Troubles in the Order

“AND IT certainly arouses wonder since a man, who was afflicted by a certain natural bulkiness and furthermore suffered from continual sickness, nevertheless, out of untiring zeal for souls, persevered in preaching, teaching and listening to confessions until sunset, and often without having eaten.” This is what the astonished, unknown author of the Assidua wrote. Because the writer of this first biography may have been an eye-witness, the account proves that Anthony was already suffering greatly. It also shows, however, that our Saint would not allow anyone to dissuade him from his mission, despite the reasonable and sensible advice his friends were giving him: “Be careful – look after your own health!” Anthony’s outer appearance was certainly not that of a debilitated ascetic because he was affected by dropsy, the swelling of soft tissue due to the accumulation of excess water. This condition is called ‘edema’ today, and because of this illness, Anthony probably also had heart and circulatory problems.

Frederick II

At this point let us turn our thoughts to the founder of the Order, St. Francis, who was also stricken with ill-health. The Poor Man of Assisi was likewise plagued by illness in the last years of his life, particularly with eye-disease. On July 16, 1228, less than two years after his death, Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in Assisi. This canonization was closely linked to Gregory’s conflict with Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor. By canonizing Francis, Gregory was drawing the Franciscan Order more closely under the Curia’s direct control. Moreover, by favoring the Order, Gregory was hoping to counteract, by voluntary poverty, the love of luxury and splendor rampant among many ecclesiastics. The day after the canonization, the Pope also laid the foundation stone of the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, which would in the future hold Francis’ mortal remains.

The new Basilica was the Pope’s political project; it was his response to the Rocca Maggiore castle perched above Assisi, which had been built by the Holy Roman emperors and their allies. The castle had been extensively damaged in 1198 when Assisi passed over to the papal side.

Gregory’s Chapter

Whether Anthony was present at Francis’ canonization and the laying of the foundation stone of the Basilica is unknown. Anthony, of course, as a Franciscan, would have been fully aware of these developments.

Then, on 25 May 1230, the Day of Pentecost, Saint Francis’ remains were brought in solemn procession to the Lower Basilica from their temporary burial place in the church of San Giorgio, now the Basilica of Saint Clare of Assisi. This event was planned in conjunction with the Order’s Pentecost Chapter of that year, and we have certain documentary evidence that Anthony was present at this Chapter, also because, as minister provincial in northern Italy, he would have been obliged to attend. Indeed, this is one of the few dates about his life we are sure of, so it is almost certain that Anthony was also present or at least a witness of the solemn procession which transferred Francis’ body to the new Basilica.

The Pope had himself called this Chapter. In a twist of fate, pressing engagements prevented Pope Gregory IX himself from attending both the translation of Francis’ mortal remains to the new Basilica and the Chapter he himself had convoked.

Tumultuous event

The translation of the Saint’s body actually took place in a tumultuous and violent atmosphere, but events of this kind regarding relics and the mortal remains of holy people were not uncommon during the Middle Ages. One of the reasons for the tension was that the friars were afraid that Francis’ mortal remains could be stolen by ill-intentioned people to be sold on the black market, for relics in those days were worth more than gold. Not only this, but the people of Assisi were afraid that their ancient enemies, the citizens of nearby Perugia, could send an armed force to take possession of the Saint’s body and claim it as their own. Another source of tension was a rumor that had spread among the local population. The story was that some of the leading friars of the Order, under the guidance of Elias of Cortona, had already translated Francis’ body (in order to keep it safe) to a secret place a few days before the official ceremony.

Some people in the crowd therefore had the nagging suspicion that the Saint’s wooden coffin was empty, and felt deceived and betrayed. All this came to a head when the common people of Assisi were denied entrance to the Basilica. Apparently, the friars wanted to keep the actual burial place in the Basilica hidden. Needless to say, the multitudes of excluded people revolted against the leading friars.

Turbulent chapter

As if all this were not enough there was already a group of friars who felt that all this fuss about the Basilica was proof positive of the fact that Francis’ ideal had been betrayed in his Order, and this sentiment was transferred to the General Chapter, which forced the meeting to face a list of thorny problems.

After the unsettling Chapter in Assisi, the dispute over the Order’s direction and the authentic interpretation of Francis’ Rule was taken to Rome before the Pope and the cardinals. It is almost certain that Anthony was right in the midst of all these developments. Indeed, he was a member of the delegation which travelled to Rome to brief the Pope about what was happening in the Order.

The sources are very weak on the information about Anthony’s stay in Rome, though we know that he went there with five other friars. We can, however, assume that Anthony had more than one audience with the Pope, and also that he frequently preached sermons to the Curia. It is easy to imagine that the Pope had already heard about this very active Franciscan friar. Anthony had for some time now, and the fact that he was sent to Rome is proof enough, ceased to be a ‘no-body’.

Quo elongati

Pope Gregory IX took his time before giving a definitive answer to the conflicts over the direction that the Franciscan Order was taking. It was only on October 17, 1230, that he formulated his position about these conflicts with the Bull Quo elongati, in which he referred to the only “text of Rules” approved by the Church for the Order, the one established on November 29, 1223, while also managing to bring Francis’ existing Testament of ‘unsoftened’ poverty into the equation.

The Pope, however, was unable to settle the dispute with this bull. It flared up again, and was aggravated by other issues, all of which eventually led to a split in the Order.

Full-time preacher

For Anthony himself the 1230 Chapter led to another change. The Assidua reports briefly and to the point, “At the time of the General Chapter when the most holy relics of blessed Father Francis were carried to the church where they repose and are duly venerated, the servant of God was released from the government of the friars and received from the Minister General full freedom to preach.”

This meant no more and no less that Anthony had given up the provincial office of the huge province of Romagna (northern Italy) so that, in addition to his duties as delegate to the Pope, he might dedicate himself wholly to preaching. It was a kind of special position which could only have been created in the Order’s structure during the early, freer and more flexible foundation period. John Parenti, who was still the Minister General at the time, had opened up a field of activity for Anthony and freed him of many administrative duties. From Rome Anthony returned to Padua – for the last year of life he had left. The circle was slowly closing, but something was still expected of Anthony. He was about 35 years old and ill, but he hadn’t quite used up all his energy: the tank was not yet empty!