Saint Francis and the Sultan
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www.malankaralibrary.com SAINT FRANCIS AND THE SULTAN www.malankaralibrary.com This page intentionally left blank www.malankaralibrary.com SAINT FRANCIS AND THE SULTAN THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF A CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM ENCOUNTER JOHN TOLAN 1 www.malankaralibrary.com 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © John Tolan 2009 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Tolan, John Victor, 1959– Saint Francis and the sultan: the curious history of a Christian-Muslim encounter/John Tolan. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 978-0-19-923972-6 1. Francis, of Assisi, Saint, 1182–1226. 2. Malik al-Kamil Muhammad, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, 1180?–1238. 3. Missions to Muslims—Egypt—Historiography. 4. Christian hagiography. 5. Francis, of Assisi, Saint, 1182–1226—Art. 6. Christian art and symbolism. I. Title. BX4700.F6T56 2009 261.2’709022—dc22 2008053082 Typeset by Laserwords Private Ltd, Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire ISBN 978–0–19–923972–6 www.malankaralibrary.com13579108642 For my mother, Sally Tolan, a woman of peace and of dialogue. www.malankaralibrary.com This page intentionally left blank www.malankaralibrary.com E poi che, per la sete del martiro, nella presenza del Soldan superba predico` Cristo e li altri che ’l seguiro, e per trovare a conversione acerba troppo la gente, per son stare indarno, reddissi al frutto dell’italica erba, nel crudo sasso intra Tevero e Arno da Cristo prese l’ultimo sigillo, che le sue membra due anni portarno. (Dante Alighieri, Paradiso, XI. 100–8) L’histoire est habitee´ par l’etranget´ e´ qu’elle cherche, et elle impose sa loi aux regions´ lointaines qu’elle conquiert en croyant leur rendre la vie. (Michel de Certeau, Ecrire´ l’histoire, 58) www.malankaralibrary.com This page intentionally left blank www.malankaralibrary.com Acknowledgements It would have been impossible for me to complete this book without the help of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which accorded me a fellowship in 2005. Much of the book was written at the Center for the Humanities at Oregon State University, where I was a visiting research fellow from January to June, 2005; my thanks to the staff and members of the Center for their interest and support of my work, and for creating an atmosphere propitious for reflection and research. Particular thanks to the director of the Center, David Robinson. My thanks also to the personnel of the various libraries I used while researching this book: the Bibliotheque` Nationale de France, the Vatican Libary, the Biblioteca Nazionale of Rome, the Biblioteca Communale of Assisi, the libraries of the American Academy of Rome and the Ecole Franc¸aise de Rome, and those of Oregon State University and the Universite´ de Nantes. Various parts of this book have been presented at conferences and seminars: to the conference ‘Between Empires: Orientalism before 1600’, at Trinity College, Cambridge; to the Dublin Medieval Society; to the Seminaire´ Commun des Medi´ evistes´ de l’Universite´ Lyon II; to the medieval seminar of the University of California-Riverside; to the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Ange Guepin´ in Nantes; to the Medieval Studies Workshop of the University of California-Santa Cruz; to the History Seminar of Santa Clara University; to Brown University’s Medieval Workshop. My thanks to all those who invited me to these events and who shared their comments and suggestions, in particular to Alfred Hiatt, Ananya Kabir, Nicole Beriou,´ Jacques Berlioz, Piotr Gorecki, Sharon Kinoshita, Fabio Lopez Lazaro,´ and Amy Remensnyder. For information concerning paintings by Paolo Gaidano at the Holy Saviour Convent in Jerusalem, my thanks to Brother Peter Vasko of the Terra Sancta College in Jerusalem and to Brother Michele Piccirillo of the Studium Biblicum Francescanum of Jerusalem. I received helpful www.malankaralibrary.com x acknowledgements advice from David Burr, Andrew Jotischky, Samantha Kelly, and Steven McMichael. During research trips to Italy, I was welcomed and assisted by Brother Pasquale Magro, director of the Communal Library of Assisi. And I had the good fortune to have the hospitality and advice of Rand Burkert and Manuela Ciri in Spello. Special thanks to Paraska Tolan for tracking down some of the quotations in Boston area libraries. Special thanks also to Nicholas Drocourt for tracking down the mysterious ‘Place St. Joseph’ in a Cairene taxi and for taking photos of Arnoldo Zocchi’s sculptures. Illustration 24 was taken from Andreas de Puttis, S. Francisci historia cum iconibus in aere excusis ad Illm. et Rm. D. Dominum Constantium S.R.E. Presb. Cardin. Sarnanum (Rome, 1594). Permission for the use of illustrations was granted by the following: The Bridgeman Art Library (images 1, 7), Bibliotheque` Royale de Belgique (2), AKG Images (3, 4, 5, 6, 21), Artothek (8, 9), Rome, Biblioteca Nazionale (10), Rome, Museo dei Cappuccini (11, 12, 13), Niedersachsischen¨ Landesmuseum Hanover (14), London, National Gallery (15), Szech´ enyi´ National Libary, Budapest (16), Scala Archives (17, 19, 20, 23), Ludwig Reichert Verlag (18, 25, 28), Diocese di Bergamo (22), Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino (26, 27), Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (29), Nicolas Drocourt (30, 31), Amsterdam City Archives (32), Robert Lentz Courtesy of Trinity Stores, www.trinitystores.com (33). Anne-Marie Edde´ and Gerhardt Stenger read and corrected chapters of this book. Finally, I especially thank those who have read the entire manuscript and have offered me their corrections and suggestions: Jacques Dalarun, Isabelle Heullant-Donat, Jean-Claude Schmitt, and Michelle Szkilnik. www.malankaralibrary.com Contents List of Illustrations xiii Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 I. THIRTEENTH TO FOURTEENTH CENTURIES 1. Francis, Model for the Spiritual Renewal of the Church: Jacques de Vitry (1220 and 1223–1225) 19 2.Al-Kamil,ˆ Worthy Adversary of the Crusaders: Anonymous Chronicle of the Crusade (1227–1229) 40 3. Great Thirst for Martyrdom: Thomas of Celano, Vita prima (1228) 54 4. Epic Hero and Eminent Professor: Henry of Avranches (1229–1230) 73 5. Bearer of the Precepts of Life: The Bardi Dossal (1240s) 93 6. Burning with a Perfect Love: Bonaventure, Legenda maior (1263) 109 7. Trial by Fire: The Assisi Fresco (Late Thirteenth Century) 135 8. Father of the Spirituals: Angelo Clareno (1326) 147 9. The Sultan Converted: The Deeds of Blessed Francis and his Companions (1327–1337) 162 II. FOURTEENTH TO TWENTY-FIRST CENTURIES Introduction to Part II 172 10. The Trial by Fire in Painting and Sculpture 173 11. The Saint of Assisi Confronts Barbarous Infidelity: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 206 www.malankaralibrary.com xii contents 12. Saint and Sultan Seen by Philosophes and Traditionalists: Eighteenth Century 234 13. Francis in Jerusalem 257 14. Francis, Apostle of Peace 294 Epilogue 325 Notes 329 Index 373 www.malankaralibrary.com List of Illustrations 1. Gustave Dore.´ ‘Franc¸ois devant le Sultan’, in Joseph-Franc¸ois Michaud, Histoire des croisades, illustred´ e 100 grandes compositions par Gustave Dore´ (Paris, 1826), gravure 50,i.402. 2 2. The two clerics preach to the Saracens, Brussels, Bibliotheque` Royale, MS 1142,fo.120. 51 3. Bardi dossal: Francis preaches to the Saracens. 93 4. Bardi dossal. 95 5. Bardi dossal: Francis preaches to the birds. 104 6. The trial by fire, Assisi, upper basilica. 135 7. Giotto, trial by fire, Cappella Bardi, Florence. 174 8. Taddeo Gaddi, trial by fire, panel of a cabinet in the sacristy of Santa Croce, Florence, now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. 182 9. Taddeo Gaddi, martyrdom of Franciscan friars, panel of a cabinet in the sacristy of Santa Croce, Florence, now in the Galleria della Accademia, Florence. 183 10. The trial by fire in a manuscript of Bonaventure’s Legenda maior, Rome, Biblioteca Nazionale, MS 411. 186 11. Rome, Museo dei Cappuccini, MS 1266, illustration 114, fo. 54r. 188 12. Rome, Museo dei Cappuccini, MS 1266, illustrations 115 and 116,fo.55r. 189 13. Rome, Museo dei Cappuccini, MS 1266, illustration 118, fo. 55v. 191 14. Taddeo di Bartolo, Trial by Fire, Niedersachsiches¨ Landesmuseum, Hanover. 192 15. Sassetta, Trial by Fire, London, National Gallery. 195 www.malankaralibrary.com xiv list of illustrations 16. Giovanni di Paolo, trial by fire, antiphonary (c.1450). Szech´ enyi´ National Library, Budapest. 197 17. Benozzo Gozzoli, fresco in the choir of San Francesco church, Montefalco. 199 18. Trial by fire, woodcut, c.1470–80.