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Audacious Nuns: Institutionalizing the Franciscan Order of Saint Clare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Lezlie Knox
Lezlie Knox
Affiliation:
assistant professor of medieval history atCalifornia State University, Long Beach
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Extract

In 1263 Bonaventure of Bagnoreggio, Minister General of the Franciscan order, complained about recent turmoil between the Friars Minor and Franciscan nuns in a letter addressed to the Provincial Minister of Aragon: “You are undoubtedly aware, dear Brother, just how much our Order has been plagued up to now with threats, troubles, and litigation occasioned by the monasteries of the Order of Saint Clare. This has come to the point where they have petitioned the court of the Supreme Pontiff alleging, among other charges against us, that the customary services provided for them by our brothers are in fact prescribed by law; thus our brothers have proposed to have nothing more to do with them unless they first recognize our complete freedom by public written documents sent to the Holy Father.”

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Church History , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , March 2000 , pp. 41 - 62
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Copyright © American Society of Church History 2000

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References

My understanding of the Clarisses, as well as my arguments concerning their order, have benefitted from conversations with and criticisms from Mark Jordan, Rachel Koopmans, Bonnie Mak, James Mixson, Ingrid Peterson, Darleen Pryds, and John Van Engen. I would like to thank them for their support and encouragement throughout the process of writing this article and the dissertation of which it is a part. The following abbreviations are used in this article: AF=Analecta franciscana (Quaracchi: Collegium S. Bonaventurae, 1897); AFH=Archivum franciscanum historicum; AM=Luke Wadding, Annales Minorum, ed. Joseph Maria Fonseca, et al, 3rd ed., 32 vols. (Quaracchi: Collegium S. Bonaventurae, 1931–45); BF=Bullarium franciscanum, vols. 1–4, ed. Johannes H. Sbaraglia (Rome, 1759–68); FF=Fontes franciscani, ed. Enrico Menestò, et al. (Assisi: Edizioni Porziuncola, 1995

1. Translation from Monti, Dominic, “A Letter To The Provincial Minister Of Aragon,” in St. Bonaventure's Writings Concerning The Franciscan Order (St. Bonaventure, N.Y.: The Franciscan Institute, 1994), 192–93.Google ScholarThe original is printed as “Lletra de Sant Bonaventura al Ministre Provincial d'Aragó,” Etudis Franciscans 37 (1926): 112–14, cited at 112 (hereafter “Aragon”): “Tua, frater Karisime, discretio nosse debet, quantis periculis, laboribus atque litigiis fatigatur [sic] fuerit hactenus ordo noster occasione Monasteriorum sancte Clare nee non etiam quam graviter in curia Summi pontificis impetitus, ut eis per fratres nostros solita obsequia reddentur [redderentur] prescripta consuetudine providorum inter intercessiones alias contra nos propositas allegatas et quomodo fratres nostri eis nihil penitus impendere proponebant nisi prius nostra libertas per litteras dicti patris sanctissimi declaratas firmiter appareret.”Google Scholar

2. The existing documents are printed in Zeffirinus Lazzeri, “Documenta controversiam inter Fratres Minores et Clarissas spectantia (1262–97),” AFH 3 (1910): 664–79, and 4 (1911): 74–94. That there was conflict between the Friars Minor and Clarisses is not unique; during the thirteenth century religious women faced opposition from most of the established orders (Praemonstratensians, Cistercians, etc.). The Dominicans as well protested against obligations to provide pastoral ministry to women associated with them.Google Scholar

3. Compared to other medieval religious women, the Franciscan nuns have received little attention. Most studies focus on Clare as Francis's follower. Hence, they are little interested in the period following her death in 1253 or her canonization two years later. Consult the entries in Villapadierna, Isidore de and Manaresi, Pietro, Bibliografia di S. Chiara d'Assisi, 1930–1994 (Rome: Istituto Storico dei Cappuchini, 1994).Google Scholar

4. Grundmann, Herbert, Religiöse Bewegungen im Mittelalter, originally published in 1935; rev. ed. 1961. Trans. Rowan, Steven, Religious Movements in the Middle Ages: The Historical Links between Heresy, the Religious Orders, and the Women's Religious Movement in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Century, with the Historical Foundation of German Mysticism (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995). A discussion of the relationship between the Friars Minor and Clarisses up to 1254 can be found on 109–24,130–37.Google Scholar

5. Clare recorded his promise in her Testament, chap. 29 (FF, 2313–14): “Et ad pietatem erga nos motus obligavit se nobis, per se et per religionem suam, habere semper de nobis tamquam de fratribus suis curam diligentem et sollicitudinem specialem.” Compare also Clare's formula vitae (hereafter abbreviated as RC1) 6.3–4 (FF, 2299).Google Scholar

6. The growth of the Order of Saint Clare has attracted considerable attention. See for example Benvenuti, Anna, “La fortuna del movimento damianita in Italia (saec. XIII): propositi per un censimento da fare,” in Chiara d'Assisi: Atti del XX Convegno internazionale. Assisi, 15–17 ottobre 1992 (Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo, 1993), 59–106;Google Scholarand Rusconi, Roberto, “L'espansione del francescanesimo femminile nel secolo XIII,” in Movimento religioso femminile e francescanesimo nel secolo XIII, Atti del VII Convegno internazionale, Assisi, 11–13 ottobre 1979 (Assisi: Società internazionale di studi francescani, 1980), 264–313.Google Scholar

7. For example, Fra Hugolino de Monte's chronicle of the Franciscan order makes a claim for Francis's reluctance, see AM 1:345: “Dum itaque se praepararet ad iter, et Soldani statueret adire praesentiam, egit cum eo [Francisco] Cardinalis Hugolinus de regimine Monasterii sancti Damiani et aliorum, quae jam multiplicari coeperant pro pauperibus dominabus. Cui ille respondit, praeter unum illud, in quo Clara reclusit, nullum aliud se exstruxisse aut extrui procurasse; atque ita huius solius curam assumpsisse, tarn quoad disciplinam regularum, quam quoad tenuem victum, mendicitate per se, aut socios, conquierendum. Neque quidquam sibi tantumdem displicere, quam ut fratres in aliis partibus monialibus domicilia constitui et per se regi impensius volverint.” The difficulty of recovering Francis's attitude toward women might be compared to debates over the place of education in the Franciscan order. Friars on opposite sides of the debate could cite countering stories about Francis's attitude towards learning (for example, his refusal to stay at a house of studies in Bologna would be contrasted with his permission granted to Anthony of Padua to found a school of theological studies).Google Scholar

8. For an interpretation of Francis (and his contemporary Dominic) as misogynists based on these witnesses, see Bolton, Brenda, “Mulieres Sanctae,” in Women in Medieval Society, ed. Stuard, Susan Mosher (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1976), 150. Jacques Dalarun has emphasized that Francis did little to promote women religious compared to his predecessors (for example, Peter Abelard and Robert d'Arbissel).Google ScholarSee his Francesco: Un passaggio. Donna e donne negli scritti e nelle leggende di Francesco d'Assisi (Rome: Viella, 1994).Google Scholar

9. Francis's affection for San Damiano is evident in the Thomas of Celano's First Life (1229), chaps. 18–20 (FF 293–95).Google Scholar

10. Cardinal Hugolino was named their protector in 1221; see BF 1:2–3. The visitator was an official who annually inspected all houses within a province or region and was responsible for correcting abuses. The holder of that office was separate from the chaplains assigned to individual communities.Google Scholar

11. Brother Stephen, one of the first to join the order, testified to Francis's reaction; see Oliger, Livarius, “Descriptio Codicis S. Antonii de Urbe unacum appendice textuum de S. Francesco,” AFH 19 (1926): 384: “Quo audito, beatus Franciscus turbatus est valde, maledixitque illi sicut sui ordinis destructori. Dicebatque dictus frater Stephanus, quod hoc verbum ab ore beati Francisci audivit: Hue usque fistula fuit in carne, spesque curationis erat; ex nunc autem in ossibus radicata, incurabilis prorsus erit.” “Misogynistic” Brother Stephen is also the source for Francis's most famous quote concerning women: “Dominus a nobis uxores abstulit, dyabolus autem nobis procurat sorores” (383).Google Scholar

12. Two of the nuns testifying at Clare's canonization process describe how they left San Damiano for a year to establish new communities. See Lazzeri, Zeffirino, “Il processo di canonizzazione di S. Chiara d' Assisi,” AFH 12 (1920): 403–507; see 445 and 469 especially. Later testimonies claimed that she sent sisters to France and Germany. Clare also corresponded with religious women in Bohemia and Belgium hoping these writings would spread the ideal of apostolic poverty to other religious women.Google Scholar

13. BF 1:36: “Propter quod artendentes, Religionem Fratrum Minorum gratam Deo inter alias, et acceptam, Tibi, et successoribus tuis curam committimus Monialium praedictarum in virtute obedientiae districte praecipiendo mandantes, quatenus de illis tamquam de ovibus custodiae vestrae commissis curam, solicitudinem habeatis.”Google Scholar

14. The original bull of commission for the cardinal protector had recognized that the desire to live without possessions was a key motivation for the women, as it was for Francis's primitive brotherhood; see BF 1:2.Google Scholar

15. See Grundmann, , Religious Movements, 89–92.Google Scholar

16. In the famous bull Quo elongati (BF 1:68–69), restating the 1223 Regula bullata 11.2.Google Scholar

17. The Legend of Saint Clare recounts this confrontation in chap. 37 (FF, 2436–47): “Cum semel dominus Papa Gregorius prohibuisset, ne aliquis frater ad monasteria dominarum sine sua licentia pergeret, dolens pia mater cibum sacrae doctrinae rarius habiturus Sorores, cum gemitu dixit: ‘Omnes nobis aufert de cetero fratres, postquam vitalis nutrimenti nobis abstulit praebitores.’ Et statim omnes fratres ad Ministrum remisit, nolens habere eleemosynarios qui panem corporalem acquirerent, postquam panis, spiritualis eleemosynarios non haberent. Quod cum audiret Papa Gregorius, statim prohibitum illud in generalis Ministri manibus relaxavit.”Google Scholar

18. BF 1:420: “Licet olim quibusdam vestrum per nostras litteras formas dissimiles continentes quaedam Monasteria Ordinis sancti Damiani duxerimus committenda, cupientes tamen eorum utilitatibus sic vestro ministerio provideri. … hoc solum a vobis commissionis Nostrae beneficio consequantur, videlicet ut ipsae sub magisterio, ac doctrina vestra, et eorum, qui pro tempore fuerint, debeant permanere.”Google Scholar

19. Cum omnis vera Religio, BF 1:482: “Dilectis filiis Generali et Provincialibus Ministris Ordinis Fratrum Minorum curam vestri, et omnium monasteriorum vestri Ordinis plene in omnibus praesentium auctoritate committimus, Statuentes, ut sub eorum, et aliquorum, qui pro tempore Ministri, fuerint, obedientia, regimine, et doctrina debeatis de cetero permanere, quibus teneamini firmiter obedire. … Nec aliquod Monasterium vestri Ordinis de cetero ab aliquo inchoetur sine Capituli Generalis Ordinis memorati licentia, et assensu.”Google Scholar

20. BF 1:538: “Digne igitur, quia per ea, quae vobis a Apostolica committuntur, principalis vestri propositi nonnumquam executio impedirur; et non modicum saluti detrahitur animarum; auctoritate vobis praesentium indulgemus, ut ad correctionis, seu visitationis officium Monasteriis, vel Ecclesiis impendendum; necnon ad executiones Causarum, et denunciationes excommunicationum procedere; vel recipere curam Monialium, seu Religiosarum quarumlibet nulli fratrem vestorum de cetero per Litteras Apostolicas teneantur; nisi expresse de hac indulgentia fecerint mentionem.”Google Scholar

21. See Cum harum Rector Satanas, from 20 April 1250, BF 1:541, and 8 January 1257, BF 2:183–84, cited at 184. BF 1:541: “Unde frequenter accidit, ut per tales nomen Sororum Minorum; quod nee ipsis etiam Sororibus Ordinis S. Damiani ex Regula, seu vitae Formula competit, sibi f allaciter usurpantes, inf amie nubilo dilectorum filiorum Fratrum Minorum Ordinis puritas obfuscetur.” In 1257 Pope Alexander IV reissued Innocent IV's bull of the same name (suggesting the perception of a similar situation).Google Scholar

22. Inter personas (discussed below), printed in BF 2:574–75 (from 19 August 1262, not 1264), describes the customary relationship between the friars and Clarisses prior to the crisis: “ac nonnulli ex eisdem Fratribus a Monasteriis ejusdem Sancti Damiani Ordinis, in quibus Ecclesiastica Sacramenta inibi degentibus ministrabant.”Google Scholar

23. Clare's form of life attempted to extend Francis's promise to care for San Damiano to all Franciscan convents. For example, RC1 12.5–7 (FF, 2306): “Capellanum etiam cum uno socio clerico bonae famae, discretionis providae, et duos fratres laicos sanctae conversationis et honestatis amatores in subsidium paupertatis nostrae, sicut misericorditer a praedicto ordine fratrum minorum semper habuimus.” This provision obviously was a cause of conflict between the Friars Minor and the Clarisses. More problematic for the curia (and a reason why her rule was not allowed to circulate beyond a few communities) was the requirement that all houses live in complete apostolic poverty (RC16).Google Scholar

24. Contemporary chroniclers viewed Urban as an outsider to the curia and the politics of the Italian court; see Menache, Sophia, “Réflexions sur quelques popes françaises du bas moyen âge: un problème d'origine,” Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique 81 (1986): 117–30, esp. 119.Google Scholar

25. Since the bulls of commission do not survive, we know of this authority only from its revocation in Inter personas; BF 2:575: “Cum quibus ei non solum dictus Ordo Sancti Damiani committitur ad exhibendum Monasteriis, et personis ejusdem Sancti Damiani Ordinis ministeria consueta; sed et ipsi Episcopo [Stephen] conceditur, quod ad hoc possit compellere per Censuram Ecclesiasticam dictos Fratres; Nos eisdem Litteris quoad jurisdictionem, et potestatem sibi concessam in Monasteria praedicta, et personas ipsorum in suo robore duraturis, ipsas quoad alia, quae dictos Fratres Minores, et eorum Ordinem quoquomodo contingunt, de voluntate dicti Episcopi revocamus; et carere decernimus omni robore firmitatis; etiam si de iis Litteris plenam, et expressam de verbo ad verbum fieri oporteret in praesentibus mentionem.”Google Scholar

26. Philip's Catalogus cardinalium, quifuerunt ordinis protectores provides the earliest account of this confrontation (1306), in AF 3:708–12. Later chronicles, such as the Chronica XXIV Generalium (ca. 1369), incorporated Philip's description; compare AF 3:329–31. I have quoted Philip in full to provide a sense of how the conflict was understood by near contemporaries. AF 3:710: “Hoc itaque defuncto [Alexandro IV] a successore eius, domino Urbano Papa IV. natione Trecensi, celebrato capitulo generali Pisis a frate Bonaventura, tune Generali Ministro, et a Ministris ceteris anno Domini MCCLXIII dominus Iohannes Caietanus, sancti Nicolai in carcere Tulliano diaconus Cardinalis, petitus et obtenrus est, quamvis, ut intellexi, idem Papa nepotem suum dominum Ancherum dare Ordini voluisset, sed non acceptantibus fratribus dominum Iohannem Caietanum petitum contulit tamquam patrem Ordini praecipua devotione coniunctum. Nam pater ipsius Cardinalis, scilicet dominus Matthaeus Rubeus, de tertio Ordine exstitit, de quo audivi aliquando ipsum dominum Iohannem, etiam cum esset Papa, publica confabulatione gloriari. Isto igitur ad Protectorem Ordinis deputato, accidit, quod fratres ex certis dominarum supradicti Ordinis sancti Damiani temeritatibus, quibus sibi ius ministeriorum ab Ordine vindicabant, fratribus petentibus et Cardinali ipso assistente, fratres ipsi sive Ordo ab earum obsequiis absoluti sunt per dominum Urbanum praedictum, adiecta declaratione, quod Ordo nullo eis debito tenebatur. Unde Papa ipse eis alium Cardinalem praefecit, scilicet dominum Stephanum, episcopum Praenestinum. Sed quia hie volebat quasi ex auctoritate fratres ad ipsarum Monialium obsequia revocare, visum est quod uni tantum, scilicet domino Ioanni praefato, uterque, quaemadmodum et aliis praecedentibus, fuit Ordo commissus, qui eis ordinavit regulam, quam nunc habent, sub Bulla domini Urbani praedicti.” (Emphasis mine.)Google Scholar

27. BF 2:574–75: “Propter quod nee non ex quarumdam litterarum, circa hoc dicto Episcopo [Stephen] concessarum occasione, quae, ut dicebas, in manifestum tu fili Cardinalis, Ordinis eorundem Fratrum tibi commissi poterat praejudicium redundare; ac etiam, quia quaedam proponebantur pro Sancti Damiani Ordine supradicto, quae libertati praedicti Ordine Fratrum, ut exipsorum Fratrum parte afferitur, derogabant; turbationis, et quaestionis materia est orta.”Google Scholar

28. Urban's sister was a nun at the Franciscan convent of Monteluce (outside Perugia). We might expect greater sympathy toward the Order of San Damiano because of his sister. The surviving texts, however, do not demonstrate either positively or negatively how she may have influenced his attitude toward the women. His letter to her describing the demands of the papal office and his concerns regarding his capabilities survives; see AM 4:191–92.Google Scholar

29. BF 2:575: “Volentes igitur concordiae utriusque Ordinis diligenter intendere, ac saluti animarum dicti Ordinis Sancti Damiani misericorditer providere, discretionem tuam, fili Generalis Minister, rogamus, et hortamur attente, per Apostolica tibi scripta mandantes, quatenus usque ad generale capitulum tui Ordinis proximum celebrandum, aliquos de Fratribus tuis facias in monasteriis morari in quibus tempore dictae commissionis factae dicto Episcopo morabantur;… aliquos vero facias deputare ad ministrandum praefatis personis huiusmodi Ecclesiastica sacramenta, quibus eiusdem Ordinis Fratres ilia sine cohabitatione memoratae Commissionis tempore ministrabant, ita tu etc. Nos autem de Fratrum nostrorum consilio, et assensu ordinamus, definimus, ac decernimus statuentes, quod si usque ad Capitulum Generale, vel ab ipso Capitulo concordia super ministriis hujusmodi a Fratribus impendendis de communi assensu partium non provenerit inter Ordines supradictos; ex tune Ordo Fratrum Minorum, et ipsi Fratres, si voluerint, ac ipsum Capitulum generale eo ipso quod hoc voluerit, seu super hoc expresserit voluntatem, a praedictis cohabitatione, visitatione, ministerio, omnique onere alio quoad praedicta Monasteria, et personas degentes in eis sint liberi penitus, et immunes; et quod per eadem Monasteria, vel personas ipsorum, vel quoscumque alios eorum nomine, sive pro eis praetextu obsequiorum exhibitorum eisdem, aut Litterarum, Indulgentiarum, vel privilegiorum ipsis Monasteriis, vel aliis quibuscumque personis sub quacumque forma a Sede Apostolica concessorum, sive ex quocumque alio jure, vel causa, nisi a supradicto Fratrum Ordine peti possit.”Google Scholar

30. Lazzeri, , “Documenta,” 672: “Processit itaque, prout dicitur, de ipsius providentia Confessoris ancillas easdem vestris debere confovere presidiis, consiliis dirigi, spiritualibus nurriri subsidiis, et in suis opporrunitatibus adiuvari.”Google Scholar

31. Lazzeri, , “Documenta,” 671: “Propterea non indigne Deus et generalis Ecclesia in agro vestre religionis exultant. Nam in ipso semina sparsa non pereunt, flores producunt, nee arescunt; et tandem, multiplicatis manipulis, ibidem grana glorie colliguntur. Gaudete igitur, quod studio clare devotionis hunc agrum solerter excolitis, quod in eo virtutum semina spargitis, et quod inde talia grana meremini colligere post laborem.”Google Scholar

32. Lazzeri, , “Documenta,” 671: “Nec mirum, filii, quod tales estis agricole, dum illius sequimini Confessoris almi vestigia, qui Ordinem vestrum instituit, institutum coluit et saltum claritate beatudinis illustravit. Cuius nempe Religionis ager, inter alios fructus uberes, quos profert assidue, Christi devotas ancillas, Sorores Ordinis S. Damiani, produxit, que vobiscum, eiusdem membra corporis existentes, argumentose deserviunt, meritorum decore prefulgent, et reddunt devote Domino voto sua.”Google Scholar

33. Lazzeri, , “Documenta,” 672: “Quid posset de sexus fragilitate sperari, ubi circa ilium debite correctionis officium negaretur? Quibus possent nutriri delitiis imbeccilium anime personarum, nisi reficerentur pabulo verbi Dei? Absit, quod erga dictas Sorores eiusdem Confessoris provida, sanctaque dispositio non servetur; absit, quod in Redemptoris iniuriam tantarum periculum animarum, tantus Ordo, vestrae curae defectu, maculam alicuius dissolutionis incurrat. Gravia siquidem inter alia, dispendiosum posset emergere scandalum, si Regum et aliorum Magnatum filias, quae sub eiusdem Ordinis observantia Domino famulantur, contingeret absque debita custodia derelinqui.”Google Scholar

34. Lazzeri, , “Documenta,” 672: “Cum igitur disposuisse super huiusmodi negotio, priusquam presens vestra congregatio dissolvatur, salubriter et finaliter providere, universitatem vestram rogamus et hortamur attente, quatinus ob reverentiam apostolice sedis et nostram, Sorores easdem habentes in Domino commendatas, eis, more solito, vestre cura presidia ministretis.”Google Scholar

35. See van Dijk, S. J. P., “The Liturgical Legislation of the Franciscan Rules,” Franciscan Studies 12 (1952): 176–95, 241–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

36. Bonaventure's description of Clare is succinct, Legenda Maior 4.6 (FF, 807): “Convertebantur etiam virgines ad perpetuum coelibatum, inter quas virgo Deo carissima Clara, ipsarum plantula prima, tanquam flos vernans et candidus odorem dedit et tamquam Stella praefulgida radiavit. Haec nunc glorificata in caelis ab Ecclesia digne veneratur in terris, quae ft'lia fuit in Christo sancti Patris Francisci pauperculi et mater Pauperum Dominarum.” For other references see Legenda Maior 12.2, 13.8, 15.5.Google Scholar

37. Legenda Maior 2.7 discusses how Francis repaired San Damiano, but makes no reference to his prophecy concerning the founding of the Order of Poor Ladies. Bartoli, Marco makes a similar point in Chiara d'Assisi (Rome: Istituto Storico dei Cappuccini, 1989), 247.Google Scholar

38. For example, the conclusion of Legenda Maior 5.5 (FF, 817): “Quae sunt, ‘inquit,’ religioso cum muliere tractanda negotia, nisi cum sanctam poenitentiam vel melioris vitae consilium religiosa petitione deposcit? Ex nimia securitate minus cavetur hostis, et diabolus, si de suo capillum potest habere in homine, cito excrescere facit in trabem.'”Google Scholar

39. There are no records of this commission other than Bonaventure's reference in the letter to the Provincial Minister of Aragon, “me ac fratres mecum missos de [P]issis a Capitulo generali obnixe rogavit” (112).Google Scholar

40. Medieval canonists debated the authority of custom to create legal obligation. Perhaps influential in the debate between the friars and the Clarisses was the idea that custom was legally binding if the practice was known to and not abrogated by those who had the power to do so, an idea expressed, for example, by the late-twelfth-century decretist Rufinus and accepted by later glossators including Giovanni d'Andrea (Johannes Teutonicus). See Brundage, James, Medieval Canon Law (New York: Longmans, 1995): 158–59.Google Scholar

41. BF 2:474–75: “Instituendi quoque, ac destituendi Abbatissas, et personas alias Monasteriorum, et locorum ipsorum; ordinandi etiam, statuendi, disponendi, praecipiendi, et faciendi quicquid salubri et prospero statui praedicti Ordinis, et personarum ipsius expedire videris; dandi insuper licentiam Fratribus Minoribus, quibus volueris, ingrediendi huiusmodi Monasteria; prohibitione contraria Regulae sui Ordinis non obstante; ac contradictores et rebelles per censuram Ecclesiasticam appellatione postposita compescendi, plena et libera facultate.”Google Scholar

42. Two of these letters survive, the already cited letter to Aragon and a letter to the visitator of the Tuscan Province, a Brother Lothario (printed in Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 678–79). The letters are slightly different in their presentation but include the same requirements. That Bonaventure personally named Brother Lothario visitator for the Tuscan province and addressed a letter to him suggests that the relationship between the friars and nuns was more tense in central Italy than in other provinces. Presumably, the Minister General considered Lothario a skilled diplomat: “de tua itaque providentia et probitate confisus”; see Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 678.Google Scholar

43. Monti, 193; “Aragon,” 112–13: “Cum igitur per gratiam Jesu Christi et per multam industriam multosque labores venerabilis patris nostri Domini Johannis Sancti Nicholai in carcere tulliani diachoni Cardinalis prefatam adepti simus plenius libertatem ac ipse Dominus Cardinalis patris (sic) nostri ordinis pace servanda Memoratum sancte Clare ordinem suscepit gubernandum et me ac fratres mecum missos de pissis a Capitulo generali obnixe rogavit, ut sibi fratres assisterent in hoc quod per seipsum non poterat sustinere pondere supportando, allegans quomodo fideliter laboravit ut a nobis abiceret cuiuspiam vinculo libertati quantumve ordinem nostrum a sua teneritudine predilixerit, non potui nee debui cum fratribus memoratis tanta beneficia oblivioni mandare ac omnino decuit prefato venerabili patri nostro quin condescenderemus eidem in aliquibus obsequiis exhibendis Monasteriis Ordinis supradicti de gratia speciali donee expedire videbitur capitulo generali.”Google Scholar

44. Parallel to his “omnino decuit” in the letter to Aragon, Bonaventure wrote to Brother Lothario both “dignum est et consonum” and “conveniens est et decens” that the friars provide care to the nuns. Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 678.Google Scholar

45. “Aragon” 113–14: “Ut autem libertati nostre plenius caveatur … ut illis solis Monasteriis concedantur obsequia supradicta que litteras suas dabunt, vel publica instrumenta quod hec omnia recipiunt a fratribus de gratia speciali. … Littere autem seu publica instrumenta fient juxta formam hanc sic annotatam que talis est: Nos talis Abbatissa et sorores talis Monasterii pro nobis et Monasterio nostro dicimus, confitemur, et etiam recognoscimus quod Ordo fratrum Minorum aut fratres eiusdem ordinis nobis seu Monasterio nostro, seu personis in eo degentibus ad obsequia seu ministeria exhibenda aliquatinus ex debito non tenentur. Et idcirco dictis ordini et fratribus precavere volentes, ne per aliqua obsequia vel ministeria que nobis dicti fratres de facto seu liberalitate sua, vel mera gratia exhibebunt, ex quantacumque diuturnitate temporis possit eis prejudicum generari, promittimus tibi tali fratri nomine eorundem Ordinis et fratrum recipienti et stipulanti, quod ministeria vel obsequia ab eis taliter exhibenda nullo umquam tempore prestationis huiusmodi de debito non petemus, nee super eis movebimus contra ordinem vel fratres ipsius Ordinis aliquam questionem. Et in huius rei testimonium volumus fieri hoc publicum instrumentum, vel volumus has litteras sigilli conventus nostri munimine roborari.”Google Scholar

46. A letter addressed to the convents in Tuscany from 11 December 1263 is printed in Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 77–80, cited at 80: “Nos talis Abbatissa et Sorores talis Monasterii, pro nobis et Monasterio nostro dicimus, confitemur, et etiam recognoscimus, quod Ordo Fratrum Minorum vel Fratres eiusdem Ordini nobis seu Monasterio nostro, seu personis in eo degentibus, ad obsequia seu ministeria exibenda aliquatenus ex debito non tenentur. Et idcirco dictis Ordini et Fratribus precavere volentes, ne per aliqua obsequia vel ministeria, que nobis dicti Fratres de facto seu liberalitate sua, vel mera gratia exhibebunt, ex quantacumque diurnitate temporis possit eis preiudicium generari, promittimus tali Fratri, nomine dictorum Ordinis et Fratrum recipienti et stipulanti, quod ministeria vel obsequia ab eis taliter exibenda, unquam temporum, occasione prestationis huiusmodi, ex debito non petemus nee super eis movebimus contra eundem Ordinem vel Fratres ipsius, aliquam questionem.”Google Scholar

47. From 13 December 1263 in Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 80–83, cited at 81: “Cum Ordinem Sante Clare sub spe adiutori tui Ordinis susceptimus gubernandum, nostreque sollicitudini ex suscepta cura dignoscitur incumbere, ut Monasteriis eiusdem Ordinis Sante Clare visitationis officium impendamus, venerabilem virum Fratrem B[onaventuram] Generalem Ministrum tui Ordinis, attente rogavimus, ut nobis in hoc opportunum pararet auxilium de gratia speciale Visitatores assumens vel assumi faciens, qui auctoritate nostra circa eadem Monasteria, iuxta formam eis a nobis mittendam visitationis officium exercerent.”Google Scholar

48. See Bihl, Michael, “Statuta generalia Ordinis edita in capitulis Generalibus Celebratis Narbonae an. 1260, Assisii an. 1279 atque Parisiis an. 1292,” AFH 34 (1941): 13–94, 284–358; see esp. chaps. 6.5–6, 7.8, 8.25 of the 1260 constitution.Google Scholar

49. “Aragon,” 113: “Quare volo et mando fraternitati tue quatenus beneficia [sic] inferius annotata Monasteriis tue provincie ordinis memorati facias per duos fratres idoneos pro singulis Ministrationis tue Monasteriis deputatos cum honestate debita exhiberi.” In mid-thirteenth-century Aragon they would have to care for ten convents; see Webster, Jill R., El Menorets: The Franciscans in the Realms of Aragon from St. Francis to the Black Death (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1993), 220–40.Google Scholar

50. “Aragon,” 113–114; Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 678–79.Google Scholar

51. Orsini issued the decree Accedat confirming the visitator's duties. It effectively functioned as a gloss on the Urbanist Rule (see below); see Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 88–90. He also described the forma visitationis in his 13 December 1263 letter; consult Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 81–82.Google Scholar

52. “Aragon,” 113–14; Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 679.Google Scholar

53. Some friars may have resisted this agreement. In 1271, Bonaventure wrote to the friary in Pisa requesting that the brothers provide “special services” (gratiam specialem) to the convent of Ognissanti. Most of the requirements were those of a normal visitation, but Bonaventure also requested that the friars counsel the women in times of danger and send carpenters to their convent. Bonaventure may have been encouraging them to fulfill what had been customary. See Epistola 3, in Bonaventure of Bagnoreggio, Doctoris Seraphici S. Bonaventurae opera omnia (Quaracchi: Collegium S. Bonaventurae, 1898), 8:471.Google Scholar

54. See the Urbanist Rule (RUrb) in BF 2:509–21. This rule was closely related to the so-called Isabelline Rule, which Bonaventure had helped compose. It was promulgated on 27 July 1263; see BF 2:477–86 (discussed below).Google Scholar

55. RUrb, chap. 25 (BF 2:520): “Dilecto filio nostro I. Sancti Nicolai in Carcere Tulliano Diacono Cardinali, Gubernatori, Protectori, et Correctori Ordinis Fratrum Minorum curam, et regimen vestri Ordinis, necnon et personarum in eis degentium scilicet Cappellanorum, et Conversorum, et Familiarium plene duximus committenda; statuentes, ut sub eius et aliorum Cardinalium, qui fuerint pro tempore gubernationi, protectioni, atque correctioni eorundem Fratrum Ordinis a Sede Apostolica deputati, obedientia, et cura et regimine debeatis de caetero permanere, quibus teneamini firmiter obedire.” Compare also RUrb, chap. 7.Google Scholar

56. On the history of the rules governing the Franciscan nuns, see Oliger, L., “De origine regularum Ordinis S. Clarae,” AFH 5 (1912): 321–401.Google Scholar

57. Bulls from this period demonstrate that most houses had material support (compare BF 2:207 for the grant of a hospital to a Pisan convent). Unfortunately, they leave no record of whether the women accepted property and income to sustain their communities or if they protested this shift from Clare's ideals.Google Scholar

58. BF 2:509: “Ipsum de Fratrum nostrorum consilio de coetero decrevimus Ordinem Sanctae Clarae uniformiter nominandum.” Since the hagiographical Legend of Saint Clare (commissioned by Pope Alexander IV in 1255) recast its subject as a generic female saint and suppressed Clare's Franciscan ideals and connections with the Friars Minor, the choice of the name Order of Saint Clare does not indicate any particular links with Clare's apostolic idealism.Google Scholar

59. Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 79: “Prout animarum saluti et debilitati corporum congruit, temperatam, discretione precipua, discussione provida, diligentia circumspecta et maturo consilio conditam, per sanctissimum patrem dominum nostrum Urbanum Papam quartum, vestri Ordinis zelatorem, procuravimus vobis dari, per quam saluti vestri consullitur, Religionis honestatem indicitur et docetur. Et non solum vestra Religio censetur uniformiter nominanda, verum in habitu et ceteris regularibus disciplinis observantia traditur uniformis, ut futuris perturbationibus obvietur, ac predictis Fratribus, quorum consilio et auxilio admodum indigetis aproximetis (sic) imposterum, et ipsi propter diversitatem capitum obsequendi vobis materiam non assumant. Item per eandem Regulam de sacro sancte romane Ecclesiae Cardinalibus, vobis perpetuis temporibus conceditur cardinalis, qui Fratrum gubernationi dictorum fuerit pro tempore per Sedem Apostolicam deputatus. … Monemus igitur et rogamus, ac vestre devotioni qua possumus affectione suggerimus, quatenus reverenter suscipientes Regulam prelibatam, quam vobis sub nostri sigilli testimonio mittimus.”Google Scholar

60. RUrb 21 (BF 2:520): “Ad haec, vobis in communi redditus, et possessiones recipere, et habere, ac ea libere retinere. Pro quibus possessionibus, et redditibus Monasterii modo debito pertractandis Procurator unus prudens pariter, et fidelis in singulis Monasteriis vestri Ordinis habeatur, qui per Abbatissam, et Conventum constitute et amoveri debeat, sicut videbitur expedire.”Google Scholar

61. Lazzeri, “Documenta,” 83–84, cited at 84: “Si vero, quod absit, alique de predictis Sororibus ipsam profiteri Regulam pertinaciter recusarent; tu huiusmodi recusantium numerum, cum recusantium occasionibus sive causis, nee non et conditiones earum, et nomina, nobis studeas intimare; ut circa id quieti nostre conscientie provideri, et de ipsarum statu, per prefatum patrem et dominum possit, prout eius decreverit sanctitas, ordinari.”Google Scholar

62. Ut Ordo Beatae Clare from 11 December 1265 in BF 3:62–68, and De statu tuo from 31 May 1266 in BF 3:82.Google Scholar

63. BF 3:63: “Illud etiam debent Abbatissae, et Sorores praedictae prae oculis suae considerationes habere, quod si quae ipsarum despectis sanitatis consilis propriae prudentiae innitentes Regulam non receperint antedictam ad quam tot et tantis utilitatibus, et necessitatibus invitantur, dilecti Filii nostro J[oannis Cajetani Ursini] Sancti Nicolai in carcere Tulliano Diaconi Cardinalis ejusdem ad praesens Ordinis Protectoris, qui Ordinem ipsum tarn serventi caritate zelatur, et ad profectus ipsius inspirante Domino tarn ardenter aspirat; forsitan destituentur auxilio et favore.”Google Scholar

64. BF 3:63–64: “Et ne sine Pastoris cura remaneant, opportebit, quod vel Diocesanis Episcopis, vel aliis regimen committatur ipsarum, qui curam gerentes earum per alium modum, quam per ilium, quern hactenus habuerunt, et per alias personas earum procurent commoda et salutem: sicque Ordinae ipsarum, quae dictam regulam non tenebunt, ab eodem Ordine S. Clarae diviso, ipsae tanquam omnino discretae, ac effectae ab eodem Ordine alienae non denominabuntur ab Ordine antedicto; et ipsius immunitatibus, et concessis ei privilegiis, ac indulgentiis non gaudebunt. Cum igitur, sicut accepimus, quorumdam Monasteriorum, quae infra fines visitationis tuae sunt sita, Abbatissae et Sorores dictam Regulam adhuc recipere non curaverint; volumus, ut eas omnes auctoritate nostra efficaciter moneas, et inducas, ut sicut nostram et Apostolicae Sedis gratiam caram habent; et Divinam, ac nostram Benedictionem desiderant, dictaque commoda consequi, ac incommoda evitare; infra octo dies post monitionem tuam praefatam praedicti Praedecessoris Urbani regulam suscipere, ac profited procurent; alioquin ex parte nostra peremptorie cites easdem, ut infra decem dies immediate sequentes, non Sorores inclusas, aut serviriales Sorores, sed Procuratorem idoneum cum suae possessionis Regula, modo, formaque vivendi, quae servare disponunt, sufficienter instructum rationibus eas ad non profitendum Regulam antedictam movenribus ad praedictam Cardinalem [Orsini] destinare procurent, qui Cardinalem eundem plene instruat super illis; et Nos poshnodum de ipsis per Cardinalem ipsum edocti de eis, prout animarum earumdem profectui expedire viderimus, disponamus, commirtendo eas Diocesanorum custodiae, aut etiam aliorum, qui gerant ex tune curam, et sollicitudinem earumdem, cum dictus Cardinalis nequaquam, ut creditur, velit intromittere se de illis, quae se dictam Regulam, aut aliam, quae saluti earum congruat, non promiserint servaturas.”Google Scholar

65. BF 3:62: “Mas, quae Regulam [Urbani] profiterentur eandem, ab omnibus aliis Reguliis, et vivendi formis, ac votis super eas emissis absolvit.”Google Scholar

66. Urban commissioned the Umbrian visitator to promote the rule throughout his province. If after eight days the women had still not professed the Urbanist Rule, he allowed another ten days for a procurator to make a report to the cardinal listing the reasons for the women's refusal. The cardinal protector, in turn, would make a report to the pope who would ultimately decide the women's status. This clause presumably would allow for exceptions, as in the case of San Damiano and the privilege of poverty. See BF 3:64–67.Google Scholar

67. BF 3:82: “Sorores Ordinis Sanctae Clara venerunt Viterbium pro multarum terrarum Sororibus; quarum mora in Curia nee olim placuit tibi, nee hodie Nobis placet. Sunt omnes in hoc proposito, quod tuam Regulam non recipant; sed vel statum observunt pristinum; vel si ille videtur dubius, vivendi formam, quam habet dilecta in Christo filia soror Regis Franciae acceptabunt.”Google Scholar

68. Clement's letter appears to be the only contemporary testimony to the nuns' protest.Google Scholar

69. RCl 1.1: “Forma vitae ordinis sororum pauperum, quam beatus Franciscus instituit, haec est: Domini nostri lesu Christi sanctum Evangelium observare, vivendo in obedientia, sine proprio et in castitate” (FF, 2292).Google Scholar

70. There was already a precedent for houses adopting the latter text. In June 1264 Urban had allowed the house of St. Catherine in Provins to profess the French rule; see BF 2:563–64. This house had been founded around 1237 and it is unclear what rule they lived under up to 1264. This bull made clear that Orsini would be the protector, as for other Clarissan houses.Google Scholar

71. BF 2:485: “Liceat eis in communi redditus, et possessiones recipere; ac eas libere retinere; pro quibus possessionibus modo debito pertractandis Procurator unus prudens, et fidelis in dicto monasterio habeatur.” Angelo Clareno's fourteenth-century Arbor vitae remembered their protests as related to poverty. (This is not particularly surprising, for Clareno was a leader among the Franciscan Spirituals who promoted a strict return to Francis's ideals.) He claimed that Orsini had deliberately quashed poverty. See his Arbor vitae crucifixae Jesu (Turin: Bottega d'Erasmo, 1961), 5.6: “Tantum vero scivit facere serpens antiquus persuasione illorum, qui iam a sua paupertate defecerant, et procuratione illius qui illius ordinis erat inter cardinales protector, dominus ioannes de ursinis, qui fuit postea nicholaus papa tertius, qui sibi novam regulam ipse composuit cardinalis existens et ab altissima paupertate deiecit et in gradu vilissimo, respectu prioris altissimi, collocavit; quod manifeste claret, si prime regule, quam per spiritum sanctum F[ranciscus] composuit, et huius regule, quam hie dedit, legatur textura. Nam tantum differunt quantum altum et immum, crudum et insipidum, seraphicum et perfectum. Et quia ipse etiam protector nostri ordinis erat, fecit dura precepta mandari per mundum quod nullus frater presumeret dissaudere illis sororibus, quod non reciperent suam confectionem, quam fecerat per urbanum papam bullari, perfectione alterius regulae refutata. Sed persecutiones et comminationes multe facte sunt fragile illi sexui, aliquibus monasteriis ex eis per multos annos resistentibus, ne sua confectio commodaretur ab eis. Certe utrum hoc a spiritu sancto fuerit, nisi a permittente peccata, rebus exitus docet. Nam monasteria ilia, que seraphica caritate ardebant in austeritate et oratione et continuis lachrymarum gemitibus et opere manuum et exercitatione virtutum, facta sunt ociositate et litigiis et tot imperfectionibus et defectibus plena ex tune, quod quantum in sanctitate institutores regularum, illarum differunt, tantum videtur differre observantia earumdem.”Google Scholar

72. BF 2:485: “Confirmatio vero; et informatio, seu ipsius amotio fiat per Generalem Ministrum Ordinis Fratris Minorum, si aderit in Provincia, et in eius absentia per Provincialem illius Provinciae, in qua praetactum Monasterium fuerit constirutum, ad quos ordinis spectat hujus ordinis, regimem, cura, et visitatio, correctio, nee non reformatio tarn per seipsos, quam per visitatores. Unde in virtute obedientiae formiter praecipiendo mandamus, et iniungimus Abbatissae, et ceteris Soroibus hujus Religionis, quatenus Ministro generali Fratrum, ac Provinciali illius provinciae, in qua praetactum Monasterium situ fuerit.” Compare also 481 (confessors will be friars), 484 (visitator will be a friar). There are numerous other references to the women's dependence on the Friars Minor (478).Google Scholar

73. In October 1285 Honorius IV did allow the community of San Silvestro in Capite in Rome to adopt the Isabelline Rule. They were considered Minoresses rather than Clarisses, even though the Friars Minor would provide them with the same pastoral care as detailed in the Urbanist Rule. See BF 3:544–45, 549–50.Google Scholar

74. Bonaventure, Opera 8:467: “Item, inhibet generalis Minister Fratribus, ut non dissaudeant Sororibus sanctae Clarae de receptione Regulae, immo contrarium suadeant, et vult, quod Minister habeat eas recommendatas ob reverentiam Dei et venerabilis Patris domini cardinalis.”Google Scholar

75. See his letter of 8 April 1297 printed in Bughetti, Benvenuto, “Acta Officialia de regimine Clarissarum durante saec. XIV,” AFH 13 (1920): 108–9: “Concedimus insuper vobis generali Ministro ut ad singula monasteria que fuerunt Ordinis S. Damiani eo tempore quo dictus d. Urbanus edidit Regulam supradictum nee ipsam Regulam postmodum susceperunt, et vobis Ministris provincialibus ad singula monasteria talia infra vestras Provincias constituta, cum uno vel pluribus fratribus possitis accedere, ad hortandum, monendum, et inducendum abbatissas, sorores, et personas monasteriorum ipsorum ut recipiant Regulam a prefato d. Urbano editam; et ut ad hoc possitis fratres Ordinis vestri mittere, et Fratribus ipsis ut missi taliter ad ea possint accedere, licentiam specialem.”Google Scholar

76. Compare Grundmann, Religious Movements, 133.Google Scholar

77. BF 4:396: “Nos igitur ejusdem praedecessoris vestigiis inhaerendo, praedictas litteras, et processus per eas habitos approbantes, ac omnia in litteris ipsis contenta, quae idem praedecessor statuit, inviolabiter observari debere auctoritate praesentium decernentes, discretioni vestrae ad instar dicti praecessoris per Apostolica scripta mandamus, quatenus omnia praemissis, etiamsi, eaedem litterae de cetero nullatenus apparent, circa praefate Monasteria, et eorum peronas, sive Ordinis Sanctae Clarae, sive Sancti Damiani, sive Minorissae dicantur, exequi diligenter, et sollicitae studeatis.”Google Scholar

78. “Ordinationes a Benedicto XII pro Fratribus Minoribus promulgate per bullam 28 novembris 1336,” ed. Bihl, Michael, AFH 30 (1937): 309–90. See chap. 31: “De monialibus seu Minorissis.”Google Scholar