An important new study of the way in which St Francis’ image was recorded in literature,documents, architecture and art. St Francis was a man whose personality was deliberatelystamped on his Order and Rosalind Brooke explores how the stories told by Francis’companions were at once brilliantly vivid portrayals of the man as well as guides to how theFranciscan way of life ought to be led. She also examines how after St Francis’ death a greatmonument was erected to him in the Basilica at Assisi and how this came to reflect in stoneand stained glass and fresco the manner in which some popes and leading friars believed hismemory should be fostered. Highly illustrated throughout, including colour and black andwhite plates, this book will be essential reading for medievalists and art historians as wellas anyone interested in St Francis and the Franciscan movement.
rosalind b. brooke is a Senior Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Throughout heracademic career she has lectured and taught at various universities including UniversityCollege London and Cambridge University. Her publications include The Coming of theFriars (1975) and Popular Religion in the Middle Ages (with C. N. L. Brooke, 1984).
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
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First published 2006
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
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Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
The colour plate section is between pages 304 and 305.
frontispiece Cimabue, St Francis, Basilica of St Francis, Lower Church,detail of fresco of Madonna and child with St Francis
1 Monstrance reliquary of St Francis, Paris, Louvre, reverse2 Christ, Adam, St Francis and a dragon in the initial I of Genesis, Assisi,Biblioteca Conventuale-Comunale, MS 17 fo. 5v
3 Assisi altar panel, Basilica, Museo-Tesoro4 Assisi altar panel, detail showing the Lower Church altar5 The Basilica of St Francis, Assisi, view of the interior of the Upper Churchfrom the apse
6 Deposition from the cross, by the Master of St Francis, from thedouble-sided altarpiece, S. Francesco in Prato, Perugia, now in the GalleriaNazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia
7 Innocent III’s dreamof St Francis supporting the Lateran Basilica, Cycle no. 68 Guccio di Mannaia, Chalice, given to the Basilica by Nicholas IV: Basilica,Museo-Tesoro
black and white plates
1 Assisi, Cathedral of San Rufino, one of the lions outside the west door page 52 The Carceri above Assisi: the cell traditionally ascribed to brother Leo 63 The crucifix from San Damiano, now in Santa Chiara, Assisi 74 Assisi from the south-east 215 Assisi, the Piazza del Comune with the Temple of Minerva 236 The Basilica of St Francis at Assisi: the Lower and Upper Churchesfrom the south-east 52
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
7 The Basilica of St Francis: the Upper Church from the east 528 Bull of Pope Gregory IX dated 29 April 1228 granting an indulgence to thosesubscribing to the Basilica: Assisi, Archivio del Sacro Convento 54
9 A view of the Basilica from above 5610 The apse of the Basilica, seen from the fifteenth-century cloister 5811 Assisi, Cathedral of San Rufino, west front 7512 The blessing of brother Leo by St Francis: Assisi, Basilica, Capella
delle reliquie 11013 Mont Saint-Michel, the cloister, early thirteenth century: Christ crucified
and Christ enthroned 16214 St Francis, Subiaco, fresco of 1228–9 16315 The Pescia altar panel 17016 The high altar in the Lower Church 17517 The Bardi altar panel, Florence, Santa Croce 17718 St Catherine icon, from the Monastery of St Catherine, Mount Sinai 17819 Four scenes from the Bardi altar panel illustrating St Francis’ concern for
lambs, the stigmata and St Francis doing public penance 18020 Matthew Paris: St Francis preaching to the birds, Chronica Maiora,
Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 16, fo. 70v (formerly 66v) 19521 The Call to the Birds in Alexander of Bremen’s Apocalypse Commentary,
Cambridge University Library MS Mm. v. 31, fo. 140r 19722 Matthew Paris: St Francis’ vision of the seraph, showing the stigmata,
Chronica Maiora, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 16, fo. 70v(formerly 66v) 199
23 Istanbul, Kalenderhane Camii, St Francis preaching to the birds, detail 21024 Assisi, Basilica of St Francis, Lower Church nave, the Seraph
of the Stigmata 28225 Lower Church nave, Pope Innocent III’s dream 28426 Pisa: duomo and campanile 28627 Lower Church nave, Christ stripping himself before the crucifixion 29028 Lower Church nave, Deposition from the cross 29429 Lower Church nave, St Francis preaching to the birds 29530 Lower Church nave, St Francis’ death, showing side wound: angels carry
his soul to heaven 29731 The St Francis panel at the Portiuncula 29832 Cimabue, Virgin and child enthroned with angels and St Francis, Lower
Church, east wall of the north transept 30333 Upper Church, apse window vi, detail, a8 and b8: Elijah taken up into
heaven, and the Ascension 31234 Upper Church, left transept window ix 31435 Upper Church, right transept window v 31636 Upper Church, right transept window v, detail 31837 Upper Church, nave window i, St Francis and St Anthony 324
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
38 Stigmatisation of St Francis, detail of Upper Church nave window i, a9–10 32739 Upper Church, nave window xiii, Christ and St Francis, Virgin and child 32840 Upper Church: general view of the north transept 33441 A head on an eastern corner of the vault in the north transept 33642 North transept, east triforium passage: the fifth apostle from the left,
next to St Peter 33843 North transept, east triforium: second angel roundel from the left. 33944 North transept, west triforium passage: first apostle from the left, St Paul 34045 North transept, west triforium 34146 North transept, east triforium 34147 Cimabue: Upper Church, crossing vault: the Evangelists 34548 Cimabue: Ytalia detail: the Senate with the SPQR and Orsini arms 34749 Cimabue: crossing vault detail, Ytalia 34950 Upper Church, south transept, west triforium 35451 Upper Church, the papal throne in the centre of the apse 36052 Cimabue, Assumption of the Virgin, Upper Church apse 36153 Upper Church nave, first bay, north wall, with Cycle nos. 1–3 36854 The Nativity, second bay, south wall 37355 St Clare grieving over St Francis’ dead body at San Damiano on its way
to Assisi, Cycle no. 23 37656 Apotheosis of St Francis, Upper Church nave, second bay, vault 37957 Upper Church nave, second bay, north wall, with Cycle nos. 4–6 38058 Upper Church nave, third bay, north wall, with Cycle nos. 7–9 38459 Upper Church nave, first bay, south wall, with Cycle nos. 26–28 38660 The Christmas crib, Cycle no. 13 39061 Brother Sylvester at Arezzo and St Francis before the Sultan, Cycle
nos. 10 and 11 39462 St Francis in ecstasy, Cycle no. 12 39663 St Francis preaching before Honorius III and the Chapter at Arles,
Cycle nos. 17 and 18 39864 St Francis receives the stigmata on La Verna, Cycle no. 19 40265 The link between stigmatisation, crucifixion and St Francis’ death, south
wall, with Cycle nos. 19 and 20 40566 Cycle nos. 20–22, third bay, south wall 40667 The verification of the stigmata, Cycle no. 22 40968 The counter-façade, with Cycle nos. 14–15: the miracle of the spring and
St Francis preaching to the birds 41169 Torriti, preparatory design for the Creator 42070 Isaac and Esau: third bay, north wall 42371 Lower Church, St Nicholas chapel, entrance wall 42972 Detail from the Coronation of the Virgin, Rome, Santa Maria Maggiore,
apse mosaic: St Francis, St Paul, St Peter with Nicholas IV, signed‘Jacopo Torriti painter’ 451
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
1 Bologna, Plan of the Dominican Church page 712 Florence, Plan of Santa Maria Novella 723 Istanbul, Kalenderhane Camii, St Francis Chapel, reconstruction 2064 St Francis frescoes: reconstruction of fragments 2085 St Francis frescoes: diagram of programme 2086 St Francis frescoes, scene 5: Preaching to the birds 2097 St Francis frescoes, scene 3: a healing miracle 2118 St Francis frescoes: scene 6 2139 St Francis frescoes, scene 9, death of St Francis 21410 Assisi, Basilica of St Francis, Upper Church: Plan of windows 30711 Giovanni Acquaroni, engraving of the tomb of St Francis under the high
altar of the Lower Church in the Basilica of St Francis at Assisi, based on thedesign of the architect B. Lorenzini, made during the excavations of 1818–19 459
12 Giovanni Acquaroni, engraving of the iron cage and the sarcophagus, 1819 463
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
This book has been long in the making, and I owe many debts. Professor Paul Binskihas given constant help and encouragement, and read all the chapters on art andarchitecture, which have greatly benefited fromhis advice and criticism. The ReverendDrMichael Robson, OFMConv., also has given constant help and encouragement andbeen most generous in loan of books, in bibliographical advice and in keeping me intouch with his confreres in Assisi. I have hadmuch valued help from Professor EamonDuffy, Professor Nigel Morgan, Professor Andre Vauchez, Professor David d’Avray –and many others.I owe a special debt to the Cambridge University Press, and especially to William
Davies, Simon Whitmore and Michael Watson, my editors, to Alison Powell, SineadMoloney and Sarah Parker, to my copy-editor Frances Brown, to the designer, JackieTaylor – and to the anonymous readers of the first draft of this book.Over the years I have had much help in processing from Mrs Edna Pilmer and my
husband,ChristopherBrooke–whohashimselfbeenaidedbytheresourcesofGonvilleand Caius College.For permission to quote extensively frommy translation of The Writings of Leo, Rufino
andAngelo, Companions of St Francis (OxfordMedieval Texts, corr. repr. 1990) I amgratefulto Anne Gelling, the Rights Manager and the Delegates of Oxford University Press.In pursuit of illustrations Dr Michael Robson introduced me to P. Pasquale Magro
andP.GerhardRufof theSacroConvento,Assisi, andFatherRuf introducedme toHerrStefan Diller ofWurzburg. To Stefan Diller I am indebted, as photographer and agent,for the greater part ofmy illustrations,which includemany by FatherRuf. Both of themhave generously taken photographs specially forme. Full details of photographers andcopyrights are given in the captions, and it is a pleasure to record here the kind andready help I have had from Stefan Diller, Gerhard Ruf and Pasquale Magro.Professor Lee Striker provided Plate 23 and Figures 3–9. I have treasured memo-
ries of our discussions in the hospitable environment of his home in Philadelphia.Dr Joanna Cannon lent me a print of Plate 75 – and both also generously gave me per-mission to publish them. Professor Paul Binski lentme the prints for Plates 40–46, and
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
Dr Grazia Visintainer and the Istituto Germanico di Storia dell’Arte, Florence, gaveme generous permission to use them. For other plates I am grateful to the Master andFellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and to the Librarian, Dr Christopherde Hammel, and the Sub-Librarian, Mrs Gill Cannell; to the Syndics of the CambridgeUniversity Library, and especially to Mr David Hall and Dr Patrick Zutshi; to the GettyResearch Institute, LosAngeles, andMsBarbaraFurbush; toMmeAnneLesageandhercolleagues and the Reunion des Musees Nationaux, Paris; to Mrs G. M. Reynolds, theUniversity of Michigan and the Michigan-Princeton-Alexandria Expedition to MountSinai; and to Signore Abbrescia Santinelli and Face2Face Studio, Rome. To all, my verywarm thanks.I acknowledge innumerable debts to my research assistant, secretary, picture
researcher, indexer and husband of fifty-four summers and winters, Christopher –whose unstinting help and exemplary impatience have shaped this book. I dedicate itto him.
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
Acta Sanctorum: Acta Sanctorum Bollandiana, Brussels, etc., 1643–AF: Analecta Franciscana, Quaracchi, 1885–AFH: Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, Quaracchi and Grottaferrata, 1908–AFP: Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum, 1931–ALKG: Archiv fur Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte, ed.H.Denifle and F. Ehrle, 7 vols., Berlinand Freiburg-im-Breisgau, 1885–1900
AP: L’Anonyme de Perouse, ed. P.-B. Beguin, Paris, 1979Assisi 1974: La “Questione Francescana” dal Sabatier ad oggi: Atti del I Convegno Internazionale,Assisi, 18–20 ottobre 1973, Societa Internazionale di Studi Francescani, Assisi, 1974
Assisi 1978: Assisi al Tempo di San Francesco: Atti del V Convegno Internazionale, Assisi, 13–16ottobre 1977, Societa Internazionale di Studi Francescani, Assisi, 1978
Assisi 1980: Il Tesoro della Basilica di San Francesco ad Assisi, ed. R. B. Fanelli et al., Assisi,1980
Assisi 1999: The Treasury of St Francis of Assisi, ed. G.Morello and L. B. Kanter,Milan, 1999Bonav.: Bonaventure, Legenda Maior S. Francisci, in AF x, 555–652Bonav.,Miracula: in AF, x, 627–52Bonaventure, Opera Omnia, 10 vols., Quaracchi, 1882–1902; and see Bougerol 1994,Delorme 1934
Cat. Generale IV: Catalogue Generale des Manuscrits des Bibliotheques Publiques de Departements,iv, Paris, 1872
1, 2, 3 Cel.: ThomasofCelano, Vita Prima, Vita Secunda andTractatus deMiraculis S. FrancisciAssisiensis, referred to by paragraphs in theQuaracchi editions, AF x (1926–41), 1–331
Chron. 24 Gen.: ‘Chronicle of the Twenty-Four Generals’ in AF iii (1897)Clare 1985: Claire d’Assise, Ecrits, ed. M.-F. Becker, J.-F. Godet and T. Matura, SourcesChretiennes 325, Paris, 1985
DBI: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Rome, 1960–Eccleston: Fratris Thomae vulgo dicti de Eccleston Tractatus de adventu fratrum minorum inAngliam, ed. A. G. Little, 2nd edn, Manchester, 1951
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-78291-3 - The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth CenturyRosalind B. BrookeFrontmatterMore information
Firmamenta:Firmamenta triumordinumbeatissimiPatrisnostri Francisci,Paris, 1511–12:Hughof Digne’s Expositio Regulae and Disputatio are in this edition in quarta pars, 1511
Jordan: Chronica fratris Jordani, ed. H. Boehmer, Paris, 1908Julian, Julian of Speyer: Fr. Julianus de Spira, Vita S. Francisci, in AF x, 335–71Liber Extra, X: ‘Decretalium Gregorii pp. IX compilatio’, in Corpus Iuris Canonici, ed.E. Friedberg, ii, Leipzig, 1881
MGH:Monumenta Germaniae HistoricaMisc. Fr.:Miscellanea FrancescanaMOPH:Monumenta Ordinis Praedicatorum HistoricaNarb.: Constitutions of Narbonne, in M. Bihl, ‘Statuta Generalia Ordinis, edita incapitulis generalibus celebratis Narbonae an. 1260, Assisii an. 1279, atque Parisiisan. 1292’, AFH 34 (1941), 13–94, 284–358
ODCC: The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd edn, ed. F. L. Cross and E. A.Livingstone, Oxford, 1997
OMT: Oxford Medieval TextsOv, Ordinem vestrum: the bull is cited from Eubel 1908, pp. 238–9PL: Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, ed. J. P. Migne, 221 vols., Paris, 1844–64Potthast: Potthast, A., ed.,Regesta pontificum Romanorum A.D. 1198–1304, 2 vols., Berlin,1874–5
Qe, Quo elongati: see H. Grundmann, ‘Die Bulle “Quo elongati” Papst Gregors IX’, AFH54 (1961), 3–25
RS: Rolls SeriesSalimbene, H and S Salimbene de Adam, Cronica, ed. O. Holder-Egger,MGH Scriptoresxxxii, 1905–13 (H); ed. G. Scalia, 2 vols., Scrittori d’Italia 232–3, Bari, 1966 (S)
Sbaralea: Sbaralea, J. H., ed., Bullarium Franciscanum, 4 vols., Rome, 1759–68: referredto by p. and no. – g9 = Gregory IX, i4 = Innocent IV, n3 = Nicholas III, n4 =Nicholas IV, b8= Boniface VIII; and by no. in Eubel 1908
SL: Scripta Leonis, Rufini et Angeli sociorum S. Francisci: The Writings of Leo, Rufino and Angelo,Companions of St Francis, ed. and trans. R. B. Brooke, OMT, Oxford, 1970, corr. repr.1990
3 Soc.: Legenda Trium Sociorum, ed. T. Desbonnets, AFH 67 (1974), 38–144Sp S: Speculum Perfectionis, ed. P. Sabatier, 2nd edn, British Society of Franciscan Studies,13, 17, Manchester, 1928–31
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