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Introduction
Toward the latter half of the thirteenth century three clusters of Lesser Brothers began to form in Italy and France: in the Italian Provinces of the Marches and Tuscany, and the French Province of Provence.1 They all shared the same ideal: to profess the Rule they inherited from Saint Francis to perfection, that is, "to the letter" and "without gloss." As the papal decrees, Quo elongati, September 28, 1230, of Gregory IX, Ordinem vestrum, November 14, 1245, of Innocent IV, and Exiit qui seminat, August 14, 1279, of Nicholas III continued to define the Rule and to influence the daily life of the Lesser Brothers, these pockets of "Zelanti," the name they received because of the zeal for pure observance, began to marshal strength. In addition to having recourse to Francis's Testament, the final expression of his vision of Gospel life, they also cherished the reminiscences of the same mentors: the first companions of Saint Francis, many of whom they knew personally. Of these Leo, who died as late as 1278, became the most articulate and most frequently cited. His recollections were passed from one group to another and, with them, his interpretations of Francis's intentions.
Two collections of writings, in particular, seem to have been circulated in the late thirteenth century: the Legenda Vetus [An Old Legend], and the Words of Blessed Conrad of Offida. A third collection, the Words of Saint Francis, may also have been passed from one group to the other.2 The influence of all three may be seen in the major compilations that emerge in the fourteenth century,3 e.g. The Assisi Compilation,4 two editions of The Mirror of Perfection,5 and the Deeds of Blessed Francis and His Companions.6 All three are alike in style and in subject matter. The repeated presence of the Old Legend and the Words of both Saint Francis and Brother Conrad suggests that they were shared among the Zelanti of the three Provinces of the Marches, Tuscany, and Provence.
An Old Legend
Paul Sabatier found the first of these collections, An Old Legend, in a manuscript in Avignon bearing the title Fac secundum exemplar which, he believed, was compiled by Fabianus of Hungary, a student friar in Avignon.7 The manuscript contained a variety of documents, including an abbreviated version of The Mirror of Perfection, some stories that would later appear in The Deeds of Blessed Francis and His Companions, and seven others taken de legenda veteri [from an old legend]. John R.H. Moorman suggests that the title, Fac secundum exemplar, was taken from Exodus 25:40: "Make it according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain."8 This being the
- Cf. Livarius Oliger, "Spirituels," in Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique Contenant l'exposé des Doctrines de la Théologie Catholique Leurs Preuves et Leur Histoire, tome XIV, 2nd part, ed. Alfred Vacant, Eugene Mangenot, Émile Amman (Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané, 1941), 2522-49.
- Curiously the collection known as the Intentio Regulae [Intention of the Rule (hereafter IntR)] seems to have been unique unto itself. Rosalind B. Brooke maintains, as does Duncan Nimmo, that the five paragraphs—stories that contain clear teachings that claim to come from Francis himself—were circulated separately. Cf. Scripta Leonis, Rufini et Angeli Sociorum S. Francisci [The Writings of Leo, Rufino and Angelo Companions of St. Francis], ed. and trans by Rosalind B. Brooke (Oxford: Oxford at The Clarendon Press, 1970), 57-8; Duncan Nimmo, Reform and Division in the Medieval Franciscan Order: From Saint Francis to the Foundation of the Capuchins. Bibliotheca Seraphico-Capuccina 33 (Rome: Capuchin Historical Institute, 1987), 93.
- A number of compilations have emerged and are named according to the manuscript in which they are found: the two Compilations of Barcelona, another of Dubrovnik, and that of Sant'Antonio in Rome. Cf. Jacques Cambell, "Glanes franciscaines: la première compilation de Barcelone," in Ibero-Americano 23 (1963): 65-91, 391-453; idem, "Glanes franciscaines: la seconde compilation de Barcelone," in Ibero-Americano 25 (1965): 223-98: Andrew G. Little, "Description du manuscript Canonic. Miscell. 525 de la Bibliothèque Bodlienne à Oxford," in Opuscules de critique historique, I (Paris: Librairie Fischbacher, 1903), 253-97; Livarius Oliger, "Descriptio codicis S. Antonii de Urbe unacum appendice textuum de S. Francisco," in AFH 12 (1919): 321-57.
- Cf. FA:ED II 118-230. The Assisi Compilation, found in Codex 1046 of the Biblioteca Communale Augusta of Perugia, is composed of the rotuli [scrolls] containing the information sent to Crescentius of Iesi by the companions, IntR, the Verba S. Francisci [The Words of St. Francis (hereafter WSF)], the Verba F. Conradi [The Words of Brother Conrad of Offida (hereafter WBC)], and 2C. For the difficulties inherent to these texts, see FA:ED II 113-7.
- Infra. The Lemmens edition of A Mirror of Perfection (hereafter 1MP), the more simple of the two, is made up of two Admonitions, selections from the scrolls or AC, and from 2C. The Sabatier edition of A Mirror of Perfection (hereafter 2MP), contains Francis's CtC, selections from the scrolls or AC, IntR, WSF, WBC, and the Old Legend (hereafter OL).
- Infra. DBF resembles the 2MP in the materials it contains, AC, IntR, WBC, OL. But it contains a large amount of original material that, at times, seems the product of the compiler's imagination or literary license.
- Paul Sabatier, "S. Francisci Legendae Veteris Fragmenta Quaedam ou De Quelques Chapitres de la Compilation Franciscaine connue sous le nom de Legenda Antiqua (circa 1322) qui paraissent provenir de la Legenda Vetus (circa 1246)," in Opuscules de Critique Historique, t. I, ed. Andrew G. Little, Pierre Mondonnet, Paul Sabatier (Paris: Librairie Fischbacher, 1902), 63-134, 393-5.
- John R.H. Moorman, The Sources for the Life of St. Francis of Assisi, with introduction by Andrew G. Little (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1940), 165.