CONTE NTS . CALL E TY il Chapter I THE TO P OV R . How G es first heard — wit h S nc — d i io the call H is meeting t. Fra is H is a m ss n n n — S to the ba d of Friars Mi or H is clothing by t . Francis pag e I M N RY N . ISS IO A R Ev Chapter II THE Jo u s. The tour with n in a c — St. Fra cis the M r h of Anc ona The pilgri mage to ’ — S . at o m o s te l la S anc a d is t James C p With t. Fr is n h — disciples in Rom e for the confir m ation o fthe Rule The pilgrimage to the Holy La nd— I n the hermitage of — Fabriano The call of the Mohammedan world and the — ’ journey to Tunis Giles stay in Rom e pag e 7 A a Chapter II I . THE LIFE OF CONTEMPLATION . t the de th — S nc s L S . n a na bed of t. Fra i The ent of t Marti t Ceto — ’ — and his vi s ion of Our Lord Giles zeal for Poverty The — death of Bernard o f Q u intav alle The life and c harac ter — an D m o fGiles His preaching before S t. Clare at S a iano — nd S nc Giles a his mee ting with t . Louis of Fra e pag e 1 4 N AR P E R A I D E UGI . n Chapter IV. THE LAST AYS the — convent of Mo nt e ripido H is ecstasy in the presence of —His M o nt e ri ido Pope Gregory I X. death at p pag e 2 1 O R E BLESS ED GILES . Chapter V. S U C S FOR THE LIFE OF and s s References to Giles in Franc isc an MSS. ource — n n n — The MSS. co tai i g the Life of Giles The Short — n 2 8— Life and the Long Life Cano ici Misc . 5 Which life is the nearer to the work o f Brother Le o P — Arguments in favour of the Short Life The i nter o . a e 2 relation i the various MSS . p g 4 I I M I 2 8 TRANSLATION TEXT OF CANON C SC . 5 AND B LE S S E D G I LE S OF AS S I I S . CHAP TER I . THE A TO E C LL POV RTY . ' I l ie ho mo beam: F r ancisc an nun u am debu t ! nom inan u i n ho mo m : , , q , q p au dio l amben t labia su a t ant u m mo do sibi dc u it u u u m scil icc t t ar g ; f , pon! ortitudo si m i»: hab u is se t tal e co r u s ua l e e o k abao scil ic et ita r o b us twn f ; p , q g , , ”— r ld u bio l o tus m u nd us emu sc u i m inim o t u m c t . zo o m s p ow q p . TELL the Perugians that the bells shall never ri ng for m y ” n fo r an r c r m n n no r e . ca o isatio , y great mi a les w ought by e t m s ix c n s And y , after the lapse of ore than e turie , it appears c s m probable that these , the last re orded word of the hu ble m a and o f Giles of Assisi , y be disproved , he may be the first the original disciples o f S aint Franc is o f A ss isi to rec eive the f n o f n n a m am n ull ho ours ca o is tion. Fro o g the l ittle group - n s n - t m e n a of simple mi ded , i gle hear ed who at the d wn of the thi rteenth centu ry were the first to rec eive the m essage o f e n n and n anc va gelical perfectio to cluster arou d St . Fr is , it is almost invidious to poi nt to any o ne as the mos t fasc inati ng o f ! his n and attractive those nights of Rou d Table, as the n L Sai t himself called them. The ittle Flowers of St . ” n no w n so n t o r Fra cis , fortu ately well k own mode n readers , has n o ne and : and c Le o e deared them all to us ea h of them , , n n o wn in o u r f c n Ber ard , Ju iper , Giles, has his place a fe tio s . if no t t he But Blessed Giles of Assisi might , he had been n m en humblest and most retiri g of , have claimed a place se n n n n co d to no e among the apostolic fou ders of the moveme t , which stirred the dry bones of Wes tern Christendom in the 2 BLESSED GILES OF ASSISI Blessed Giles o f Assisi has hither to been known in this country in two ways : by the c hapters included in most n o f L c editio s the ittle Flowers , whi h give episodes in his f no t o fu n u e st io n li e which are very beautiful , but perhaps all q ” u n able a thenticity ; and by his Golden Sayi gs , which have been admirably translated into English and edited by Father F M T is c n n O. Pas hal Robi so , . his work a completely satis ” o f n and factory edition the Golden Sayi gs , those who are primarily i nterested in Blessed G iles o n ac count of his ascetic philosophy and o f the contribution which he made to the religious philosophy and to the literature of the Middle Ages h m a no t n . y eed to go further afield But ot ers, to whom the m n u is n n n a hu a doc ment of eve greater fasci atio , will w nt to n A s as n k ow Blessed Giles himself. far the prese t writer is no c c s n s aware, there is as yet riti al ver io of the Life of Bles ed in n no r an n n f Giles published this cou try , y tra slatio of his li e n c n as is c c into E glish . To ombi e far as practicable the riti al — — and the popular never an easy task is the object o f this work . The impulse to study and then to write about Blessed Giles c am e from the chance c onsultation of the catalogue o f the n n n s c in n n n Ca o ici Ma u ripts the Bodleia Library, the fi di g of f i 2 d n n n c n . 8 an a hitherto u k ow opy of the li e Cod. Misc 5 , n M h S . as the i vestigation of that , which formed the basis of is c a this edition . It impossible to make a reful study of the manusc ript s ourc es o f the Life of Blessed Giles witho u t b e coming immersed in the many c omplex problems which are n n o ne n in n n i terwove with a other early Fra cisca literature. To a number o f these it will be necessary to allude : but it would be going far beyond the scope of this work to attempt m to solve so e of these problems, for the comp lete settlement of which we still are and perhaps always shall be withou t su f ficie nt m material . The pri ary aim will be to get at the most c n primitive version of the Life , to dis uss the positio of Brother and a n t s Leo as its author, to m ke the perso ali y of Gile real n in a d l iv ing to British readers . Giles first appears the nc nc m Fra iscan story about two years after St . Fra is hi self had THE CA LL TO P OVE RTY 3 n c f o f made the great surre der, and , deliberately hoosing a li e n o f poverty , had embarked upon that ve ture faith which was to earn fo r him first the ridicule and contempt of his relatives and n in A ff c n a nd frie ds ssisi , then the a e tio ate reg rd a esteem o f w in n and n n the d ellers the tow s villages of the Umbria plai , and no w v the de otion of the Faithful throughout the world . ” da n an n in The y will come , said the you g Fr cis whe prison n in in 1 20 2 n and bo ds Perugia , whe the world will fall down 1 a t o .