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Giotto di Bondone, Stigmatization of St Francis, 1325, Basilique Assise |
St Francis' Life
For the blog I have decided to briefly summarize the extracts of ‘Thomas of Celano First And Second Lives of Saint Francis’ given to us in the reader. Thus my blog entry considers the fantastical elements of St. Francis’ life.
For the blog I have decided to briefly summarize the extracts of ‘Thomas of Celano First And Second Lives of Saint Francis’ given to us in the reader. Thus my blog entry considers the fantastical elements of St. Francis’ life.
“Provide
neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey,
neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of
his meat.” Matthew 10:9
Francesco Bernardone was born approximately 1181 into a wealthy merchant family. In his youth he entertained a military career and lived an urban life. He undergoes a drastic transformation were he ultimately rejects this way of living. This conversion begins in 1202, were during a military expedition he is captured by the Perugians for a year, feeling profoundly reshaped from this experience however the pull towards a religious life is reinforced when he visits the church of St. Damian on his return from the war. Here the voice of the Holy Spirit urges Francis to rebuild the damaged Church. This in turn drives him to essentially cut ties with his father after he steals from him to fund the restoration of the St. Damian church.
St. Francis’ devotion to the impoverished life is inspired by Christ and the Apostles, he felt certain that this was his calling. Destitution and piety was the imperative of the Franciscan order, through poverty they could essentially imitate Christ and his apostles. They had no possessions or property and would wonder place to place preaching and begging. The Franciscans were inconstant praise of God; some would suspend themselves with ropes so they would not fall asleep whilst praying or expose themselves to extreme cold for the spiritual experience. They also held the clergy in high respects, for this there order was accepted in 1209 by Pope Innocent III, although Francis and his first twelve followers were initially turned away.
He’d preach
indiscriminately, and was known for his unwavering benevolence, even to the animal
kingdom. His connection with the natural
world is that of legend, as his ability to communicate and control with animals
often transcends human capability. In these tales Francis preaches to birds or
fish who wait for his sermon to finish and will leave only when he gives them
permission to do so. He was also famed for being able to miraculously heal, the
bread which he would blessed was said to cure sickness. Things he touched was
said to have the same quality, people would cut off pieces of his clothing, and
at times he was almost stripped naked.
The Franciscan order founded the tradition of recreating the
nativity scene. St. Francis, while staying in the town of Greccio, wanted to
witness the memory of Christ on the day of his birth. The manger they created
was said to have healing capabilities as the people who visited seemed to
regain their health. This event occurred
during the last years of St. Francis’ life, during this time he receives the stigmata.
He is visited by a vision of God nailed to a cross with six wings. Afterwards
marks appear on his body that replicate the wounds Christ receives during
crucifixion. St. Francis was canonized in 1228, two years after his death.
-- Anna
St Francis' beliefs
A link
which is interesting to read in order to see how their life style worked: Saint
Francis of Assis, The
Rule: (c.1233)
I think it
is very interesting to note, that whilst Francis was devoted to the church, he
was still a critic of the monetary style way of life, which showed an
individual’s absolute devotion to God. The second reading in our reader;
Medieval Civilisation by Kay Slocum, has some very interesting points on this
subject.
Some images of St Francis:
Some images of St Francis:
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St Francis renouncing his inheritance |
Urbanisation and St Francis: Le Goff's argument
The article by Le Goff starts by describing the times in
which Francis would have grown up. This description involves the rapid increase
in population that occurred from the year 1000. This lead to better farming
practices and urbanisation. Urbanisation caused the greatest changes to society
as material wealth became a strong motivator rather than Christian ideals, thus
leading to towns becoming centres of great power rather than Christian
authorities.
It was from this that the Church began to change. This was
through the Gregorian reform. Le Goff states that the reform “was more than a
process of releasing church society from feudal secular domination.” What the
reform also did was separate the laity from the clergy and a return to the true
apostolic life.
The reform of the Church was also a natural reaction to the
changes of society. These are shown in the establishment of new Orders, the
development of the canonical movement and the acceptance of ecclesiastical
diversity. The new Orders created had a focus on returning to the original
Order of Saint Benedict with emphasis on manual labour and a simple life
without any forms of monastic wealth. The canonical movement created a new
balance between the active and contemplative life. The acceptance of ecclesiastical
diversity allowed lay people to become more involved in Christian practices but
still allowed for the separation between clergy and laity.
The Church also changed some of its doctrinal formations and
religious practices to cater to the new society. In the case of sin, penance
became less important than the admission of guilt. This revolution of thought
in the Church aided another revolution: the scholastic revolution. New urban
schools sprung up either focussing on theology or law. The creation of many new
schools allowed for new methods of thinking and practice to become prominent
symbolised by the creation of scholasticism.
Yet the Church had some major setbacks. These setbacks were
the failure of Crusades, the struggle against heresies and its inability to
deal with the new pleasures created by wealth. The Church also failed to
properly engage itself within the new urban system and remained rurally
focussed.
All this relates to the Franciscan movement. We can see that
the failures of the Church lead to the swelling urban population wanting
something different. The Franciscan movement can be see as capitalising on this
sentiment as well as capitalising on the pre-existing movement towards the
simple life of St. Benedict to contrast against the unattractive side of urban
life.
--Tom