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HISTORY OF THE FRANCISCAN MOVEMENT Volume 1 FROM THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ORDER TO THE YEAR 1517 On-line course in Franciscan History at Washington Theological Union Washington DC By Noel Muscat OFM Jerusalem 2008 History of the Franciscan Movement. Volume 1: From the beginnings of the Order to the Year 1517 Course description and contents The Course aims at giving an overall picture of the history of the Franciscan Movement from the origins (1209) until Vatican Council II (1965). It deals primarily with the history of the Franciscan Order in two main sections, namely, from the foundation of the Order until the division into the Conventual and Observant families (1517), and from the Capuchin reform to modern times. Some lectures will also deal with the history of the Order of St. Clare, the Third Order Regular, and the Secular Franciscan Order. Chapter 1: The Franciscan Rule and Its Interpretation. • The form of life of the Gospel and the foundation of an Order (1209-1223). • The canonization of St. Francis and its aftermath (1226). • The generalate of Giovanni Parenti (1227-1232), the chapter of 1230, the question of the Rule and Testament of St. Francis, and the bulla Quo elongati. Chapter 2: Betrayal of the Founder‟s Intention? • The generalate of Elias (1232-1239). • The clericalization of the Order under Haymo of Faversham (1240-1244). • The Friars Minor and studies in the 13th century. Chapter 3: Further interpretation of the Rule and missionary expansion to the East. • The generalate of Crescentius of Iesi (1244-1247). The bulla Ordinem vestrum. • The first Franciscan missions in the Holy Land and Far East. Chapter 4: A prophet and a second founder of the Order? • The generalate of John of Parma (1247-1257). • The generalate of St. Bonaventure (1257-1274). Chapter 5: The early history of the Second Order. • From the Order of San Damiano to the Order of Saint Clare (1212-1263). Chapter 6: The early history of the Third Order. • The Franciscan penitential movement during the 13th century (1221-1289). Chapter 7: The Order begins to split in a period of crisis. • Papal interpretations of the Rule: Exiit qui seminat (1279) and Exivi (1312). • The Community versus the Spirituals (1276-1316). • The poverty controversy during the papacy of John XXII (1316-1334) and the generalate of Michele of Cesena (1316-1328). Chapter 8: The unreformed and reformed families. • Conventualism in the 14th century. • The Fraticelli and the origins of the Italian Observance. • The founding of the Custody of the Holy Land (1342). 2 History of the Franciscan Movement. Volume 1: From the beginnings of the Order to the Year 1517 • The Observant reforms in Italy, France and Spain during the 14th century. Chapter 9: 1517: The point of arrival and the point of departure. • Conventuals and Observants during the 14th century. The bulla Ut sacra (1446). • The division of the Order into the Observant and Conventual families (1517). • The evangelization of the Americas in the 16th century. Chapter 10: New reforms and new divisions. • The Friars Minor de vita eremitica (1525) and the Capuchin reform (1528-1619). • The Friars Minor Reformed, Discalced, and Recollects. Chapter 11: The later history of the Third Order. • The Third Order Regular and Secular of St. Francis. Chapter 12: The Franciscan family in modern times. • The Friars Minor of the Regular Observance from the 16th to the 18th centuries. • The Friars Minor Conventuals from the 16th to the 18th centuries. • The Friars Minor Capuchins from 1619 to the 18th century. • The period of suppression and restoration during the 19th century. • Female Franciscan Congregations. Chapter 13: The Franciscan Order in the late 19th and 20th centuries. • The Leonine Union of the Order of Friars Minor (1897) and its aftermath in Italy and Spain. • The Franciscan family during the 20th century. The legacy of Vatican Council II. 3 History of the Franciscan Movement. Volume 1: From the beginnings of the Order to the Year 1517 Bibliography • L. IRIARTE, Franciscan History. The Three Orders of St. Francis, Franciscan Herald Press, Chicago 1983. • J. MOORMAN, A History of the Franciscan Order: From Its Origins to the Year 1517, Franciscan Herald Press, Chicago 1988. • G. MERLO, In the Name of Saint Francis. A History of the Friars Minor and Franciscanism until the Early Sixteenth Century, Translated by Raphael Bonanno and Robert J. Karris, Franciscan Institute Publications, St. Bonaventure University, NY 2009. • D.V. MONTI, Francis and His Brothers. A Popular History of the Franciscan Friars, St. Anthony Messenger Press, Cincinnati, Ohio 2009. • R.B. BROOKE, Early Franciscan Government. Elias to Bonaventure, Cambridge University Press, 1959 (paperback edition 2004). • M.P. ALBERZONI, Clare and the Poor Sisters in the Thirteenth Century, Franciscan Institute Publications, St. Bonaventure University, NY 2004. • M. CARMODY, The Leonine Union of the Order of Friars Minor, 1897, St. Bonaventure University, NY 1994. • R.M. STEWART, “De illis qui faciunt penitentiam.” The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order: Origins, Development, Interpretation, Franciscan Institute Publications, St. Bonaventure University, NY 1991. For further optional reading: • D. NIMMO, Reform and Division in the Medieval Francisan Order, Historical Institute of the Capuchins, Rome 1987. • R. PAZZELLI, Saint Francis and the Third Order: The Franciscan and Pre- Franciscan Penitential Movement, Franciscan University Press, Quincy 1989. • M. LAMBERT, Franciscan Poverty, The Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University, NY 1998. • D. BURR, The Spiritual Franciscans: From Protest to Persecution in the Century after Saint Francis, University Park, Pennsylvania, 2001. • J. DALARUN, The Misadventure of Francis of Assisi, Franciscan Institute Publications, St. Bonaventure University, NY 2002. • ANGELO CLARENO, A Chronicle or History of the Seven Tribulations of the Order of Brothers Minor, Translation by D. Burr and E. Randolph Daniel, Franciscan Institute Publications, St. Bonaventure University, NY 2006. • The Third Order Regular Rule: A Source Book, edited by M. Carney, J.F. Godet- Calogeras, and S.M. Kush, Franciscan Institute Publications, St. Bonaventure University 2007. • R. PAZZELLI, The Franciscan Sisters: Outlines of History and Spirituality, Franciscan University Press, Quincy 1992. 4 History of the Franciscan Movement. Volume 1: From the beginnings of the Order to the Year 1517 Abbreviations ABF The Deeds of St. Francis and his Companions AC Assisi Compilation AF Analecta Franciscana AFH Archivum Franciscanum Historicum AP Anonymous of Perugia Ant Antonianum BC Bull of Canonization of St. Clare BF Bullarium Franciscanum 1C Thomas of Celano, The Life of St. Francis 2C Thomas of Celano, The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul 3C Thomas of Celano, Treatise on the Miracles of St. Francis CF Collectanea Franciscana ER Earlier Rule (1221) FAED I Francis of Assisi. Early Documents, Vol. I: The Saint, edited by Regis J. Armstrong, J.A. Wayne Hellmann, William J. Short, (New City Press), New York – London – Manila 1999, 20042. FAED II Francis of Assisi. Early Documents, Vol. II: The Founder, edited by Regis J. Armstrong, J.A. Wayne Hellmann, William J. Short, (New City Press), New York – London – Manila 2000, 20012. FAED III Francis of Assisi. Early Documents, Vol. IIII: The Prophet, edited by Regis J. Armstrong, J.A. Wayne Hellmann, William J. Short, (New Press), New York – London – Manila 2001. Fior Little Flowers of St. Francis FS Franciscan Studies GR Greyfriars Review L3C Legend of the Three Companions LCl Legend of St. Clare LMj St. Bonaventure, The Major Legend of St. Francis LR Later Rule (1223) MF Miscellanea Franciscana 1MP The Mirror of Perfection (Lemmens edition) 2MP The Mirror of Perfection (Sabatier edition) PC Acts of the Process of Canonization of St. Clare RegCl Rule of St. Clare Test Testament of St. Francis TestCl Testament of St. Clare 5 History of the Franciscan Movement. Volume 1: From the beginnings of the Order to the Year 1517 Chapter 1 THE FRANCISCAN RULE AND ITS INTERPRETATION The form of life of the Gospel and the foundation of an Order (1209-1226) In 1241 a certain brother John of Perugia, disciple of brother Giles of Assisi, wrote a document entitled “The Beginning or Founding of the Order and the Deeds of those Friars Minor who were the first Companions of Blessed Francis in Religion.” The document is popularly known as “The Anonymous of Perugia.”1 It is not, strictly speaking, a biography of St. Francis, but rather an account of the early history of the first fraternity of brothers who followed Francis at the Porziuncola. The author writes: “Many people repeatedly questioned them (the brothers), and it was extremely wearisome to answer so many questions because new situations often give rise to new questions. Some asked them: ‘Where do you come from?’ While others asked: ‘To which Order do you belong?’ They answered simply: ‘We are penitents and were born in Assisi.’ At that time the religion of the brothers was not yet called an order.”2 The author is making a distinction between religio and ordo. He is referring to the period prior to 1209, the year when Francis and the brothers travelled to Rome, to ask Pope Innocent III to approve their forma vitae, or Form of Life, modelled upon some Gospel texts which Francis and some of his early companions had read in the Missal of the church of San Nicolò in the main square of Assisi, on April 16, 1208.3 The expression “the religion of the brothers was not yet called an order” shows that the intention of the author is that of presenting a gradual process of development from a simple fraternity of twelve brothers to an institutional religious Order with a Rule approved by the highest authority of the Church.4 This development, although 1 FAED II, 34-58. 2 AP 19 (FAED II, 43). 3 AP 10-11 (FAED II, 37-38).