Spiritual Franciscans Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Roger Bacon and the Defence of Christendom, The Catholic Historical Review, 2015, 101:3, pp. 625-627.

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- Franciscan Studies, Bonaventure, Franciscan Spirituality, Spiritual Franciscans

Individuata nel corso degli spogli miranti alla catalogazione delle Bibbie in italiano (XIII-XV sec.), la traduzione in lingua di sì della Lectura super Apocalipsim di Pietro di Giovanni Olivi che qui si presenta costituisce l’unica... more

A report of Francis of Assisi foretelling a non-canonically elected pope is circulating online in English translation. The translation is of a text edited by Luke Wadding in 1623. With the advances of Franciscan studies over the last century, we can assert with confidence that Wadding's text is a distraction from the real origin of the report, namely a small collection of sayings that circulated in the fourteenth century as the "Verba fratris Conradi." We also can say with confidence that those sayings were written in the first half of the fourteenth century by zelanti who were trying to make sense of their experience of being persecuted both by their superiors and the popes themselves.

Between 1466 and 1467 about twenty men and women from Poli (in Lazio) and Maiolati (Marche) were tried with the accusation of adhering to the heresy of the fraticelli. The examination repeatedly insisted on the “barilotto” (keg) accusation: more or less promptly confirmed by the accused – who were subject to torture – it regarded the incestuous orgies, the ritual infanticides and the acts of cannibalism in which the heretics would have indulged in their nocturnal meetings. From the accusations against the early Christians, medieval heretical groups and the Jews, the elements of this hostile stereotype had a long tradition, in which gender discrimination (the sexual unruliness typical of witches) met with class discrimination, since the barilotto was also a typical element of satire against peasants. After having recalled the accusation’s genealogy, the essay aims to interpret its strategical reasons. These connect to the theological and ecclesiological evolution of fifteenth-century papacy, which was by then disinterested towards compromise with the ideals of evangelical poverty, and, after the end of the Schism, less and less willing to tolerate whatever could jeopardize its hierarchical structure. The article examines the stereotype’s effectiveness, which was due to the wide reach of the pastoral activity of the minoritic Observance, that aimed at discrediting the fraticelli, whose ideals of Christian perfection were in competition with it. The article also analyses the literary fortune of this stereotype, from the historiographical and polemical literature of the Reformation and Counterreformation up to Bayle’s Dictionnaire.

- by Marco Guida
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- Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Franciscan Studies, Spiritual Franciscans

In the first decades of the Franciscan Order foundation, in the Middle Ages, an internal struggle would culminate in a greater debate on the concept of plenitudo potestatis – the Papal power – and its relation with the Christendom (societas christiana), which encompassed personalities such as William of Ockam and Marsilius of Padua, and others.
The rigorous research was originally published in 1995, when it received the prestigious Brazilian Jabuti Prize. The new, completely revised edition, translated to English offers itself to those interested on the theological and philosophical thought of a formative period of the Western Civilization.

- by Nachman Falbel
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- Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Franciscan Studies, Franciscan Spirituality
- by Kevin L Hughes
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- Christian Mysticism, Mysticism, Franciscan Studies, Bonaventure

The central hypothesis of this paper raises the possibility that the mariology of St. Bonaventure maybe could have exercised substantial, direct influence on several of the most significant Marian iconographic themes in Italian art of the Late Middle Ages. After a brief biographical sketch to highlight the prominent position of this saint as a master of Scholasticism, as a prestigious writer, the highest authority of the Franciscan Order and accredited Doctor of the Church, the author of this paper presents the thesis developed by St. Bonaventure in each one of his many " Mariological Discourses " before analyzing a set of pictorial images representing various Marian iconographic themes in which we could detect the probable influence of bonaventurian mariology.

- by Pietro Messa
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- Franciscan Studies, Franciscan Spirituality, Spiritual Franciscans, Franciscans
- by Michele Lodone
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- Renaissance Studies, Apocalypticism, Preaching, Eschatology and Apocalypticism

Using Ernesto Buonaiuti's notion of a "corporate-social mysticism," this essay explores the theology of history of Joachim, Bonaventure, and Olivi as a kind of mystical theology. In this light, their differences and similarities emerge... more

- by Kevin L Hughes
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- Mysticism, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Franciscan Studies, Bonaventure

Santo Antônio de Lisboa, Doutor da Igreja, é uma das mais influentes figuras da Escola Franciscana, seja pelo conhecimento doutrinário, seja pela visão renovada da teologia mística de São Francisco de Assis. Neste artigo analisaremos a visão antoniana sobre Maria, desde a sua maternidade divina até à maternidade espiritual que envolve toda a Igreja através dos séculos. Palavras-chave: mariologia antoniana; maternidade divina, dimensão kenótica, dimensão esponsal, maternidade espiritual, cooperação à salvação, relação de Maria com os cristãos.
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St. Anthony of Lisbon, Doctor of the Church, is one of the most influential figures of the Franciscan School, both for his doctrinal knowledge, and for his renewed vision of the mystical theology of St. Francis of Assisi. In this article we will analyse the Anthonian vision of Mary, from her divine maternity to her spiritual maternity which involves the entire Church throughout the centuries. Keywords: Anthonian Mariology, divine maternity, kenotic dimension, espousal dimension, spiritual maternity, cooperation in salvation, relationship of Mary with Christians.

- by Daniel C E R Q U E I R A Afonso and +1
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- Medieval Literature, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Franciscan Studies
- by Pietro Messa
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- Bonaventure, Franciscan Spirituality, Spiritual Franciscans, Franciscanism
- by Alberto Cadili
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- Religion, History, Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy

A proposito di Pietro di Giovanni Olivi frate minore. Atti del XLIII Convegno internazionale (Assisi, 16-18 ottobre 2015), Spoleto, CISAM, 2016.

- by Michele Lodone and +1
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- Renaissance Studies, Renaissance Humanism, Christian Mysticism, Mysticism
- by Nere Jone Intxaustegi Jauregi
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- Religion, History, Early Modern History, History of Religion

Travis E. Ables, in “The Apocalyptic Figure of Francis’s
Stigmatized Body: The Politics of Scripture in Bonaventure’s
Meditative Treatises,” argues that a popular theological politics is receiving support, structure, and guidance in Bonaventure’s mystical treatises. The treatises are Bonaventure’s attempt to codify a Franciscan reading of scripture that idealizes Francis and offers a kind of "imitatio francisci," but does so for the purpose of maintaining the popular appeal and accessibility of Francis’s performance of the life of Christ.
[(final publication version - in Reading Scripture as a Political Act, ed. McClain and Tapie, Fortress Press 2015; http://fortresspress.com/product/reading-scripture-political-act-essays-theopolitical-interpretation-bible)

- by Travis Ables
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- Bonaventure, Franciscan Spirituality, Heresy, Spiritual Franciscans
- by John Tolan
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- Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Medieval Church History, Franciscan Studies

The ecclesial, theological and pastoral renewal invoked for the whole Church by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council has pushed the Franciscan family to a serious rethinking of its own spirituality, for a renewed presence in the world and an ever more effective evangelical and evangelizing action. The "continuous return to the sources of every form of Christian life and to the primitive inspiration of the institutes, and at the same time the adaptation of the institutes themselves to the changed conditions of the times" advocated by the Conciliar Decree Perfectae Caritatis, led the Order of Franciscan Friars, not only to the drafting of the new General Constitutions but also, and above all, together with the entire Franciscan family, to an update of the studies on the writings of Francis of Assisi.
In this contribution, we will try to understand the importance of formation and study in Franciscan life and we will try to draw from it some identifying and qualifying elements. It will be necessary first of all to refer to Francis of Assisi and his writings. The perspective of St. Bonaventure will be analyzed subsequently, in a synthetic and summary line. And finally, the characteristics of Franciscan formation and the importance of study in the life of the Franciscan Friars will be outlined, starting from today's indications provided by the documents of the Order of Franciscan Friars.

"a) "David von Augsburg als Meister der traditionellen Stilkunst" - kurze Einführung in das literarische Werk und die Stilkunst des franziskanischen Novizenmeisters David von Augsburg (gest. 1272).
b) David von Augsburg: „Die sieben Staffeln des Gebetes“ - Übersetzung aus dem Lateinischen ins Russische (unter Einbeziehung der deutschen Fassung В) und Kommentar von Nikolai Bondarko. In: Simvol (Zeitschrift für christliche Kultur, gegründet 1979 von der Slawischen Bibliothek in Paris: Paris; Moskau, 2007), 15. S. 357-378."

The aim of this conference is to examine the artistic legacy of the Mendicant Orders, namely the Franciscans and the Dominicans, in the eastern Mediterranean. This is a hitherto unexplored topic, overshadowed by the extensive research on the mendicants mainly in Italy and the West in general. Unlike the Crusaders, who were viewed with hostility in the East, the ascetic way of living of the mendicants was instrumental in promoting a compassionate face of Catholic Western Europe in the eyes of Orthodox Easterners. Their vow to poverty and active charity towards the poor brought in closer contact two worlds of differing doctrines, hitherto divided by the trauma of the religious schism in 1054 and the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204.

- by Ioanna Christoforaki and +13
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- Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Medieval Archaeology, Byzantine Studies
- by Ronald G. Musto
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- Medieval Italy, Spiritual Franciscans, Joachim of Fiore, Medieval Naples
- by Mark Evan Davis
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- Religion, Medieval Studies, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Franciscan Studies

The essay focuses on a vision attributed to Francis of Assisi, in which the saint predicts the advent of a heretic pope, the decline of the Franciscan Order and the persecution of the few righteous. The first attestations of the prophecy, which met with great success between the late Middle Ages and the modern era, date back to the beginning of the 14th century, when the text circulated within the persecuted groups of “Spiritual” Franciscans. It is not clear to whom the hint to the heretic pope originally referred: the vague and unspecified nature of the vision favours the active role of the readers, who are entrusted with the responsibility of making explicit the allusions. Moreover, the intrinsic ambiguity of prophetic language is intertwined with the “mediated” nature of a speech delivered by Francis, transmitted by his companion Brother Leo, but recorded only by later authors such as Corrado of Offida and Angelo Clareno. In this stratified memory, the transmission of the alleged words of Francis testified the charismatic continuity between the “founder” and his true disciples: the few spiritual friars, which were isolated and persecuted, and therefore all the more in need of a guarantee of authenticity that would justify and somehow redeem their defeat.

Tra la fine del Quattrocento e l’inizio del Cinquecento Gabriele Biondo, figlio del grande umanista Biondo Flavio, fu guida – da Modigliana e poi da Firenze – di una comunità fortemente sospetta di eterodossia. Dopo aver brevemente ricostruito la biografia del personaggio, il saggio ne approfondisce i rapporti con la dissidenza francescana, prendendo in esame la sua originale lettura di autori quali Angelo Clareno, Ubertino da Casale, Ugo Panziera e Iacopone da Todi.

- by Alberto Cadili
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- Religion, History, Medieval Philosophy, Theology

In the last years of his life, between 1292 and 1298, the Franciscan Peter of John Olivi wrote a series of short devotional texts, known as Opuscula, aimed at the religious edification of the laity. Olivi’s perspective was strongly eschatological: in his opinion, the imminence of the end of time made lay religious experience more authentic than that of the clergy, which would eventually oppose the final evangelical renewal.
Among the twelve surviving Opuscula, the most eschatologically oriented is titled Remedia contra temptationes spirituales. The Remedia are characterized by a cautious and rigorous judgment on spiritual gifts, such as visions and raptures. According to Olivi, these phenomena are particularly difficult to discern when the Antichrist is approaching and “some will renounce the faith by paying heed to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons” (I Tim 4, 1). Following this apocalyptic perspective of discretio spirituum, the Remedia are divided into two parts: the first includes twelve remedies against spiritual temptations, whereas the second puts forward four remedies against corrupt teachers and their doctrines. This structure, however, is not fixed. The work is transmitted by a huge number of manuscripts, is often attributed, as we will see, to other authors (Bonaventure, Venturino of Bergamo), or forms part of larger works (such as Ludolph of Saxony’s Vita Christi or Vincent Ferrer’s Tractatus de vita spirituali). Accordingly, its structure remains fluid from version to version.
By focusing on the Latin and Italian vernacular traditions of the Remedia, this paper will identify two ways of reading Olivi’s work: one more radical, which emphasizes the eschatological orientation of the text; the other more focused on erasing or blurring its apocalyptic implications.

- by Michele Lodone
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- Inquisition, Franciscan Studies, Spirituality & Mysticism, Franciscan Spirituality
- by Ronald G. Musto
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- Medieval Italy, Spiritual Franciscans

September, 1219: as the armies of the fifth crusade besieged the Egyptian city of Damietta, Francis of Assisi and friar Illuminatus crossed over to the Egyptian camp to preach to the Sultan al-Malik al-Kâmil. After a number of days, the two friars returned to the crusader camp, having apparently spoken with the Sultan, though we know very little about what was said. This has not prevented writers from the thirteenth century to the twentieth, unencumbered by mere facts, from portraying Francis alternatively as a new apostle preaching to the infidels, a scholastic theologian proving the truth of Christianity, a champion of the crusading ideal, a naive and quixotic wanderer, a crazed religious fanatic, or a medieval Gandhi preaching peace, love and understanding. As for al-Kâmil, he is variously presented as an enlightened pagan monarch hungry for evangelical teaching, a cruel oriental despot, or a worldly libertine. This study of the varying depictions of this lapidary encounter throws into relief the changing fears and hopes that Muslim-Christian encounters inspire in European artists and writers over eight centuries.

- by John Tolan
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- Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Historiography, Franciscan Studies

The reign of Pope John XXII was marred by unrelenting criticism from his contemporary opponents. As such, John has been considered one the most controversial figures to have ever ascended to the papal throne, with historians citing a plethora of polemics released against him throughout his pontificate. In this paper, I will look to explore, and connect, three sources that came to comment on Pope John XXII’s character and personage in an attempt to account for their varying conclusions as to his role in history. In examining these sources I will particularly focus on the motives, meanings and context surrounding these works, so that I may compare and contrast their observations which, especially in one of our case studies, will reveal a more multitextured environment than has been observed by historians thus far. In so doing I hope that this work will help us to start to answer the question, can we consider John XXII to be ‘...the most popular candidate for the role of Papal Antichrist in medieval history...’ as some of his contemporaries have led us to believe? Or should we start to view his pontificate and the criticisms of it with a more critical lens?

- by John Tolan
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- Medieval History, Hagiography, Medieval Studies, Missiology and Mission Theology

(Author) Juana Maria ARCELUS-ULIBARRENA, in MISTICI FRANCESCANI SPAGNOLI. Secolo XVI, IV, Padova: Edizioni Francescane, coll. Fonti e Ricerche, (a c.di) G. Pasquale, Introduz. G. Chiappini pp.1861-1897.
Uno dei più grandi mistici del '500 spagnolo, Bernabé de Palma è presentato da una Introduzione con la biografia essenziale, quindi viene alla luce (per la prima volta tradotto in italiano) il testo di "Via Spiritus" pubblicato solo due mesi dopo la sua morte, il quale rispecchia al meglio l'originalità francescana del Mistico del Quattro-Cinquecento per eccellenza, proponendo un percorso di perfezione per l'anima, ben strutturato in quattro "stadi": lo stadio di ciò ch'è puro corporeo; lo stadio di ciò ch'è spirituale corporeo; lo stadio del "puro spirituale" e lo stadio soprannaturale, quindi la prospettiva dell'unione dell'anima con Dio in cui convergono tutte le sue linee di ricerca sulla profondità dell'anima.
ABSTRACT:
- Lateranum. Lateran University, 76 (2010) p. 566;
- L’Osservatore Romano, 25 nov. 2010, p. 4 (F. Mazzocchi, Il buon prezzo della gloria. I mistici francescani del Siglo de oro);
- Tau 21 (2010), n. 10 (198) p. 25 (P. Toni);
- Nouvelle Revue Théologique (NRT) 133/3 (2011) p. 483, Decloux;
- Archivum Franciscanum Historicum 104 (2011) p. 331-334 (W. J. Short)]
MISTICI FRANCESCANI SPAGNOLI IV, Padova: Edizioni Francescane, coll. Fonti e Ricerche, (a c.di) G. Pasquale & C. Cargnoni, Introduz. G. Chiappini pp. 1861-1897 [ISSN/IBSN: 978-88-8135-016-2]