A Source Book of Mediaeval History Part 44

[501] The law on this point was exceptionally severe. The privilege of establishing innocence by combat or the ordeal by water was denied, though even the provost and his subordinates who had played false in the riot of 1200 had been given the opportunity of clearing themselves by such means if they chose and could do so.

[502] A further recognition of the clerical character of the students.

[503] The property, as the persons, of the scholars was protected from seizure except by the church authorities.

[504] In this capacity the provost of Paris came to be known as the "Conservator of the Royal Privileges of the University."

[505] For an explanation of the phrase "elector of the Holy Empire"

see p. 409.

[506] Rupert had sent sums of money to Rome to induce Pope Urban VI.

to approve the foundation of the university. The papal bull of 1385, which was the reward of his effort, specifically enjoined that the university be modeled closely after that of Paris.

[507] The mediaeval "three philosophies" were introduced by the rediscovery of some of Aristotle's writings in the twelfth century.

Primal philosophy was what we now know as metaphysics; natural philosophy meant the sciences of physics, botany, etc.; and moral philosophy denoted ethics and politics.

[508] At Paris the students were divided into four groups, named from the nationality which predominated in each of them at the time of its formation--the French, the Normans, the Picards, and the English.

[509] The rector at Paris was head of the faculty of arts.

[510] Equivalent to bedel. All mediaeval universities had their bedels, who bore the mace of authority before the rectors on public occasions, made announcements of lectures, book sales, etc., and exercised many of the functions of the modern bedel of European universities.

[511] John Addington Symonds, _Wine, Women and Song: Mediaeval Latin Students' Songs_ (London, 1884), pp. 1-3.

[512] Symonds, _Wine, Women, and Song_, pp. 5-20 _pa.s.sim_.

[513] This is the only indication of the name of the place where the suppliant student was supposed to be making his pet.i.tion.

[514] St. Martin was the founder of the monastery at Tours [see p.

48].

[515] "Honest folk are jeeringly bidden to beware of the _quadrivium_ [see p. 339], which is apt to form a fourfold rogue instead of a scholar in four branches of knowledge."--Symonds, _Wine, Women, and Song_, p. 57.

[516] That is, as a sacrifice.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE FRIARS

From the twelfth century onwards one of the most conspicuous features of the internal development of the mediaeval Church was the struggle to combat worldliness among ecclesiastics and to preserve the purity of doctrine and uprightness of living which had characterized the primitive Christian clergy. As the Middle Ages advanced to their close, unimpeachable evidence acc.u.mulates that the Church was increasingly menaced by grave abuses. This evidence appears not only in contemporary records and chronicles but even more strikingly in the great protesting movements which spring up in rapid succession--particularly the rise of heretical sects, such as the Waldenses and the Albigenses, and the inauguration of systematic efforts to regenerate the church body without disrupting its unity. These latter efforts at first took the form of repeated revivals of monastic enthusiasm and self-denial, marked by the founding of a series of new orders on the basis of the Benedictine Rule--the Cluniacs, the Carthusians, the Cistercians, and others of their kind [see p. 245]. This resource proving ineffective, the movement eventually came to comprise the establishment of wholly new and independent organizations--the mendicant orders--on principles better adapted than were those of monasticism to the successful propagation of simplicity and purity of Christian living. The chief of these new orders were the Franciscans, known also as Gray Friars and as Minorites, and the Dominicans, sometimes called Black Friars or Preaching Friars. Both were founded in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, the one by St. Francis of a.s.sisi; the other by the Spanish n.o.bleman, St. Dominic.

The friars, of whatsoever type, are clearly to be distinguished from the monks. In the first place, their aims were different. The monks, in so far as they were true to their principles, lived in more or less seclusion from the rest of the world and gave themselves up largely to prayer and meditation; the fundamental purpose of the friars, on the other hand, was to mingle with their fellow-men and to spend their lives in active religious work among them. Whereas the old monasticism had been essentially selfish, the new movement was above all of a missionary and philanthropic character. In the second place, the friars were even more strongly committed to a life of poverty than were the monks, for they renounced not only individual property, as did the monks, but also collective property, as the monks did not.

They were expected to get their living either by their own labor or by begging. They did not dwell in fixed abodes, but wandered hither and thither as inclination and duty led. Their particular sphere of activity was the populous towns; unlike the monks, they had no liking for rural solitudes. As one writer has put it, "their houses were built in or near the great towns; and to the majority of the brethren the houses of the orders were mere temporary resting-places from which they issued to make their journeys through town and country, preaching in the parish churches, or from the steps of the market-crosses, and carrying their ministrations to every castle and every cottage."

Both the Franciscans and the Dominicans were exempt from control by the bishops in the various dioceses and were ardent supporters of the papacy, which showered privileges upon them and secured in them two of its strongest allies. The organization of each order was elaborate and centralized. At the head was a master, or general, who resided at Rome and was a.s.sisted by a "chapter." All Christendom was divided into provinces, each of which was directed by a prior and provincial chapter. And over each individual "house" was placed a prior, or warden, appointed by the provincial chapter. In their earlier history the zeal and achievements of the friars were remarkable. Nearly all of the greatest men of the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries--as Roger Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, Dun Scotus, and Albertus Magnus--were members of one of the mendicant orders. Unfortunately, with the friars as with the monks, prosperity brought decadence; and by the middle of the fourteenth century their ardor had cooled and their boasted self-denial had pretty largely given place to self-indulgence.

63. The Life of St. Francis

Saint Francis, the founder of the Franciscan order, was born, probably in 1182, at a.s.sisi, a small town in central Italy. His boyhood was unpromising, but when he was about twenty years of age a great change came over him, the final result of which was the making of one of the most splendid and altogether lovable characters of the entire Middle Ages. From a wild, reckless, although cultured, youth he developed into a sympathetic, self-denying, sweet-spirited saint. Finding himself, after his conversion, possessed of a natural loathing for the dest.i.tute and diseased, especially lepers, he disciplined himself until he could actually take a certain sort of pleasure in a.s.sociating with these outcasts of society. When his father, a wealthy and aristocratic cloth-merchant, protested against this sort of conduct, the young man promptly cast aside his gentlemanly raiment, clad himself in the worn-out garments of a gardener, and adopted the life of the wandering hermit. In 1209, in obedience to what he conceived to be a direct commission from heaven, he began definitely to imitate the early apostles in his manner of living and to preach the gospel of the older and purer Christianity. By 1210 he had a small body of followers, and in that year he sought and obtained Pope Innocent III.'s sanction of his work, though the papal approval was expressed only orally and more than a decade was to elapse before the movement received formal recognition. About 1217 Francis and his companions took up missionary work on a large scale. Members of the brotherhood were dispatched to England, Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, and several other countries, with instructions to spread the principles which by this time were coming to be recognized as peculiarly Franciscan. The success of these efforts was considerable, though in some places the brethren were ill treated and an appeal had to be made to the Pope for protection.

The several selections given below have been chosen to ill.u.s.trate the princ.i.p.al features of the life and character of St. Francis. We are fortunate in possessing a considerable amount of literature, contemporary or nearly so, relating to the personal career of this noteworthy man. In the first place, we have some writings of St.

Francis himself--the Rule (p. 373), the Will (p. 376), some poems, some reported sermons, and fragments of a few letters. Then we have several biographies, of which the most valuable, because not only the earliest but also the least conventional, are the _Mirror of Perfection_ and the _Legend of the Three Companions_. These were written by men who knew St. Francis intimately and who could avow "we who were with him have heard him say" or "we who were with him have seen," such and such things. The "three companions" were Brothers Leo, Rufinus, and Angelo--all men of n.o.ble birth, the last-named being the first soldier to be identified with the order. The _Mirror of Perfection_ was written in 1227 by Brother Leo, who of all men probably knew St. Francis best. It is a vivid and fascinating portrait drawn from life. The _Legend of the Three Companions_ was written in 1246. The later biographies, such as the official _Life_ by St.

Bonaventura (1261) and the _Little Flowers of St. Francis_ (written probably in the fourteenth century), though until recently the best known of the group, are relatively inferior in value. In them the real St. Francis is conventionalized and much obscured.

The first pa.s.sage here reproduced (a) comes from the _Legend of the Three Companions_; the others (b) are taken from the _Mirror of Perfection_.

Sources--(a) _Legenda S. Francisci a.s.sisiensis quae dicitur Legenda trium sociorum._ Adapted from translation by E. G.

Salter, under t.i.tle of "The Legend of the Three Companions,"

in the Temple Cla.s.sics (London, 1902), pp. 8-24, _pa.s.sim_.

(b) _Speculum Perfectionis._ Translated by Constance, Countess de la Warr, under t.i.tle of "The Mirror of Perfection,"

(London, 1902), _pa.s.sim_.

[Sidenote: His youthful vanities and waywardness]

(a)

Francis, born in the city of a.s.sisi, which lies in the confines of the Vale of Spoleto, was at first named John by his mother. Then, when his father, in whose absence he had been born, returned from France, he was afterward named Francis[517]. After he was grown up, and had become of a subtle wit, he practiced the art of his father, that is, trade. But [he did so] in a very different manner, for he was a merrier man than was his father, and more generous, given to jests and songs, going about the city of a.s.sisi day and night in company with his kind, most free-handed in spending; insomuch that he consumed all his income and his profits in banquets and other matters. On this account he was often rebuked by his parents, who told him he ran into so great expense on himself and on others that he seemed to be no son of theirs, but rather of some mighty prince.

Nevertheless, because his parents were rich and loved him most tenderly, they bore with him in such matters, not being disposed to chastise him. Indeed, his mother, when gossip arose among the neighbors concerning his prodigal ways, made answer: "What think ye of my son? He shall yet be the son of G.o.d by grace." But he himself was free-handed, or rather prodigal, not only in these things, but even in his clothes he was beyond measure sumptuous, using stuffs more costly than it befitted him to wear. So wayward was his fancy that at times on the same coat he would cause a costly cloth to be matched with one of the meanest sort.

[Sidenote: His redeeming qualities]

[Sidenote: A lesson in charity]

Yet he was naturally courteous, in manner and word, after the purpose of his heart, never speaking a harmful or shameful word to any one. Nay, indeed, although he was so gay and wanton a youth, yet of set purpose would he make no reply to those who said shameful things to him. And hence was his fame so spread abroad throughout the whole neighborhood that it was said by many who knew him that he would do something great. By these steps of G.o.dliness he progressed to such grace that he would say in communing with himself: "Seeing that thou art bountiful and courteous toward men, from whom thou receivest naught save a pa.s.sing and empty favor, it is just that thou shouldst be courteous and bountiful toward G.o.d, who is Himself most bountiful in rewarding His poor." Wherefore thenceforward did he look with goodwill upon the poor, bestowing alms upon them abundantly. And although he was a merchant, yet was he a most lavish dispenser of this world's riches. One day, when he was standing in the warehouse in which he sold goods, and was intent on business, a certain poor man came to him asking alms for the love of G.o.d. Nevertheless, he was held back by the covetousness of wealth and the cares of merchandise, and denied him the alms.

But forthwith, being looked upon by the divine grace, he rebuked himself of great churlishness, saying, "Had this poor man asked thee aught in the name of a great count or baron, a.s.suredly thou wouldst have given him what he had asked. How much more then oughtest thou to have done it for the King of Kings and Lord of all?" By reason whereof he thenceforth determined in his heart never again to deny anything asked in the name of so great a Lord....

[Sidenote: A vision in the midst of revelry]

Now, not many days after he returned to a.s.sisi,[518] he was chosen one evening by his comrades as their master of the revels, to spend the money collected from the company after his own fancy. So he caused a sumptuous banquet to be made ready, as he had often done before. And when they came forth from the house, and his comrades together went before him, going through the city singing while he carried a wand in his hand as their master, he was walking behind them, not singing, but meditating very earnestly. And lo! suddenly he was visited by the Lord, and his heart was filled with such sweetness that he could neither speak nor move; nor was he able to feel and hear anything except that sweetness only, which so separated him from his physical senses that--as he himself afterward said--had he then been p.r.i.c.ked with knives all over at once, he could not have moved from the spot. But when his comrades looked back and saw him thus far off from them, they returned to him in fear, staring at him as one changed into another man. And they asked him, "What were you thinking about, that you did not come along with us? Perchance you were thinking of taking a wife."

To them he replied with a loud voice: "Truly have you spoken, for I thought of taking to myself a bride n.o.bler and richer and fairer than ever you have seen." And they mocked at him. But this he said not of his own accord, but inspired of G.o.d; for the bride herself was true Religion, whom he took unto him, n.o.bler, richer, and fairer than others in her poverty.

[Sidenote: His increasing zeal in charity]

And so from that hour he began to grow worthless in his own eyes, and to despise those things he had formerly loved, although not wholly so at once, for he was not yet entirely freed from the vanity of the world. Nevertheless, withdrawing himself little by little from the tumult of the world, he made it his study to treasure up Jesus Christ in his inner man, and, hiding from the eyes of mockers the pearl that he would fain buy at the price of selling his all, he went oftentimes, and as it were in secret, daily to prayer, being urged thereto by the foretaste of that sweetness that had visited him more and more often, and compelled him to come from the streets and other public places to prayer.

Although he had long done good unto the poor, yet from this time forth he determined still more firmly in his heart never again to deny alms to any poor man who should ask it for the love of G.o.d, but to give alms more willingly and bountifully than had been his practice. Whenever, therefore, any poor man asked of him an alms out of doors, he would supply him with money if he could; if he had no ready money, he would give him his cap or girdle rather than send the poor man away empty. And if it happened that he had nothing of this kind, he would go to some hidden place, and strip off his shirt, and send the poor man thither that he might take it, for the sake of G.o.d. He also would buy vessels for the adornment of churches, and would send them in all secrecy to poor priests....

[Sidenote: He begs alms at Rome]

So changed, then, was he by divine grace (although still in the secular garb) that he desired to be in some city where he might, as one unknown, strip off his own clothes and exchange them for those of some beggar, so that he might wear his instead and make trial of himself by asking alms for the love of G.o.d. Now it happened that at that time he had gone to Rome on a pilgrimage. And entering the church of St. Peter, he reflected on the offerings of certain people, seeing that they were small, and spoke within himself: "Since the Prince of the Apostles should of right be magnificently honored, why do these folk make such sorry offerings in the church wherein his body rests?" And so in great fervency he put his hand into his purse and drew it forth full of money, and flung it through the grating of the altar with such a crash that all who were standing by marveled greatly at so splendid an offering. Then, going forth in front of the doors of the church, where many beggars were gathered to ask alms, he secretly borrowed the rags of one among the neediest and donned them, laying aside his own clothing.

Then, standing on the church steps with the other beggars, he asked an alms in French, for he loved to speak the French tongue, although he did not speak it correctly. Thereafter, putting off the rags, and taking again his own clothes, he returned to a.s.sisi, and began to pray the Lord to direct his way. For he revealed unto none his secret, nor took counsel of any in this matter, save only of G.o.d (who had begun to direct his way) and at times of the bishop of a.s.sisi. For at that time no true Poverty was to be found anywhere, and she it was that he desired above all things of this world, being minded in her to live--yea, and to die....

[Sidenote: Francis and the leper]