For a century and a half, from the Marches of Ancona to Sicily and from Naples to Florence, groups of brothers in patched habits lived in woods, hermitages and the houses of the wealthy, calling themselves the only true sons of Saint Francis, and holding Rome to be a fallen Church. They were called the Fraticelli, the "little brothers"[1]. They were neither an order nor quite a single sect: rather a loose constellation of communities born of the gravest internal crisis the Franciscan order ever knew, the quarrel over poverty[2].
It all starts from one demand of Francis of Assisi: to possess nothing, neither individually nor in common[3]. As the order grows and becomes institutionalized, two readings clash: the Spirituals, who want the letter of poverty, and the Community, which accepts the arrangements authorized by the popes[4]. Neither Nicholas III (Exiit qui seminat, 1279) nor Clement V at the Council of Vienne (Exivi de paradiso, 1312) manages to reconcile the two camps[5]. Under John XXII, the rupture becomes schism, then condemned heresy: Sancta Romana (30 December 1317), Gloriosam ecclesiam (23 January 1318), Cum inter nonnullos (12 November 1323)[6].
The Fraticelli are nevertheless neither Cathars nor Albigensians nor Waldensians: they propose neither a dualist cosmology nor a parallel Church born of another root. Their drama lies inside Franciscanism: by making absolute poverty the criterion of the true Church, they come to declare that any pope who contests it has ceased to be pope, and that they alone now constitute the Church[7]. It is this logic, from the burning at Marseilles (7 May 1318) to the trials of the fifteenth-century Inquisition, that this article tells.
Where the Fraticelli come from: the Franciscan quarrel over poverty
Francis had refused everything, even in common
The Rule approved by Honorius III in 1223 (Regula bullata) is unambiguous: the brothers must appropriate nothing, neither house, nor place, nor anything[8]:
« Fratres nihil sibi approprient, nec domum, nec locum, nec aliquam rem. », Rule of Saint Francis (1223), chapter 6[9]
"Let the brothers appropriate nothing to themselves, neither house, nor place, nor anything." (Ignispedia translation)
But can an order of several thousand brothers, in charge of churches, convents and houses of study, live while possessing nothing? From the thirteenth century onward, the popes intervene: Gregory IX, Innocent IV, then Nicholas III who, in Exiit qui seminat (14 August 1279), transfers to the Roman Church the ownership of all the property of the Minors, with the brothers keeping only its simple use[10]. The legal fiction holds as long as no one contests it. Yet a whole wing of the order contests it: the Zelanti, who will be called the Spirituals[11].
Spirituals against the Community: two readings of Francis
The divide is simple to state, lasting to resolve. The Spirituals want observance to the letter: strict poverty, refusal of mitigations, distrust of studies and honours, an expectation frequently coloured by Joachimism of a spiritual Church to come[12]. The Community, the mass of the order soon called conventual, accepts the pontifical declarations and the organization needed by a great order[13]. The thirteenth-century popes multiply arbitrations, but unity never fully returns[14].
Celestine V: the hope of 1294, revoked within months
In the heart of the Marches of Ancona, a small group of uncompromising Spirituals, led by Ange Clareno (Angelo da Clareno, also da Cingoli) and Libérat de Macerata, has already known prison: condemned around 1278 to life imprisonment, they are freed by the minister general Raimondo Gaufredi (1289-1295) and sent on mission to Armenia, from which they are expelled at the end of 1293[15]. In 1294, the election of the old hermit Celestine V changes everything: the ascetic pope gladly authorizes them to live as hermits in strict observance of the Rule[16]. His pontificate lasts barely six months; his successor Boniface VIII revokes all his concessions[17]. The hermits flee to Greece, contest the legality of the pontifical act, are pursued through the intermediary of the Patriarch of Constantinople, then flow back into Italy[18]. Libérat tries to plead their rights before Boniface VIII (died 11 October 1303), then before Benedict XI (died 7 July 1304), and dies in 1307 on the road to Lyon, where he was going to plead before Clement V[19]. Ange Clareno alone takes the head of the small community[20].
Vienne (1312): the last attempt at reconciliation
Meanwhile, the crisis spreads across all Italy. In 1309, the conflict between the Relaxati and the Spirituals reaches a critical point; Clement V summons both parties before the Curia[21]. The result is the constitution Exivi de paradiso, promulgated at the last session of the Council of Vienne (6 May 1312): an explanation of the Rule stricter than that of Nicholas III, which proves the Spirituals right on several points[22]. Far from calming matters, the text provokes the superiors of the Community, who crack down on the zealous[23]. At the end of 1312, Tuscan Spirituals leave their convents, seize by force those of Carmignano (near Florence), Arezzo and Asciano, then, fearing punishment, about fifty of them flee to Sicily[24]. They solemnly protest, on 7 July 1313, against the violation of the Rule by the Conventuals[25]. On 14 May 1314, the prior of San Fedele in Siena, charged with executing the pontifical mandate, declares them excommunicated and lays their convents under interdict[26]. In Sicily, King Frédéric welcomes them after examining their statutes: they now have a leader, Henri de Ceva (Enrico da Ceva), and soon a new name[27].
1317-1318: the break with John XXII
Summons, excommunication, flight of Angelo Clareno
Angelo Clareno had come to Avignon in 1311, protected by his patrons, Cardinals Giacomo Colonna and Napoleon Orsini[28]. But the new pope, John XXII (elected in 1316), no longer wanted a parallel order: in early 1317, under a decree of Boniface VIII, he declared Angelo excommunicated and had him placed under guard[29]. Angelo defended himself skilfully in his Epistola excusatoria, presenting himself as a zealous Franciscan; the pope rejected his request (Angelo was a Celestine hermit, not a Friar Minor in good standing) and, by the decree Sancta Romana et universalis ecclesia (30 December 1317), refused to authorize his congregation[30]. Angelo submitted for a time, then fled in 1318 to central Italy: acting as general, he appointed provincials, ministers and custodes, founded new monasteries, sent pastoral letters, received novices (in a word, he founded an independent Franciscan order, that of the Fraticelli)[31].
His supporters declared themselves the authentic Friars Minor and now professed three theses that cut them off from Rome: John XXII was not truly pope, because he had abrogated the Rule of Francis, which is the pure and simple Gospel; his decrees were invalid; and mortal sin deprived priests of their dignity and priestly powers[32]. These views appear in the trials brought against his imprisoned supporters, notably in 1334, and in the many papal bulls, where they are generally called Fraticelli seu fratres de paupere vita ("Fraticelli, or brothers of the poor life")[33].
Marseille, 7 May 1318: four burnings at the stake
John XXII had summoned the recalcitrant Spirituals of Provence to submit: twenty-five appeared, most yielded, but four unyielding friars persisted in calling the pope a heretic and refusing all obedience[34]. On 7 May 1318, four Franciscan friars were burned alive at Marseille for heresy, the refusal of pontifical authority, and a fifth was condemned to life imprisonment[35]. The date marks the point of no return: henceforth, each camp held the other to be outside the Church.
Gloriosam ecclesiam and the five errors of the Sicilians
On 23 January 1318, by the bull Gloriosam ecclesiam, John XXII excommunicated the Spirituals who had taken refuge in Sicily, condemning five errors[36]:
| Condemned error | What the dissidents professed |
|---|---|
| The Roman Church is carnal | They called themselves the spiritual Church, alone faithful |
| Denial of the Roman priesthood | All power and jurisdiction denied to the priests of Rome |
| Prohibition of oaths | Refusal to swear under any circumstance |
| Sacraments invalidated by sin | A priest in a state of sin does not validly confer the sacraments |
| Monopoly of the Gospel | They alone truly observed the Gospel |
They then adopted a narrow, short and dirty habit as a rallying sign[37]. As early as 15 March 1317, the pope had urged King Frederick to crack down; driven out of Sicily (a few held on there at least until 1328), they established themselves firmly in the kingdom of Naples[38]. On 1 August 1322, a general decree against them; then John XXII sent King Robert the bulls concerning Ceva (4 February 1325) and demanded their imprisonment (10 May 1325), a warning repeated in 1327, 1330 and 1331, with the renewal of Gloriosam ecclesiam on 5 December 1329[39]. From then on, the followers of Ceva were barely distinguishable from the third group: they joined the Michaelites and shared their attacks against the papacy[40].
The theoretical quarrel: did Christ possess anything?
Narbonne, 1321: a Beguin tried, a lector who fights back
Until now the dispute had concerned the practice of poverty. In 1321, it became theoretical, and it is this quarrel, far more than the hermitages of the Marches, that would give the Fraticelli their doctrine[41]. The Dominican inquisitor of Narbonne, John of Belna, had the claim of an imprisoned Beguin condemned as heretical: that Christ and the Apostles would have possessed nothing, neither individually nor in common[42]. The Franciscan lector Berengar Talon took up the condemned man's defence and, threatened with punishment, appealed to the pope[43]. The case degenerated into a general controversy between Dominicans and Franciscans, and, among the latter, both Relaxati and zealots supported Berengar on the basis of Nicholas III's bull Exiit qui seminat[44].
The chapter of Perugia (June 1322) defies the pope
John XXII reopened the case: by Quia nonnunquam (26 March 1322), he lifted the ban on discussing the point settled by Nicholas III and submitted the question to a consistory (6 March 1322)[45]. The order was vigorously defended by the Franciscan cardinals Vital du Four and Bertrand de La Tour, Archbishop Arnaldo Royardi of Salerno and several bishops; other cardinals opposed it, and the pope leaned toward the opposition[46]. Ubertino of Casale, a famous spiritual leader, when consulted, proposed on 28 March 1322 a subtle distinction, whose substance the Catholic Encyclopedia reports as follows: Christ and the Apostles possessed goods as governing the Church, but not as private persons nor as models of Christian perfection[47].
The distinction could have satisfied both camps, but the general chapter of the order, convened at Perugia for 1 June 1322 by General Michael of Cesena (elected in 1316), ruined all chance of peace: on 4 June, on the advice of Cardinals Vital and Bertrand, it solemnly declared the "absolute poverty" of Christ, and published its decrees to all Christendom on 11 June[48]. The document was signed by the general, the provincials of southern Germany, England, Aquitaine, northern France and several renowned scholars[49].
Ad conditorem, Cum inter nonnullos: Rome decides, and condemns
Indignant, John XXII replied with Ad conditorem canonum (8 December 1322): the Roman Church renounced all its rights over the movable and immovable goods of the order, thereby revoking Nicholas III's bull Exiit and removing the legal foundation of Franciscan poverty[50]. In the name of the order, Bonagrazia (Boncortese) of Bergamo, a skilful jurist and until then a fierce enemy of the zealots, presented a bold protest to the consistory (14 January 1323): the pope had him imprisoned, revised the text of the bull then reissued it under its original date[51]. Finally, by Cum inter nonnullos (12 November 1323), John XXII declared heretical the assertion that Christ and the Apostles possessed nothing, neither individually nor in common[52]:
"To declare obstinately that our Redeemer and Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles possessed nothing either individually or even in common must be branded as heresy.", John XXII, Cum inter nonnullos, 12 November 1323 (Denzinger, n. 930-935)[53]
By Quia quorundam (10 November 1324), the pope forbade any contradiction of his constitutions; the chapter of Lyon (20 May 1325), presided over by Michael of Cesena, in turn forbade any disrespectful word toward the pope[54]. The loop seemed closed. It was not: it was precisely this doctrinal condemnation that would provide the Fraticelli with their master argument, that a pope who declares the poverty of Christ heretical has himself ceased to be Catholic[55].
The imperial alliance: Louis of Bavaria and the antipope
From the Friars Minor quarrel to the Empire versus papacy conflict
The controversy soon took a political turn: the Friars Minor became advisers to Louis IV of Bavaria, King of Germany, himself in conflict with the pope[56]. After his victory at Mühldorf over Frederick of Austria (28 September 1322) and his entry into Lombardy in support of the Ghibelline Visconti, John XXII brought the whole question of the German throne before his court and opened canonical proceedings against Louis (8 October 1323)[57]. The Nuremberg appeal (18 December 1323) still accused the pope of unduly favouring the Friars Minor, without being published; but the Sachsenhausen appeal (22 May 1324) was full of invective against "the heretic who falsely calls himself Pope John XXII" for having abolished the poverty of Christ[58]. This famous "spiritualist digression," fed by Bonagrazia's appeal and the writings of Ubertino of Casale and Peter of John Olivi, came indeed from the Franciscans placed under the king's protection, although Louis later denied any responsibility for it[59]. Louis was excommunicated on 11 July 1324[60].
Rome 1328: a crowned emperor, a Franciscan antipope
Michael of Cesena, summoned to appear at Avignon, obeyed (2 December 1327); publicly rebuked by the pope on 9 April 1328 for the action of the Perugia chapter, he drafted a secret protest (13 April) then fled, despite orders, toward Aigues-Mortes (28 May) and Pisa, with Bonagrazia of Bergamo and William of Ockham[61]. Meanwhile, Louis of Bavaria entered Rome with his army, welcomed by the Ghibellines, accompanied by Ubertino of Casale, John of Jandun and Marsilius of Padua, authors of the Defensor pacis, which subjects the pope to the emperor and to the universal Church[62]. He had himself crowned Emperor of the Romans by Sciarra Colonna (17 January 1328), then had the Franciscan Pietro Rainalducci of Corvara elected and consecrated as antipope under the name of Nicholas V (12 May 1328)[63]. The three fugitives from Avignon joined Louis and followed him to Bavaria, where they remained until their deaths[64].
John XXII deposed Michael as general of the order (6 June 1328), appointed Cardinal Bertrand de La Tour as vicar general, and had Gerard Odon of Châteauroux elected at the Paris chapter (2 June 1329): the majority of the order submitted to the Apostolic See, and Michael of Cesena and his adherents, the Michaelists, were disowned by the order[65]. The antipope Nicholas V, who had appointed six cardinals (15 May 1328) then others between September 1328 and December 1329, abandoned after Louis returned to Bavaria, took refuge with the Count of Donoratico, finally threw himself at the feet of John XXII at Avignon and submitted: he remained there in honourable captivity until his death on 16 October 1333[66].
Munich: Ockham, Marsilius and the war of pamphlets
At Munich, Michael of Cesena (died 1342), Bonagrazia of Bergamo (died 1340) and William of Ockham (died 1347) multiplied denunciations of the pope and his successors, held to be heretics: they set out to refute, one by one, isolated propositions from the bulls of John XXII[67]. To the poverty quarrel was added, in 1333, that of the beatific vision: John XXII had preached, without wishing to define anything, that the saints would not see it until the Last Judgment, a position Benedict XII would later settle by Benedictus Deus (1336)[68]. The Michaelists spread: England (1329), Germany, Carcassonne, Portugal (1330), Spain (1329), Sicily and Lombardy, Sardinia, Armenia, Persia, everywhere John XXII and his immediate successors opened proceedings[69].
The three families: Clarenes, Sicilians, Michaelists
A diffuse network, not an order
One must avoid rigid classification: historians who tried to make the Fraticelli a sect with fixed dogmas forced the evidence[70]. They are three currents of different origin and date, which ended by joining in the same opposition to the papacy, and which after 1329 became difficult to distinguish precisely[71].
| Family | Leader and origin | Area | Distinctive note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarenes | Angelo Clareno, hermits of the Marches (from 1294) | Central and southern Italy: province of Rome, Umbria, March of Ancona, Campagna, Basilicata, Naples | The most "spiritual": hermits, pastoral letters, novices, a parallel order from 1318 |
| Sicilians (de paupere vita) | Henry of Ceva, Tuscan Spirituals who took refuge in Sicily (1312-1314) | Sicily then Naples | Short and narrow habit; five errors condemned in 1318; they merged with the Michaelists |
| Michaelists (de opinione) | Michael of Cesena, theoretical quarrel (1321-1328) | All Europe and the East: convents of Todi, Cortona, Pisa, England, Spain, Armenia | The intellectual branch: they refute the bulls point by point; they deny the papacy since 1323 |
What they believed, and what the Church condemned
Reduced to essentials, their doctrine comes down to three affirmations, condemned one after another[72]:
- They alone observe the Gospel. The Rule of Francis is the pure and simple Gospel; whoever abrogated it abrogated the Gospel[73].
- The papacy has fallen. Since the decretals of John XXII on poverty (1323), some even go back to Boniface VIII or Clement V, the See is vacant: John and his successors have lost the papacy, and no priest of their obedience can validly absolve[74].
- Mortal sin removes the priesthood. Every religious or prelate in a state of mortal sin is stripped of sacerdotal power and jurisdiction[75], an old Donatist error, already condemned in the fourth century, which makes the whole Church hostage to judgments passed on the conscience of priests.
What the Church never condemned: poverty itself
This must be stated plainly, for it is the Catholic heart of the matter: the Church never condemned the desire for poverty[76]. The popes abundantly approved the Franciscans who lived poorly in obedience: Paoluccio Trinci, founder of the Observance, received in 1374 the small convent of Mount Ripide near Perugia, ceded by the Conventuals themselves as an answer to the Fraticelli, and his public disputations with them led to the expulsion of the heretics from the city[77]. The Clarenes who remained orthodox were approved as true Franciscans by Sixtus IV in 1474[78]. And the great reforming saints of the fifteenth century entrusted with the Inquisition against the Fraticelli, John of Capistrano and James of the March, were themselves Franciscans of the strict observance, canonized by the Church[79]. What was condemned was not love of poverty: it was the claim to make it the judge of the pope, and to rebuild a Church alongside the Church[80].
A century and a half of clandestinity (1330-1466)
Powerful protectors, impregnable hermitages
Hunted down, the Fraticelli survived thanks to their protectors: the abbot of Subiaco sheltered Ange Clareno despite the arrest order of 21 February 1334, after a first warrant had already gone unheeded on 22 November 1331[81]. At Naples, Louis of Durazzo, nephew of King Robert, maintained Fraticelli in a hospital adjoining his castle on Monte Sant'Angelo and attended their offices: in 1362 there were three groups there, those of Tommaso da Bojano, former bishop of Aquino; those of the self-styled minister general Bernard of Sicily; and those claiming allegiance to Ange Clareno, all agreeing that the papacy had stood vacant since John XXII[82]. The "Poor Hermits" of Monte Majella, near Sulmona, even sheltered the tribune Cola di Rienzi in 1349, protected by the Celestine monks of the nearby abbey of Santo Spirito[83]. The kings of Naples themselves slowed the repression: Robert wrote a treatise favorable to the chapter of Perugia, Queen Sancia questioned "holy poverty" (pontifical letter of 10 August 1333), Philip of Majorca, the queen's brother, preached openly against the pope after the refusal of 1328, and fifty Michaelists lived under royal protection at the castle of Lettere before submitting in the mid-1330s[84]. In 1336, Fraticelli "in short habits" still occupied the monastery of Saint Clare in Naples founded by the queen: Benedict XII demanded their expulsion (24 June 1336), and Clement VI had to renew the decrees in 1344[85]. Only between 1363 and 1370 were the Franciscans able to retake several convents in Calabria and Sicily, and Gregory XI still complained, on 12 September 1372, that the ashes and bones of Fraticelli were venerated there as relics, with churches built in their honor[86].
Florence 1389: the Te Deum of Michele Berti
In Tuscany, the Fraticelli, probably Clareni, became so powerful in Florence that they invited the "theologians" (the official clergy) to public debates, which went unanswered[87]. The Priors promulgated a statute against them (13 October 1378), then the council ordered them to leave the city within two days (8 July 1381), a measure which one councillor courageously opposed on the following 14 December[88]. On 20 April 1389, Michele Berti, from Calci near Pisa, a member of the Ancona branch, was arrested just after preaching the Lent to his companions; condemned by the Franciscan archbishop of Florence, Bartolomeo Oleari, he died at the stake on 30 April singing the Te Deum, urged by his supporters to remain steadfast, maintaining to the end that John XXII had become a heretic through his four decretals and that no priest of his obedience could absolve[89]:
"Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confitemur.", Hymn of the Te Deum, sung by Michele Berti as he mounted the stake, Florence, 30 April 1389[90]
"We praise thee, O God: we acknowledge thee to be the Lord." (Ignispedia translation)
Perugia: letters, insults and false popes
At Perugia, the Fraticelli enjoyed complete freedom: settled in the country houses of the rich, they went so far as to insult the Friars Minor in public at the convent of San Francesco al Prato[91]. They elected their own popes, bishops and generals, and split into factions, hence their nickname of Fraticelli della opinione, perhaps because they held the Roman papacy to be extinct[92]. One letter survives, addressed around 1353-1355 to the magistrates of Narni to demand the release of one of their own, Fra Stefano, imprisoned by the Inquisition twelve or fifteen years earlier, citing the example of Todi, Perugia, Assisi and Pisa, where their people lived in peace[93]. In Umbria, a trial of 1360 reveals a group founded by Francesco Niccolò of Perugia, who claimed to observe the Rule of Saint Augustine, accused all prelates of simony and saw salvation only in his supposedly perfect order[94]. As far as the East, an irregular trial of 1334 against the Fraticelli of the convent of Tauris (denounced by Dominicans) shows friars openly reviling John XXII, supporting Michael of Cesena and announcing, in their apocalyptic style, that the order was divided into three parts and that only those who marched toward the East (that is, themselves) would be saved[95]. On 29 May 1344, Clement VI ordered all the bishops of the East to prosecute them[96].
The end: Capistrano, James of the Marches and the last trials
1426: two saintly inquisitors
Florence had formally banished, as early as 1415, the "Fraticelli of the poor life, partisans of Michael of Cesena of infamous memory," and at Lucca five Fraticelli had solemnly abjured in 1411[97]. Martin V went on the offensive: same rights to the Franciscans of the Roman province (14 November 1418), gift of the monastery of Palestrina, a Fraticelli stronghold (7 April 1426), occupation by the Observants of Ancona of their convent of Castro l'Ermita (27 January 1427), instructions to the bishops of Porto and Albano against all the Fraticelli "of the Roman province, of the March of Ancona, of the duchy of Spoleto and of other places" (7 June 1427)[98]. Above all, on 27 May 1426 he appointed Saint John of Capistrano, and on 11 October Saint James of the Marches, as inquisitors general against the Fraticelli[99]. The two promoters of the Observance carried out their office with rigor and struck the sect at its heart: thirty-six of their settlements were burned or broken up, several members were burned at Florence and at Fabriano, in the latter place in the presence of the pope[100].
Maiolati 1428: the extreme severity of Martin V
On 1 June 1428, Martin V ordered the bishop of Ancona to enforce his decisions at Maiolati with chilling severity: put suspects to the torture, destroy their village, separate children from heretical parents, disperse the eldest[101]. A circular letter from the Fraticelli to all Christendom had no effect: their fate was sealed[102]. These measures, harsh by today's standards, are explained (though not justified in every detail) by a century of organized clandestinity, of bogus clergy and of obstinate refusal of any reconciliation: on the repression of heresy in the Middle Ages, see the Inquisition objection[103].
The Dialogus of James of the Marches and the end of the sect
Commissioned by Nicholas V to proceed against them (1449), Saint James of the Marches wrote the famous Dialogus contra Fraticellos, first published in 1452 and later expanded[104]. From it we learn that their main settlements lay in the valley of Jesi (Maiolati, Poggio Cupo, Massaccia, Mergo), that they had given themselves bishops wherever they were numerous enough, that they travelled ceaselessly to spread their propaganda, especially in Tuscany, dressed sometimes as Friars Minor, sometimes as hermits, often in disguise[105]. Their doctrine is summarized there: the whole Roman Church deserted the true faith starting with John XXII (1323); they alone constituted the true Church and retained sacraments and priesthood; the immoral priest lost powers of order and jurisdiction[106]. A late and eccentric offshoot appeared in Spain with Philip of Berbegni, a fanatical Observant who tried to establish in 1433 a strict society de la Capuciola, vigorously opposed by Capistrano[107]. The last known measures date to 1466: Fraticelli from Poli (near Palestrina) and Maiolati were captured at Assisi during the feast of the Portiuncula, locked up in Castel Sant'Angelo and tried, though protected at Poli by Count Stefano de' Conti, who was imprisoned, and by the Colonna of Palestrina[108]. Half the inhabitants of Poli were said to have been won to their cause; they held their meetings at night in private houses, kept a bishop named Nicholas, and sent emissaries as far as Greece, their refuge and an important center[109]. The accusation of immorality levelled against their nocturnal offices could never be proved[110]. Despite the persecutions, remnants survived, but broken: they never again posed a serious danger to the Roman Church[111].
Key dates
- c. 1278Spirituals of the Marches, including Ange Clareno, condemned to life imprisonment.
- 1294Celestine V authorizes the hermits to live according to the Rule; Boniface VIII revokes everything after his abdication.
- 1307Death of Libérat de Macerata on the road to Lyon; Ange Clareno takes the lead of the group.
- 6 mai 1312The Council of Vienne promulgates Exivi de paradiso: a final attempt at reconciliation.
- 30 décembre 1317Sancta Romana: John XXII refuses to authorize the congregation of Ange Clareno.
- 23 janvier 1318Gloriosam ecclesiam: excommunication of the Spirituals of Sicily, five errors retained.
- 7 mai 1318Four unyielding Spirituals burned at Marseille.
- 8 décembre 1322Ad conditorem canonum: the Church gives up ownership of the Friars Minor's goods.
- 12 novembre 1323Cum inter nonnullos: the absolute poverty of Christ declared heretical.
- 22 mai 1324Sachsenhausen appeal of Louis of Bavaria against the "heretic" John XXII.
- 12 mai 1328A Franciscan, Pietro Rainalducci, consecrated antipope under the name of Nicholas V.
- 15 juillet 1337Death of Ange Clareno, venerated as a thaumaturge by his own.
- 30 avril 1389Michele Berti burned at Florence while singing the Te Deum.
- 1426Martin V appoints Capistrano and James of the Marches as inquisitors general.
- 1452James of the Marches publishes the Dialogus contra Fraticellos.
- 1466Last known measures: Fraticelli of Poli and Maiolati captured at Assisi.
- 1474Sixtus IV approves the orthodox Clareni as true Franciscans.
Further reading
- The Languedoc cousins: the heterodox Beguins and Beghards, from the same spiritual matrix.
- The other great medieval heresies: Catharism, the Albigensians, the Waldensians (1170-1532), Bogomilism and Paulicianism.
- The framework: the foundation of the Franciscans, the Franciscan order, saint François d'Assise, the Council of Vienne, the Avignon papacy and Jean XXII.
- The classic objection: how to answer the Inquisition objection.
Notes and References
Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli » (Michael Bihl, vol. 6, New York, Robert Appleton, 1909; New Advent): Fraticelli is a diminutive of the Italian frate (plural frati), the etymological equivalent of Fratres Minores.
1Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the various groups must be distinguished, although the same name can apply to all of them.
2Rule of Saint Francis (Regula bullata, 1223), ch. 6; cf. saint François d'Assise.
3Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the disciples split into Zelanti (Spirituals) and Relaxati (later Conventuals); see also « Spirituals ».
4Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Grégoire IX, Innocent IV and Nicolas III gave authoritative explanations; without fully restoring unity with the Community (Fratres de Communitate).
5Bulls Sancta Romana et universalis ecclesia (30 December 1317), Gloriosam ecclesiam (23 January 1318), Cum inter nonnullos (12 November 1323); Bullarium Franciscanum, ed. Eubel, vol. V (Rome, 1898).
6Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the partisans of Angelo deny that Jean XXII is truly pope and hold his decrees to be invalid.
7Regula bullata (1223), ch. 6.
8Regula bullata, ch. 6: « Fratres nihil sibi approprient, nec domum, nec locum, nec aliquam rem » (Ignispedia translation).
9Nicolas III, Exiit qui seminat (14 August 1279); Innocent IV had already transferred the property to the Roman Church (14 November 1245).
10Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli » and « Spirituals ».
11Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »; David Burr, The Spiritual Franciscans (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001).
12Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the Community (Fratres de Communitate), the main body of the order.
13Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the differences were never fully resolved.
14Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Angelo da Clareno (or da Cingoli) and brothers of the March of Ancône, condemned around 1278, freed by Raimondo Gaufredi (general 1289-1295), sent to Armenia, expelled at the end of 1293.
15Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: in 1294, Célestin V, noted for his asceticism despite a pontificate of barely six months, authorizes them to live as hermits in strict observance.
16Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: after the abdication of Célestin, Boniface VIII revokes all his concessions.
17Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: emigration to Greece, challenge to the legality of the pontifical act, measures taken through the Patriarch of Constantinople, flight to Italy.
18Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Fra Liberatus attempts a justification of their rights before Boniface VIII (died on 11 October 1303) then Benoît XI (died on 7 July 1304); dies in 1307 on the way to Clément V in Lyon.
19Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Angelo da Clareno succeeds at the head of the community.
20Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: at the end of 1309, the disputes between Relaxati and Spirituals reach a critical point; Clément V summons both parties before the Curia.
21Clément V, Exivi de paradiso, promulgated at the final session of the Council of Vienne (6 May 1312); a stricter explanation than that of Nicolas III, vindicating the Spirituals on several points.
22Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the constitution only provokes the Relaxati superiors into energetic measures against the zealous.
23Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: at the end of 1312, Tuscan Spirituals forcibly occupy Carmignano (near Florence), Arezzo and Asciano; about fifty flee to Sicily.
24Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: solemn protest of 7 July 1313 against the violation of the Rule by the Community.
25Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: on 14 May 1314, the prior of San Fedele of Siena declares them excommunicated and places their convents under interdict.
26Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: King Frédéric of Sicily (brother of Jacques II of Aragon) admits them after inspection of their statutes; Fra Enrico da Ceva becomes their leader.
27Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Angelo remains in central Italy until 1311, then reaches Avignon, protected by Cardinals Giacomo Colonna and Napoléon Orsini.
28Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: in early 1317, Jean XXII, by virtue of a decree of Boniface VIII, declares Angelo excommunicated and places him under guard.
29Jean XXII, Sancta Romana et universalis ecclesia (30 December 1317); Angelo defends himself against it in his Epistola excusatoria.
30Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: in 1318, Angelo flees to central Italy and, as general, appoints provincials, ministers and custodians, founds monasteries, sends pastoral letters, receives novices, thus founding an independent Franciscan order.
31Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: they deny that Jean XXII is truly pope (having abrogated the Rule, which is the pure and simple Gospel), hold his decrees to be invalid and profess that mortal sin deprives priests of sacerdotal dignity and powers.
32Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: in the trials (notably 1334) and the bulls, they are called Fraticelli seu fratres de paupere vita.
33Catholic Encyclopedia, « Spirituals »; Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages (New York, 1888), vol. III: twenty-five Spirituals summoned, four unyielding.
34Religions (MDPI), « Franciscan Prophets and the Inquisition (1226-1326) »: four brothers burned at Marseille on 7 May 1318, a fifth sentenced to life imprisonment, for denial of pontifical authority.
35Jean XXII, Gloriosam ecclesiam (23 January 1318): five specified errors.
36Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: narrow, short and dirty habit adopted as a distinctive sign.
37Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: admonition to Frédéric (15 March 1317), banishment from Sicily (a few until 1328 at least), settlement at Naples.
38Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: general decree of 1 August 1322; bulls to King Robert (4 February 1325); demand of imprisonment (10 May 1325) reiterated in 1327, 1330, 1331; renewal of Gloriosam ecclesiam (5 December 1329).
39Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the partisans of Ceva are barely distinguishable from the following group; they join the Michaelites.
40Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the "theoretical" controversy on poverty, conducted against Jean XXII, gives birth to the group of the Michaelites, to be distinguished from the "practical" controversy of the Spirituals.
41Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: in 1321, the Dominican inquisitor of Narbonne Jean de Belna declares heretical the teaching of an imprisoned beguin on the poverty of Christ and the Apostles.
42Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the Franciscan lector Bérenger Talon defends the beguin and, under threat, appeals to the pope.
43Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: general Dominican-Franciscan controversy; Relaxati and zealous support Bérenger on the basis of Exiit qui seminat.
44Jean XXII, Quia nonnunquam (26 March 1322); consistory of 6 March 1322.
45Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: defense by Cardinals Vital du Four and Bertrand de La Tour, Archbishop Arnaldo Royardi of Salerno and other bishops; opposition from other cardinals, the pope leaning toward the opposition.
46Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Ubertin de Casale, consulted (opinion of 28 March 1322), declares with a subtle distinction that Christ and the Apostles possessed as governing the Church, but not as private individuals nor as models of perfection.
47Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: chapter convened at Pérouse for 1 June 1322 by Michel de Césène (general elected in 1316); on 4 June, solemn declaration of the "absolute poverty" of Christ; publication on 11 June.
48Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: signed by Michel, the provincials of South Germany, England, Aquitaine, Northern France and several scholars.
49Jean XXII, Ad conditorem canonum (8 December 1322).
50Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Fra Bonagrazia (Boncortese) of Bergame, jurist and hitherto enemy of the zealous, protests at the consistory (14 January 1323); imprisoned; bull revised and reissued under its original date.
51Jean XXII, Cum inter nonnullos (12 November 1323).
52Denzinger, Enchiridion symbolorum, no. 930-935 (no. 494 in the old editions): Cum inter nonnullos (Ignispedia translation from the Latin).
53Jean XXII, Quia quorundam (10 November 1324); chapter of Lyon (20 May 1325) under Michel de Césène.
54Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: all the Fraticelli show, after the outbreak of the controversy (1321-1328), a strengthened opposition to the papacy.
55Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the Minors become counsellors of Louis IV de Bavière, himself in conflict with the pope.
56Battle of Mühldorf (28 September 1322); canonical proceedings against Louis (8 October 1323).
57Appeal of Nuremberg (18 December 1323, unpublished); appeal of Sachsenhausen (22 May 1324) against "the heretic who falsely calls himself Pope Jean XXII".
58Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the "Spiritualist excursus" attaches to the appeal of Bonagrazia and the writings of Ubertin de Casale and Pierre de Jean Olivi; Franciscan origin under royal protection, responsibility later denied by Louis.
59Louis IV excommunicated (11 July 1324).
60Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Michel obeys and reaches Avignon (2 December 1327); public reprimand (9 April 1328); secret protest (13 April); flight to Aigues-Mortes (28 May) then Pisa, with Bonagrazia and Guillaume d'Ockham.
61Marsile de Padoue and Jean de Jandun, Defensor pacis: the emperor and the universal Church above the pope.
62Louis crowned by Sciarra Colonna (17 January 1328); Pietro Rainalducci de Corvara consecrated antipope Nicolas V (12 May 1328).
63Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the three fugitives join Louis and accompany him to Bavaria, where they remain until their death.
64Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Michel deposed (6 June 1328); Bertrand de La Tour vicar general; chapter of Paris (2 June 1329) electing Gérard Odon; submission of the majority; Michaelites disavowed.
65Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Nicolas V names six cardinals (15 May 1328) then others (September 1328-December 1329); abandoned, he takes refuge with the Count of Donoratico, submits at Avignon and remains there in honorable captivity until his death (16 October 1333).
66Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: at Munich, Michel (died in 1342), Bonagrazia (died in 1340) and Ockham (died in 1347) denounce Jean and his successors as heretics by refuting his propositions one by one.
67Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: added in 1333 is the question of the beatific vision (Jean XXII, without wishing to define it, deferring it to the Last Judgment).
68Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Michaelites attested in England (1329), Germany, Carcassonne, Portugal (1330), Spain (1329), Sicily, Lombardy, Sardinia, Armenia, Persia.
69Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli » (quoting the 1911 Britannica): some historians, out of classificatory zeal, have made the Fraticelli into a distinct sect and sought its dogmas, forcing the material.
70Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: shortly after 1329, it becomes difficult to differentiate the groups precisely.
71Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »; Jacques de la Marche, Dialogus contra Fraticellos (ed. 1452 with additions).
72Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the Rule of Francis represents, according to their doctrine, the pure and simple Gospel.
73Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the true papacy is said to have ceased with the supposed heresy of Jean XXII (1323), or even as early as Célestin V according to some groups.
74Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli » and Gloriosam ecclesiam (errors 2, 4): mortal sin is said to deprive priests and prelates of all power and jurisdiction.
75Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the moral errors of individuals must not be imputed to the whole body; the order, in its great majority, remained faithful to the Church.
76Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the Conventuals yield to Paoluccio Trinci, founder of the Observants, the small convent of Mount Ripide near Pérouse (1374); his disputes cause the heretics to be expelled from the city.
77Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the orthodox Clareni, approved as true Franciscans by Sixte IV in 1474, without it being known whether they avoided the error or retracted it.
78Jean de Capistran (named 27 May 1426) and Jacques de la Marche (named 11 October 1426), inquisitors general named by Martin V; both canonized.
79On the discernment between doctrinal condemnation and Franciscan fidelity, see also heterodox Beguins and Beghards (section on what the Church never condemned).
80Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: arrest warrant of 22 November 1331 (flight to Southern Italy); on 21 February 1334, order to the guardian of Ara Cœli to imprison Angelo, "demented heretic who styles himself general", in vain, protected by the Abbot of Subiaco.
81Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: in 1362, Louis de Duras, nephew of Robert de Naples, maintains Fraticelli at the hospital of Mount Sant'Angelo; three sects (Tommaso da Bojano; Bernard de Sicile; successor of Angelo Clareno).
82Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the "Poor Hermits" of the Majella shelter Cola di Rienzi (1349), protected by the Celestines of Santo Spirito.
83Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Philippe de Majorque, brother of the queen, petition of 1328 refused; letter of 10 August 1333 on "holy poverty"; treatise of the king in favor of Pérouse; admonition of 8 July 1331; Fra Andrea de Galiano acquitted at Avignon (1338); fifty Michaelites at the castle of Lettere, submitted in the mid-1330s.
84Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: in 1336, Fraticelli "in short robes" at Sainte-Claire of Naples; expulsion demanded by Benoît XII (24 June 1336); reiteration by Clément VI (1344).
85Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: recovery of convents of Calabria and Sicily (1363-1370); complaint of Grégoire XI (12 September 1372) on the veneration of ashes and bones as relics.
86Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the Fraticelli invite the "theologians" to public debates; the official clergy does not answer.
87Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: statute of the priors of Florence (13 October 1378); expulsion order of the council (8 July 1381); opposition of one counsellor (14 December 1381).
88Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Michele Berti, of Calci near Pisa (Ancône branch), arrested on 20 April 1389, condemned by Archbishop Bartolomeo Oleari, burned on 30 April while singing the Te Deum.
89Ambrosian hymn Te Deum laudamus: « Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confitemur » (Ignispedia translation).
90Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: complete freedom at Pérouse, country houses of the rich, public insults to the Minors of Saint-François-du-Pré.
91Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: own popes, bishops and generals, various factions; called Fraticelli della opinione, perhaps for their opinion that the Roman papacy has ceased to exist.
92Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: letter of the Fraticelli of the Campagne (1353-1355) to the magistrates of Narni for Fra Stefano, imprisoned twelve or fifteen years earlier; example of Todi, Pérouse, Assise and Pise.
93Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: trial of 1360 against an Umbrian group founded by Francesco Niccolò de Pérouse: alleged Augustinian Rule, fanaticism of poverty, simoniacal prelates, salvation reserved to their order.
94Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: irregular trial of 1334 against the Fraticelli of Tauris (denounced by Dominicans): invectives against Jean XXII, views of Michel de Césène, order divided into three parts, only those saved who will march toward the East.
95Clément VI orders all the bishops of the East to pursue them (29 May 1344).
96Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Florence banishes in 1415 the "Fraticelli of the poor life, partisans of Michel de Césène of infamous memory"; at Lucques, five Fraticelli solemnly abjure (1411).
97Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Martin V concedes the same rights to the Franciscans of the Roman province (14 November 1418); gift of Palestrina (7 April 1426); occupation of Castro l'Ermita by the Observants of Ancône (27 January 1427); instructions to the bishops of Porto and Albe (7 June 1427).
98Martin V names saint Jean de Capistran (27 May 1426) and saint Jacques de la Marche (11 October 1426) inquisitors general against the Fraticelli.
99Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: thirty-six houses burned or dispersed; burnings at Florence and Fabriano, in the latter place in the presence of the pope.
100Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: on 1 June 1428, order to the Bishop of Ancône: interrogation, destruction of the village of Maiolati, separation of the children, dispersal of the old.
101Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: circular letter of the Fraticelli to all Christendom, without effect.
102See how to answer the Inquisition objection.
103Jacques de la Marche, Dialogus contra Fraticellos, first publication in 1452, with later additions; commission of Nicolas V (1449).
104Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: main houses in the Jesi valley (Maiolati, Poggio Cupo, Massaccia, Mergo); own bishops; propaganda mainly in Tuscany; disguises as Minors or hermits.
105Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: doctrinal summary of the Dialogus: defection of Rome since Jean XXII (1323), true Church reduced to themselves, sacraments and priesthood preserved, immoral priest stripped of the powers of order and jurisdiction.
106Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: Philippe de Berbegni, eccentric Spanish observant, attempts to establish in 1433 a society de la Capuciola; dissertation of Capistran against him.
107Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: in 1466, Fraticelli of Poli (near Palestrina) and Maiolati captured at Assise during the Portioncule; Castel Sant'Angelo; Count Stefano de' Conti imprisoned; protection of the Colonna.
108Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: half the inhabitants of Poli won over; nocturnal meetings; Bishop Nicolas; center in Greece, emissaries and refuge.
109Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: the allegation of immoral practices in their services cannot be proved.
110Catholic Encyclopedia, « Fraticelli »: remnants survived despite the persecutions, but without constituting a serious danger to the Roman Church; these heretics had been expelled from the order and the Church, while the order, in its great majority, remained faithful.
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