they visited her. That wasn’t often enough.

Tears welled in her eyes. Leaning against an oak’s sturdy trunk, Latuza let the tears dribble down her hollow cheeks. Strands of her graying, once luxurious hair danced about her face in the gentle breeze, but she noticed them only when they impeded her vision. Pushing her hair over her shoulders, she remembered that she had come to find the poppies. She kept walking until the woods abruptly ended at a broad field, red with blooms. Ah, she knew she would find such a field. Countless such fields bloomed in June.