PESIMO REGULAR BIEN MUY BIEN

Francesco Bemardone was bom the son of a middle class cloth merchant in Assisi in 1182. He grew up a mddy and cheerful lad, always quick with a joke, gay in his dress, and making merry.^®^ Impassioned by the ideas of chivalry and knighthood, he joined the armies of Walter of Brienne who was organizing to uphold the Pope’s interests in the warring between the southern Italian city-states. But on the first night of his military career, Francis had the first of his many divine visitations that would eventually lead him down a very different path. Soon after this first divine experience, Francis was captured and imprisoned for a full year, during which he thought deeply about his visitation. When Francis was released and returned to his friends, he was a bit older and more reflective on his chosen life of gallantry.

His second divine visitation occurred one night when he was out with his fellow revellers. He was shown a “bride nobler, richer and fairer” than had ever been seen before. Thus inspired, he began to withdraw from his frivolous lifestyle, and

Brown, Tradition and Imagination, 357.

This section on Francis’ life derives from several texts that overlap in their biographical infoimation. Where specific information relates to one citation I have noted that. Otherwise, the information can be found in the following sources: Moorman, 4-7; Father Cuthbert, Life o f St Francis,

3rd ed. (London, New York, Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co., 1933); G. K. Chesterton, St Francis

o f Assisi (London, Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1924); Marion A. Habig, ed.. Saint Francis o f

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instead spent more and more of his time in prayer and contemplation. His love for and attentions to the poor and infirmed began to flourish and on one occasion, he was so compelled toward loving the outcast, that he kissed a leper, an event which had a massive transforming affect on him. Though his religious conversion occurred over time, his increasing devotion to God and his willingness to participate in the plight of the poor eventually led him to turn his back forever on riches, pride and self-

righteousness.

Francis’ third divine visitation, which happened outside the walls of Assisi at the site of the ruined church San Damiano, came through a mystical experience at the altar crucifix. This visitation convinced him that God was calling him to rebuild His Church. Taking this literally, he set about restoring the church ruins by begging and borrowing alms and materials. This act of zealousness finally compelled his father to put a stop to his son’s eccentric behaviour. At first, his father threw him into a dark closet in hopes of changing his son’s behaviour. Then, he appealed to the city magistrates, and finally to the bishop and church authority to stop Francis’ wild behaviour. Called to a public forum at the bishop’s palace where his father hoped he would be shamed into ceasing his activity and return to the life of a merchant’s son, Francis responded by undressing and embracing the bishop, renouncing his own family and calling the Church, father. In leaving his father’s house, Francis

relinquished his father’s, and consequently the world’s wealth, and gave himself over completely to the protection of God. From this point on, Francis denied everything worldly and embraced a life of poverty and chastity. He was intent on wandering as a beggar and to preach God’s goodness to anyone who would listen.

And so Francis began a new life dependant on God as he begged alms, gave to the poor and preached the good news of the risen Christ. This new way was so radical and so captivating that others began to join him and within a few years Francis

applied to the Pope to begin his own order. The Rule he submitted to Pope Innocent III called for a life of penitence, obedience, and complete poverty: he and his followers would go without possessions, owning only one cloak of the most meagre quality; they were not to own books, furniture, or even a building in which to house themselves, but instead to live on what God provided through begging; and they were to preach the love of God. After much deliberation, the Pope finally granted them

2.1. Spirituals and Conventuals

The fervour of the Rule and the Order of the friars minor ran across Italy like

wildfire and by the time of his death, Francis’ followers numbered in the thousands, and spread through Italy, France and all of Europe. Franciscan schools were

established in Oxford (1224) and Paris (1238) and there were Provincial Assemblies and a biennial General Assembly that met regarding governance, housing and changes to the Rule.

Toward the end of his life, Francis grew increasingly distressed with the refonns happening within the Order. In conflict with Francis’ original vision, the Order accepted the use and ownership of property and goods given to them, including books, fine clothes and buildings, a move that caused a deep rift in the Order moving them into opposing camps, the Spirituals and the Conventuals. The Spirituals shared Francis’ apprehension that the Order was rapidly moving away from his original calling, which was to absolute poverty. Francis had always taught his followers to leave behind every worldly distraction that might hinder them from God’s call and creation, including any luxury, no matter how small. The Spirituals were in whole­ hearted agreement and tried to bring the Order back to this original way of thinking. However, the Conventuals were better organized and had practicality on their side. They argued that they could not have thousands of men wandering around Europe begging and being a public nuisance, so they needed buildings to house the growing

number offriars minor. They argued the friars needed books in order to effectively

communicate the Order’s ideals in appropriately. They also legitimised the ownership of property by alleging that patrons gave funds and property as a part of their

penance, an act not only sanctioned by the Pope, but considered necessary to secure the salvation of the patrons. The leadership of the Order passed a new Rule in 1221, which cut out much of the heart of Francis’ original vision and in the end, the practicality of the Conventuals won the day.

By the time of his death, Francis’ voice had been all but muted by the masses offriars minor working out the Franciscan way through study and service that mandated the conveniences he fought so hard against. In October of 1226, he lay on his deathbed, battered by dropsy and the effects of living a life of abject poverty. The holy man, stripped and bare to God’s fate, reminiscent of the life he had committed himself to all those years ago in the bishop’s palace, died at the Church of Portiuncula

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outside of Assisi, the site of his third visitation where it all had begun so many years before.

2.2. The Basilica of St Francis in Assisi

Soon after the death of Francis, the Order embarked on building a grand monument to honour their founder. To this day the Basilica of Francis stands on the hillside of Assisi, an ironic testimonial to all Francis had been and done. The basilica boasts an architecturally exquisite Gothic structure and has a vast Upper Church and Lower Church packed with brilliantly coloured frescoes, and downstairs there is vault with Francis’ relics. This Assisi landmark, not only pays homage to the founder of the Franciscan Order, but is also one of the great works of the late mediaeval period, and the architecture and fresco paintings within have given it the reputation for being the birthplace of the Renaissance. The palpable irony of the magnificence of this place is that it is built over, around, and for a man whose primary claim in life was the call to simplicity and poverty.

2.2.1. Brother Elias

The basilica was the brainchild of Friar Elias who had been with Francis since the early days of the Order and was kneeling beside him when he died.^^® As Vicar of the Order, Elias instigated the building of the basilica to honour his friend by rallying for the support of the recently appointed Pope Gregory IX. After winning a small power struggle with the newly elected leader of the Order, a Spiritual named John Parenti (one of the first to join with Francis), Elias set about making his beloved town of Assisi a grand pilgrimage site that would parallel the splendour of any other in Christendom, including Rome and Jerusalem. Acting on his belief that Francis was the first person since the apostles to have attained such a high degree of sainthood and eminence in the holy realm, Elias believed the highest earthly honours ought to be given to him. In an ironic twist, Francis had once told the bishop of Assisi “If we have possessions we shall need arms to protect them.” Now, because of his fame, Francis’ own poor body became an extremely valuable possession requiring protection.^* ^ Elias claimed that this justified caution, against the detennination of the Spirituals, to

Moorman, 96-97. He dates his admittance to the Order in 1211.

build a fortress to preserve and protect the body of Francis (canonized in 1228) intact. This fortress was to be the great basilica of Assisi.

On the strength of the papal bull issued by his friend, Pope Gregory

Elias lost no time in choosing a site, breaking ground and completing the work in near record time 1228-1230). The celebration of the conveyance of Francis’ body from the Portiuncula to the basilica was set for 28 September and thousands travelled from all over Christendom to be present to honour this great man, who was surely sitting among the most blessed in the heavens. However, Elias, fearful that someone might try to steal the body during the preparations or procession, had the body secretly transferred and buried a few days earlier:^an action which angered many who had come to see the body of the saint, not to mention infuriated the town, Order, and Church officials who had gathered to be present. But the deed had been done and Francis was already buried, and the basilica built in his honour would come to be known not only as the shrine of the most beloved of mediaeval saints, but as the site in which the emerging art of late mediaeval artists, and especially Giotto’s

transformational concepts, were to flourish “no less the cradle of a new and revolutionary art.”^*"*

2.2.2. The cradle of the Renaissance

The basilica generally, and the frescoes of both the Upper and Lower

Churches specifically, have drawn the attention, accolades, and devotion of pilgrims, artists, and scholars alike. Alastair Smart claims this enonnous Gothic structure, the first non-monastic one of its kind,^*^ to be “the first and most splendid of all the monuments of that cultural renaissance which the memory of the Saint’s life and ministry was to n u r tu r e .A n o th e r Italian art historian, Bellosi, begins his analysis of the frescoes in the basilica by reminding us “the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi

was one of the greatest centres of attraction of Christianity, if not the most important

one.” As such, most pilgrims of the early Renaissance would have visited it in their lifetime and the ideas within the frescoes “served as visible embodiments... [which]

Smart, 6. Not to mention the indulgences Gregory granted to all who contributed to the costs. Moorman, 91-92.

214_{Smart, 3.}

Bellosi, Giotto at Assisi, 1. Smart, 3.

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would leave a vivid an imprint... of saintliness on the imagination of visitors,”^ and would have spread throughout Europe fairly rapidly.^'^

For the purposes of this study we will focus on the import of particular frescoes that adorn the walls of the Magdalen Chapel in the Lower Church in this 800-year old landmark The chapel is downstairs, adjacent to the right transept of the Lower Church just beyond the stairs to the crypt of Francis. To try to gain an

understanding, let us turn to Teobaldo Pontano, Bishop of Assisi and patron of the Magdalen Chapel

3. Patronage of the Magdalen Chapel