ASPECTS OF TillRTEENTH CENTURY FRANCISCAN EDUCATION WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO THE PROVINCE OF ANGLIA

BY NESLİHAN ŞENOCAK

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE INSTITUTE FOR GRADUATE STUDIES IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SCIENCES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY

BiLKENT UNIVERSITY SEPTEMBER, 1997

I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate in scope and quality asa thesis for the degree ofMaster of History.

-~-~ Dr. Paul Latimer (supervisor)

I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Master of History. A ~-

1) 'l CL'vN /~ Dr. David Thornton (committee member)

I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate in scope and quality asa thesis for the degree of Master of History.

Approved by the Institute ofEconornic and Social Sciences

Prof Dr. Ali Karaosmanoğlu

Özet

Fransisken tarikatının onüçüncü yüzyılda geçirdiği hızlı değişim iyi bilinir. Tarikat, başlangıçta yoksulluk ve dilenciliğe yeminli bir grup biraderden oluştuğu halde, kısa zamanda rahip entellektüeller tarafindan yönetilen, tüm Avrupa'da yaygın bir okullar ağına sahip bir organizasyona dönüşmüştür. Bu okullann en iyi ve en önemli olanlan ortaçağın ünlü üniversitelerine entegre olmuş ve bu üniversitelerde pek çok Fransisken ders vermiştir. Bu dönüşüm süreci ve bu sürecin doğası bugün tam olarak aniaşılamamıştır.

Fransiskenlerin İngiltere'deki yerleşimi bu dönüşümün semptomlarından biridir. Tarikat bu bölgedeki faaliyetlerini entellektüel merkezlerde yoğunlaştırmış ve pek çok okullar kurmuştur. İngiltere yerleşimi aynı zamanda bu dönüşümün ne şekilde gerçekleştiğini göstermek açısından da önemlidir. Erken dönemlerdeki yasal belgelerden anlaşıldığı kadanyla, okullar ve öğrenciler için konulan kurallar tarikatın organizasyonundaki dinamik özelliklerden biridir.

Zamanla tarikatın başlangıçtaki hedeflerinden uzaklaşması için, laik üniversite hocalanna ve tarikat içindeki muhalif Fransiskenlere karşı haklı gerekçeler gösterilmesi zorunlu oldu. Yalnızca rahip biradedere eğitim hakkı tanıyarak, bu gerekçelerden birini formule eden kişi tarikatın başkanlarından ve bilgin olarak ün yapmış Bonaventura'dır. İngiliz Fransisken bilginleri de kendilerinin bir sonucu olduğu bu dönüşümü sonuna dek desteklediler.

Abstract

The transformation of the Order of Friars Minor in the course of the thirteenth century is well known-from a group consisting mostly of laymen vowed to poverty and mendicancy, into well-established Order throughout Europe, dominated by derical intellectuals, with a network of schools the best and most important of which were integrated into the universities, where Franciscan lectors hel d prestigious chairs. This transformation is incompletely understood.

The Franciscan settlement in England, with its concentration on seeking out intellectual centers and on the development of schools, was not only symptomatic of this transformation, but also offers illuminating evidence of the way in which the transformatian was effected. Y et as a study of the fragmentary early Franciscan legislation on educational matters reveals, provision for schools and students was a dynamic feature of the who le Ord er' s organisation during its first fifty years of it s existence.

Such a transformatian needed to be justified against the attacks of secular masters and dissident Franciscans. lt was Bonaventura, the Order' s most famous scholar and minister-general, who formulated this justification by strictly tirniting the devetoping educational provision to the Ord er' s derical scholars. English Franciscan scholars also joined the defence of the Order, thus helping to defend the transformatian of w hi ch they were an outstandingly successful result.

Acknowledgements

This thesis is a result of an strong interest and adıniration I have developed in th'e last four years in the life of early Franciscans. Although it was an obviously difficult topic to study in Ankara, a number of people and institutions helped me to remove all disadvantages of being remote from the relevant sources and to organize my knowledge and ideas in order to form this present work.

First of all, I should express my gratitude to Prof Dr. Halil ınalcık for fo unding the European History Studies in Bilkent University, which enabled me to pursue my interest in this topic, and for his role in stimulating my enthusiasm. Further I would like to thank the department for providing me a grant to conduct reseach in England. Without the reseach I have done there, it would have been almost impossible to write this thesis. I want also to thank the British Council, Ankara, and the administration of the International Medieval Congress for providing me with conference grants last summer, where I had the opportunity of consulting scholars who work on the similar topics.

Libraries are the virtual office of historians. Among all the libraries I have had the chance of visiting, I want to thank first of all, to the staff of the Acquisition and Cataloging departments ofthe Bilkent University library for coping with numerous the book and microfilm requests and searches, but always with sympathy and good humor. The friendly and supportive staff of the North Library in the British Library, London, deserve much thanks for their valuable helpin the summer of 1996.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that students going for higher degrees tend to suffer from their supervisors. In my case, I was lucky to have a supervisor who always had time to answer all the questions and to give courage and support. I want to thank heartily to Dr. Paul Latimer for his valuable contributions and guidance. I am also thankful to Dr. C.D.A. Leighton for helping me with Latin and for the discussions I enjoyed and benefited from greatly, also for the expensive London lunches. I am quite indebted to Dr. Bert Roest for providing me ample articles and photocopies, and for his guidance in forming the bibliography of this thesis.

I want to thank all my friends, but especially Feryal Tansuğ, Aslı Gül Gök and Çağlar Kıral for making life easier for me. Finally, I want to thank my mother and father, Nevin and Erdoğan Şenocak, for supporting me in my decision to study history, and forbeing wonderful parents.To my brother, Erhan Şenocak, I owe special thanks who has always been and will be one of my best friends. It is to him and to our most happy days in the Golden State that this thesis is dedicated.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Abbreviations 1

Introduction 2

1. In the Pursuit of Knowledge: the Franciscansin England 6

2. Building the Franciscan Educational System 25

3. The Justification of Educational Activities 53

Conclusion 65

Appendix 1 69

Appendix ll 70

Appendix lll 71

Bibliography 72

AFH ALKG AF

BF

MF Eccleston

M oorman

List of Abbreviations

Archivum Franciscanum Historicum Arehiv für Literatur und Kirchengeschichte Analecta Franciscana, sive Chronica aliaque varia documenta ad histariarn Fratrum Minorum spectantia, ed. the Fathers of the College of St. Bonaventura (Quaracchi, ı 885-ı 983) Bullarium Franciscanum Historicum, Romanorum Pontificum, Constitutiones, Epistolas, et Poenientium, Vols I-III, ed. J.H.Sbalarea, (Rome, ı759-ı904) Miscellanea Franciscana Fratris Thomae de Eccleston, Tractatus de Adventu Fratrum Minorum in Angliam, ed. A. G. Little, 2nd edn. (Manchester, ı 95 ı) J. R. H. Moorman, A History of the Franciscan Order A.D. 1517 (Oxford, ı968)

1

Introduction

Although much has been written on the Mendieant Orders that were

formed in the thirteenth century, the depth of their contribution to the

characteristics of that century is stili undervalued by general historians. The

Mendieant Orders, and particularly the greatest of these-the Dominican and

Franciscan Orders-were almost the only institutions that had contact with every

level of medieval society. Dominican and Franciscan friars became not only

confessors but also close friends to Kings and the high nobility. They preached in

the parishes to townspeople, yet they also held a primary place in the intellectual

world of Europe, holding chairs in major universities and writing many of the

most influential works of the Middle Ages.

Although the Order of Friars Minor-the Franciscans-played such a part

in the intellectual achievements of the thirteenth century, they, in particular, have

not received the necessary attention from historians. Many major works of

Franciscan authors, such as the early metaphysical summa of Thomas of York,

remain unedited. There are a good number of manuscripts, inciurling letters,

statutes and treatİses which await the attention ofhistorians.

The study of the Franciscan Order was at its height during the Iate

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Scholars like A. G. Little and H. Felder

wrote enlightening works on the educational and scholarly activities of the Order.

2

Little focused on England, and particularly on the Franciscan school at Oxford. ı

Felder, who was a Franciscan anda hishop himself, drew a wide-ranging picture

of the educational activities of theOrderin the thirteenth century.2 Although this

is a very extensive study, Felder's work is very much outdated now and badly

needs revision, particularly in the light of more recent research done on the

general features of medieval universities. Little's work too, partly because its

concems are too insular and partly because one man could only do so much, also

needs reconsidering.

In this thesis I have tried to ask questions which, I believe, have not been

asked so far, but which could be very useful for understanding the motives

behind the educational development ofthe Order. To be more specific, this thesis

aims at shedding light on the development of the Franciscan educational network

in the province of Anglia, white keeping the European context of the Franciscan

Order tirmly in mind.3 The reasons for the choice of the province of Anglia are,

first of all, the availability of sources, and secondly, the special position of

ı Dr. Little produced a good number of books and articles on the Franciscans in England. However, he restricted his study of their educational activities largely to the Oxford school. As a studium generale, Oxford surely did not reflect the Franciscan educational system as a whole. Little's heavy reliance on Roger Bacon's works in analyzing the Oxford school often brings confusion, since Roger Bacon was an extraordinary personality, with an individual style of observation which did not always reflect reality. Among the various works of Dr. Little, the following are the ones I have found most useful: A.G. Little, 'Educational Organisation of the Mendieant Friars in England (Dominicans and Franciscans)', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, New Series, 7, (1894), 49-70; Franciscan Papers, Lists and Documents (Manchester, 1943); The Grey Friars in Oxford, Oxford Histoncal Society Publications, 20 (Oxford, 1892). 2 Pelder H., Geschichte der wissenschaftlichen Studien im Ft:.anziskanerorden his um die Mi tt e des 13. Jahrhunderts (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1904 ). 3 The Province of Anglia in the thirteenth century included England, Iretand and Scotland.

3

England in the educational world of thirteenth-centwy Europe, having two major

universities of that time, namely Oxford and Cambridge.

The fırst chapter of this thesis emerged out of two questions: why did the

Franciscans choose the particular English towns in which they settled and what is

the significance of the sequence of settlement? In order to answer these questions

I have tried to find some common denominator between all the towns in which

they settled and have looked closely at that sequence of settlement. Furthermore, I

have made a sketch of the general atmosphere in the Order at the time the English

mission was launched, in an attempt to reveal some clues as to the nature of that

mission. In the light of these investigations, I have discussed the arguments of

certain scholars on these and related topics.

The second chapter is an attempt to reconstruct the Franciscan educational

system in the early thirteenth centwy. To date the shortage of extant legislation

from this period has pushed scholars towards using evidence from the fourteenth

centwy and from the better-documented Dominican Order. However, these

approaches contain obvious dangers of anachronism and unsupported assuınption.

In the thirteenth century the Franciscan Order enjoyed a period of tremendous

growth. The educational network and even the shape of the whole Order were

highly dynamic. Hence, I have tried to rely on the evidence before 1260. As the

chronicles and the constitutions of the Order are the main primary sources, it was

necessary to make some notes on their nature. In the case of the chronicles, the

question of reliability has usually been the main problem for historians. As for

legislation, it is important to know by whom and through what sort of procedure

4

they were made. The fırst part of this chapter has been dedicated to this task. In

the second part, I have tried to draw the main lines of a picture of the Franciscan

educational system in the early thirteenth century. It is as yet impossible to give a

more a detailed picture. The fınal part of this chapter offers, in the light of this

discussion, some revisions ofLittle's views on the nature of the Franciscan school

at Oxford and, in particular, a reconsideration of Little's emphasis on Roger

Bacon as a representative of that school.

The third chapter deals with the internal conflict which developed as a

reaction to the many changes in the Order, particularly after the death of St.

Francis. It also concems the conflict that arose, chiefly at Paris, between secular

and mendieant masters, though it does not attempt a detailed account of that

dispute. In both of these conflicts, between the Spiritual and Conventual groups of

the Order, and between secular and mendieant masters, educational activities

were both an important issue and played a signifıcant role. The chapter focuses in

particular on Saint Bonaventura's part in shaping the Order's response to these

conflicts.

The conclusion of the thesis tries to draw these strands of argument

together.

5

Chapterl

In the Pursuit of Knowledge: The Franciscans in England

The fırst Franciscans arrived in England in 1224. They comprised a group

of four clerics and fıve lay brothers. Their leader was Agnellus of Pisa, the fırst

Provincial Minister of the Province of Anglia and appointed by St. Francis

himself.4 Agnellus had been the founder of the Franciscan convent at Paris which,

already before his journey to England, was slowly on its way to becoming the

centre of studies in the order. So Friar Agnellus was quite familiar with the

contemporary intellectual environment. The choice of Agnellus as the leader of

the Franciscan pioneers in England raises a question about the intentions of the

teaders of the order. Close attention to the pattem of movement of this pioneer

group can perhaps point towards an answer. The Franciscans landed at Dover and

went quickly from there to Canterbury, the cathedral city of the most important

archbishopric in Britain. 5

When they arrived in Canterbury, they remained for a while in a smail

room granted to them in 'the house of scholars' as we leam from Eccleston:

'Cito enim postea concessa fuit eis camera parva infra domum scholarum, ubi de die sedebant quasi clausi continue. Sed cum scholares in vespera domum rediissent, intraverunt domum in qua sederant, et ibi faciebant s ibi ignem, et sederunt juxta eum, et ollulam nonnunquam cum faecibus cerevisiae, cum collationem bibere deberent, posuerunt super ignem, et posuerunt discum in olla et biberunt circulariter, et dixerunt singuli aliquod verbum aedifıcationis'. 6

4 Eccleston, pp. 3-4. 5 lbid., p. 6. 6 'For soon after that he had granted to them a small room below the house of the

scholars, where by day they used to sit as if all the time cloistered. But when the

6

While five ofthem remained at Canterbury, four ofthem, namely Richard

Ingeword, Richard Devon, Brother Henry and Brother Meliorat, went to London. 7

As the commercial capital of England with a relatively great population, London

was an expected choice of settlement.8 However, London was also one of the

most important intellectual centres of England by that date. There were three

principal schools, attached to St. Paul's Cathedral, St Martin-le-Grand, and St

Mary Arehes respectively. They were specialized in arts, and perhaps also in law.

A. B. Cobban observes that it is surprising that this vigorous intellectual life did

not produce an university.9

At London, they split again. Before the end of 1224, two of them, the

priests Richard Ingeworth and Richard Devon, moved to Oxford. 10 The reason for

the c ho ice of Oxford as the third settlement cannot be considered straightforward,

especially if one considers the ambivalence or even the hostility in some of the

attitudes of early Franciscans towards the pursuit of scholarly studies. Oxford was

scholars returned to the house in the evening, they (the Friars) entered the house in which they were sitting and made a fire for themselves, and they sat next to him, and sometimes, when they were obliged to drink a jar with the foul things of beer for collation, they put it on the fire and placed discus in the jar and drank it in turn, and each spoke some word of edification':Ibid, pp. 6-7.

7 Jbid., p. 7. 8 Although there are no accurate population estimates for early thirteenth century London, ithada population of over 10,000 in 1086, and one of around 35,000 in 1377, probably comfortably exceeding this before the Black Death. It was, in any case, the biggest city in England by a large margin: H C. Darby, Domesday England (Cambridge, 1977), p. 303; J. C. Russell, British Medieval Population (Albuquerque, 1948), p. 142. 9 A. B. Cobban, The Medieval English Universities: Oxford and Cambridge to c. 1500 (Cambridge, 1988), p.29. 10 Eccleston, p. 9

7

a moderately important borough and certainly growing in importance at this time,

but within a similar distance from London, Winchester would in the early

thirteenth century probably have offered the friars a larger population center. ı ı

Oxford's real importance was undoubtedly based on the presence of the university,

which was the greatest rival to Paris University at that time. For a new order

looking for any kind of recruits, Oxford was naturally a promising place, yet they

had a good chance of getting simple, zealous recruits almost anywhere in England

since their good reputation was alıeady wide-spread. However, if they wanted to

obtain recruits among the ranks of masters and scholars with the intention of

founding a studium to educate the novices, Oxford was the perfect place to serve

this purpose. So the third settlement of their pioneering mission in England was

this famous university town and here they founded a convent. ı 2 The course of

events after the foundation of Oxford proves further the early Franciscan zeal for

establishment in intellectually energetic towns.

11 Darby, Domesday England, p. 303; Russell, British Medieval Population, pp. 50, 285. By the fourteenth century, however, Oxford would have overtaken Winchester in size: Ibid., p. 142. ı 2 Franciscans were expected to be mobile following the model of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. The early Franciscans, even when they stayed in one place for a while, were inclined to choose ruins or abandoned churches for their accommodation. In his Testament St. Francis, at the very least, discouraged the acceptance of elaborate buildings. However, in order to maintain a school, there was a need to live in proper buildings.The papal bull Quo Elongati of 1230 permitted Franciscans the 'use' of this sort of buildings or indeed anything else, including books and money, that was necessary for the purposes of the Order, while maintaining the Order' s prohibition of ownership. Y et the Oxford settlement and all of the early settlements in England took place before the bull. In fact, the establishment of permanent convents was one of first violations of the ideals of St. Francis for the sake of studies: 'Die Bulle "Quo Elongati" Papst Gregors IX', ed. H. Grudmann, AFH, 54, 1961, 21-23; St. Francis of Assisi, Writings and Early Biographies: English Omnibus of the Sources for the Life of St. Francis, ed. M. A. Habig (Quincy, 1991), p. 68

8

In 1229 or 1230 Robert Grosseteste agreed to teach the Franciscans in

Oxford, something which made everyone aware of their presence in contemporary

intellectual circles and added to their prestige. 13 Perhaps it also made the Minorite

school a subject of jealousy. Grosseteste was clearly very fond of friars. 14 He was

already in close touch with Dominicans before Franciscans arrived to Oxford

There is enough evidence that he enjoyed the company of Franciscans.15 Yet it is

stili not clear why he agreed to teach to Franciscans and continued to do so for

five or six years until his election as hishop of Lincoln. Scholars like Little have

argued that the choice of Grosseteste as the fırst teaeber in the Franciscan school

shaped the Oxford school of Franciscans once and for all. There is some truth in

this argument. Grosseteste bequeathed his considerable library to the Franciscan

convent. 16 The library contained many books written by both medieval and

ancient philosophers, together with the works of Latin and Greek Church Fathers.

13 Robert Grosseteste was one of the most important fıgures of thirteenth century. Not much is known about the fırst fıfty years of his life. However, he started to teach theology in the secular Oxford schools in 1225. Southem believes that it was at this time that he became the Chancellor of Oxford University. It was around this time that his fame as a scholar started to spread. He also made extensive use of the Bible in his lectures, while the common tradition was to lecture on Peter Lombard's "Sentences". However, his real fame in royal and papal circles came after he was elected as hishop of Lincoln in 1235: R W. Southem, Robert Grosseteste: The Growth of an English Mind in Medieval Europe, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1992), pp. 5, 70-5. For an older interpretation of Grossteste's early career, see Robert Grosseteste Scholar and Bishop, ed. D. A. Callus (Oxford, 1955). 14 Southem, Robert Grosseteste, p. 5 15 As an example of the Grosseteste's early fondness of and intimacy with the

Oxford friars, see the letter written by him to Agnellus of Pisa conceming the departure of Adam of Oxford to preach to the Saracens in 1225: Roberli Grosseteste Epistolae, ed. H. R Luard, Rolls Series, 25 (London, 1861), pp.17-21.

16 R. W. Hunt, 'The Library of Robert Grosseteste' in Robert Grosseteste Scholar and Bishop, ed.Callus, p. 130.

9

Definitely, the possession of such valuable books shaped the minds of the later

generations educated in the Franciscan convent. However, to think that the

subjects Grosseteste taught in the Franciscan school were identical with his own

interests would be too far-fetched. 17

Now that the Oxford settlement had been established, the Franciscarıs

were ready to move on further to other towns, and the towns they chose were

among those with established educational reputations. Soon Richard de lngeworth

and Richard Devon were on their way again, this time to Northampton. 18

Medieval Northampton was then an important royal borough. 19 The town had a

notable intellectual standing too. In the twelfth century, the schools of

Northampton had almost achieved the degree of a studium generale.20 The

migration of scholars from Northampton to Oxford during the latter part of the

reign of Richard I is one of the important elements involved in the foundation of

Oxford studium. A.B. Cobban states that some of these twelfth century schools

maintained themselves during the early thirteenth century?1 In these schools, law,

theology and the liberal arts were taught. 22 So when Franciscans arrived here,

these schools were probably stili functioning. After all, it could hardly have been

17 This topic will be discussed in more detail in the second chapter. 18 Eccleston, p. 1 O 19 J. C. Russell estimates population for Northampton of just over 1000 in 1086, and 2216 in 1377: British Medieval Population, pp. 51, 142. H. C. Darby estimates arather higher population in 1086, sornewhere between 1500 and 2000: Domesday England, p. 307. 2° Cobban, The Medieval English Universities, p.29. For more information on

Northampton schools and their signifıcance see H.G. Richardson 'The Schools ofNorthampton in the Twelfth Century', E.H.R., lvi (1941) pp. 595 ff.

21 Cobban, The Medieval English Universities, p.30. 22 R. Mortimer, Angevin England 1154-1258 (Oxford, 1994), p. 214.

10

clear at the time that the schools in Northampton would not become a University

like Oxford and Cambridge. Indeed, thirteen years after the Franciscan settlement

in Northampton, when the university of Oxford was suspended because of a

conflict between the scholars and the papal legate, some of the fugitive scholars

proceeded to Northampton and established a studium, which according to

Rashdall maintained itself for a long time. 23 The evidence for a Franciscan school

in Northampton comes from the Close Rolls where it states that Henry lll granted

timher for the building of the school. 24 Relying on this information, it is suggested

that the school was founded in 1258. However, this looks too straightforward a

conclusion. There might well have been a school before that date which was

functioning within the convent. The king's grant might have been used for the

establishment of a separate school building or the addition of a reading room. One

piece of information supports slightly the existence of an earlier Franciscan

school. The convent building has been altered when Albert of Pisa was Provincial

Minister of Anglia, around 1236. Two other convents had been 'altered' at this

time, and curiously enough, both of them were convents that had or would have a

school: Hereford and Gloucester.25 When a school was initiated, convents needed

enlargement and alteration in order to make a room for the lectures, and to

accommodate an increasing number of students just as was the case with Oxford,

though perhaps not to the same degree. Therefore, these alterations could well be

23 H Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, ed. M. Powicke & AB. Emden (Oxford, 1936), iii, p. 88. 24 A.G. Little gives the evidence from Close Rolls 42, Henry lll, m. 6, in

Eccleston, p. 50, n. i. 25 Jbid, p. 44. The expression used is mutatus est, literally 'was altered'.This

might indicate that the convent had been enlarged for whatever purpose.

11

a sign of an early school in these places.

Before the end of 1225, the friars entered the gates of another university

town--Cambridge. 26 This was another site where Franciscans founded a school.

Certainly it was less painful to found schools in university towns or other towns

with intellectual resources, from the po int of view of recruiting lectors. According

to Eccleston, the first lector in the Cambridge convent was Vincent of Coventry,

an Englishman. W e do not know much about Vincent of Coventry other than he

was appointed lector in London by Albert of Pisa in 1236. Vincent of Coventry

joined theOrderin 1225, probably in Cambridge.27 He was already a master when

he joined the Order. What he did between 1225 and 1236 is not known for sure.

Emden writes that he became the first lector in Cambridge after 1236.28 On the

other hand, Moorman states that he had already been lector in Cambridge when

he was appointed to the London convent. 29 It is more likely that the Order made

use of such a master as much as possible, and that he therefore would have been

teaching in Cambridge before he was sent to London. According to the list of

Cambridge lectors with which Eccleston provides us, the second lector was

William Pictavensis (ofPoitiers).30 However, he only started teaching in 1251.31

This would suggest that between 1236 and 1251, there was no lector in the

Cambridge convent. Since this is quite unlikely, we can almost certainly say that

26 lbid, p. 12. 27 lbid, p. 16. 28 AB. Emden, Biographical Register of the University of Cambridge to 1500

(Cambridge, 1963), p. 164 29 Moorman, p. 136 30 Eccleston, p. 50. 31 Emden, Biographical Register of the University of Cambridge, p.456.

12

William was not the second lector, and that there were some other lectors who

taught there between 1236 and 1251.

The year 1226 witnessed two more Franciscan settlements, in Norwich

and in Worcester. Just as in all the previous foundations, Norwich too came to

have a school. Not much is known about the intellectual activity of the town

before the Franciscan settlement, but the existence of a cathedral would seem to

presume at least some sort of cathedral school. The Franciscan school of

Norwich, which developed into one of the major schools of the Order, was

founded at least by 1250.32 Another piece of evidence conceming the existence of

the Norwich school comes from a letter of Alexander N to a lector called

Bartholomeus de Bruna in Norwich in 1257.33

The stream of settlements in England flowed steadily. By 1228, the

Franciscan friars had established themselves in Hereford. 34 AB. Cobban deseribes

Hereford as one of the most brilliant cathedral schools of England in the twelfth

century, where all seven liberal arts were taught, along with legal studies.35 It is

not unreasonable, therefore, to look for an early establishment of a Minorite

school here, and indeed Hereford became one of the best-known theology schools

of the English Franciscans by the beginning of fourteenth century. 36 The earliest

32 Moorman, p.124n. Norwich was one of the intermediate schools, of special status though not a studium general e, mentioned in the Ordinations of Benedi ct XII in 1336. For these, see the discussion in chapter two of this thesis.

33 BF, ii, p.216 34 D. Knowles and R. N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales (London, 1971) pp.222-229. 35 Cobban, The Medieval English Universities, p. 28 36 'Ordinationes a Benedicto XII pro Fratribus Minoribus Promulgatae per Bullam

28 Novembris 1336', AFH, 30 (1937), p. 349.

13

reference to this school comes from Eccleston, who states that during the time of

Albert of Pisa, William of Leicester was appointed as lector to the Hereford

school. 37 This must have been around 1236, when Albert of Pisa was appointed

provincia1 minister of England. It was close to this time, as mentioned above, that

the buildings of the Hereford convent had been altered The Chronicle of XXIV

Generals writes that, around 1235, the hishop ofHereford, Radulphus Anglicus, a

master in theology, entered the Order.38 Also according to the fourteenth-century

chronicle, another lector received a letter from the Bishop and entered the order. 39

As W.R. Thomson argues, although entry into the Order meant the loss of some

episcopal dignity, there were stili cases where bishops took the Franciscan habit

in the early years, which shows us the degree of popularity Franciscans enjoyed at

the time.40

W e cannot often give exact dates for the foundation of the other early

convents in the province. All we know is that by 1230 nine more convents had

been established. These were Bristol, Gloucester, King's Lynn, Leicester, Lincoln,

Nottingham, Salisbury, Stamford and York.41. As for the intellectual activities of

37 Eccleston, p. 50 38 This is probably Ralph of Maidstone, whose entrance was also recorded by Eccleston: Eccleston, p. 85. 39 'The Chronicle of the XXIV Generals', AF, iii, p. 220 40 W.R. Thomson, Friars in the Cathedral: The First Franciscan Bishops 1226-1261 (Toronto, 1975), p. 152. 41 See Appendix 1. The dates of Knowles and Hadcock refer in many cases to

A.G. Little without making a reference to a specific work. So I did not have an opportunity to find out how Dr. Little found them. Yet, generally Little finds his evidence in the Close Rolls and other records of central government, so the dates should be reliable, even though the evidence can often show no more than that a convent existed at that date, rather than being evidence of the actual foundation.

14

these towns, again not m uc h is known. York had a cathedral school, noted for the

study of law in the twelfth century. Salisbury, which again had a cathedral school,

was the destination of some fugitive scholars from Oxford in 1238.42 About the

others virtually nothing is known. Very probably, the Franciscans had been on the

move all of the time, and had continued founding convents from 1226 onwards.

These early convents are of particular interest since, at least in six of them, the

Franciscans again founded schools that received mention sooner or later. We do

not have any reference to any school in King's Lynn, Lincoln or Nottingham, but

all the others contained schools which were very important in the Order in the

fourteenth century. In fact, apart from these convents, only three other convent

schools in existence in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, remain

unmentioned: those of Exeter, Coventry and Newcastle. The convent of Exeter is

recorded first in 1240, but it seems quite unlikely that the friars had waited ten

more years in order to settle down in one of the major towns of medieval England.

Exeter was a bishopric and a castle-town with a substantial population. 43 It should

have been an attractive location to Franciscans. Similarly, the Coventry

settlement, which is first recorded in 1234 in connection with a grant oftimber by

Henry m, probably took place around 1230. As for Newcastle, the earliest record

of the convent is in 1237. It is again very likely that the convent was already

established by 1233, when Brother Elias made Scotland a separate province. The

42 H. Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, i, p. 88. For the Franciscan convents founded before 1240, see the map of England in Appendix m. 43 H.C. Darby estimates Exeter's population as over 2,000 in 1086: Domesday England, p. 308. J.C. Russell estimates the population at the same date as 1,438 and as 2,340 in the year 1377: British Medieval Population, pp. 50, 142.

15

reason given for this division was sornewhat unusuat for what might be seen as an

administrative measure:

'demandatum est a ministro generali fr. Elia ut provincia anglicana divideretur in duas, ut esset scilicet una Scotiae et alia ut prius Angliae. Voluit enim, ut dicebatur, quod sicut ordo fratrum Praedicatorum XII habet priores provinciales in toto orbe vice XII apostolorum, sic et ipse sub se haberet septuaginta duos ministros vice septuaginta duorum discipulorum.' 44

The Ordinations of Benedi ct XII issued in 1336 state that London, York,

Norwich, Newcastle, Stamford, Coventry and Exeter were subject to the same

jurisdiction as the studia generalia of the Order.45 By 1336, there were seven

custodies in England and all of the towns mentioned above belonged to a different

custody. The studia in these towns, which I have termed 'intermediate studia' will

be discussed at length in the second chapter.

Such is the story of the early Franciscan settlement in England. The policy

of settlement is very clear. The establishment of convents took place quite fast,

one after another. The Franciscan friars did not try to settle down fully in one or

two places. Instead, very shortly after the foundation of a convent, they formed

small parties--even as few as two people-and sent them as pioneers to new

places. As a result, by 1233 the Franciscans were well-established in England,

44 'It is demanded by the minister general Brother Elias that the English province shall be divided into two, that is to say as Scotland and England. He wants this since, so they say, just as the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans) has 12 provincial priors in the who le world, just like the twelve apostles, thus he (Elias) would have under himself seventy-two minİsters corresponding to the seventy-two disciples:' Eccleston, p. 41. 45 'Ordinations a Benedieta XII Pro Fratribus Minoribus Promulgatae per Bullam 28 Novembris 1336', AFH, vol. 30, (1937), p. 349

16

Ireland, and Scotland. 46

A particular feature of these settlements attracts attention. The early

Franciscans chose to settle down in places where there was an active intellectual

life. This is clearly so in case of London, Oxford and Caıtıbridge, and in other

cases the towns chosen often had cathedral schools, some of them of note, or were

towns that housed fugitive scholars from Oxford and Cambridge. Of course, it is

hard to say definitely that their purpose was to recruit from among scholars, or to

found schools. Probably, they had more than one purpose, but in these early years

they could only found schools if they could recruit lectors to teach in them,

whether a secular master or a master who agreed to join the Order. In the end, we

can safely say that, one way or another, the Franciscan settlement in England

seems to have aimed at embracing the intellectual life in England and at

becoming involved in it actively. Maybe this was not their only object, but it

surely was one of their aims. One question remains to be answered Whose idea

was this? Which authority in the Order prompted these Franciscan pioneers to act

this way? It is highly improbable that this was a decision made by St. Francis;

he-in the beginning certainly-preferred to stay away from university towns. B.

Gratien quotes Celano to point to Francis' indignation upon teaming the

foundation of a house for the brethren in Bologna.47 Besides, none of the

surviving legislation of the Order gives any criteria for the choice of places in

which to found new convents. Yet, the course of events show that St. Francis

46 Moorman, p. 175. 47 B. Gratien, Histoire de la fondation et de l'evolution de l'Ordre des freres

mineurs au XIII siecle, 2nd edn (Rome, 1982), p. 87.

17

changed his mind towards the last years of his life about the necessity of studies

for his Order. P.G. Odoardi writes that besides the /aici, St. Francis was also

surrounded by many c/erici such as Fr. Silvestro, Fr. Leone, Fr. Cesario, Fr.

Pacifico and Fr. Elias, who probably in:fluenced him on this matter.48 So he not

only gave his permission for study, but also made the attendance to dasses

obligatory in order for friars to be ab le to serve better the apostolic ideal of the

Order, which was preaching. For the same purpose, he gave his permission to

Brother Elias for the organization of studies in the Order. 49 Indeed, it was Brother

Elias and John Parenti who did their best to mak:e sure that the Fransiscan Order

was involved in intellectual activities.

Fr. Elias was a complicated, but influential figure in the early history of

the Franciscan Order. Among his various deeds, the promotion of theological

studies in the Order was a major one. The foundation of the studium of Bologna,

which was the first in the Order, took place during his Vicarage. Again, the

studium ofParis was founded shortly afterwards. It is quite possible that there was

a continuous communication between Elias and Agnellus of Pisa about the

Franciscan policy towards the recruitment of scholars and foundation of studia.

Elias was the Vicar of the Order until1227, so the last three years of his vicarage

coincided with the Franciscan settlement in England. As the main decision-mak:er

in the Order in this period, Elias was almost the only person who could have been

48 P.G. Odoardi, 'Un Geniale Figlio di S. Francesco', MF, 54, 1954, p. 100. More generally, it can be seen that St Francis's attitudes towards study and the acquisition of knowledge were often changeable and inconsistent: Gratien, Histoire de lafondation et de /'evo/ution de /'Ordre, pp. 81-96. 49 Odoardi, 'Un Geniate Figlio di S. Francesco', p. 100.

18

responsible for the preparation of the intellectual infrastructure. 50

In 1226, while Franciscan expeditions were continuing in Anglia, in

Assisi, in the headquarters of the Order, times were harder than ever. St. Francis,

the ultimate symbol of the unity of the Order, died in his beloved church of

Portiuncula. To the surprise of many, Brother Elias lost the leadership of the

Order to John Parenti, a Florentine lawyer, famous for his learning and devotion.

Although he seemed to follow St. Francis zealously in simplicity and goodness, as

for the promotion of learning he diverged quite radically from the path which St.

Francis attempted to draw. John Parenti, just like Brother Elias, openly supported

educational activities. He sent a friar Simon Anglicus to Germany to lecture. 51 It

is not unlikely that he gave directives to Provincial Minİsters for the establishment

of schools in the convents and to arrange for leamed scholars to teach the friars.

In the convent ofPadua, Anthony ofPadua started to teach Franciscansin 1223.52

In the Paris convent, this problem was solved by the presence of Haymo of

Faversham, an English scholar who hadjoined theOrderin 1225. In the same

year in England, Agnellus of Pisa, the Provincial Minister asked Robert

Grosseteste, then the most eminent scholar of Oxford University to teach the

friars in the Oxford convent. It does not seem very probable that Agnellus of Pisa

made this decision independently. Indeed, it is quite interesting that the papal bull

Quo Elongati which legally allowed friars the use of money, books and proper

buildings-three issues closely related to the establishment of Minorite schools-

50 lbid., p. 101. 51 'The Chronicle of the XXIV Generals', AF, iii, p. 237; Moorman, p. 91-2. 52 'Chartularium Studii Bononiensis S. Francisci (Saec. XIII-XIV)', AF, 11, (1970), p. 3

19

was issued in 1230. s3 This suggests that John Parenti was already in close to uc h

on these issues with Pope Gregory IX. If John Parenti really gave directives to

Provincial Ministers, he would not have done so without informing the pope.

The nature of this early Franciscan settlement in England raises questions

about the function of custodies as educational units. Eccleston mentions six

custodies in the province of Anglia in his chronicle: London; Oxford; Cambridge;

Salisbury; York. and Worcester.54 Yet we do not have accurate knowledge as to

which convents belonged to which custodies. The oldest surviving document

conceming the divisions within provinces which specifies which convent

belonged to which custody is Codex Nr. 1960 in the Vatican archive. This only

goes back to as far as 1324.55 Hence the thirteenth century divisions of Franciscan

provinces remain uncertain. A.G. Little argued that 'in England the custody

acquired a special importance as an educational area, each custody maintained a

special school of theology.'56 This is certainly a realistic argument for the

fourteenth century 7 but in the early thirteenth century almost every convent had a

school of some status and there would have been no need to organize custodies as

educational areas.

One of the general points that has frequently been made conceming the

Franciscans is that they followed the Dominicans in their settlement policy and

s3 'Die Bulle "Quo Elongati" Papst Gregors IX', ed. Grundmann, 2 I -23. 54 Eccleston, pp. 34-36. ss Fr. Conrad Eubel, Provinciale Ordinis Fratrum Minorum Vetussimum (Rome, 1892), p. 3. s6 A. G. Little, 'The Administrative Divisions of the Mendieant Orders in England', in English Histarical Review, 34 (1919), 54.

20

educational organization. A very recent study by R. French and A. Cunningham

points out on the rivalry between the two Orders and continues:

'In the early years this rivalry showed itself most clearly in the fact that everywhere the Dominicans went, the Franciscans were sure to go. When the Dominicans went to a particular town and took up residence

7 the Franciscans went to the same town and

began settling in. '5

Admittedly, I have not made a comparison of Doıninican and Franciscan

settlements in all the provinces, but for England it is very evident that this

statement of French and Cunningham is wrong. Although the Franciscans arrived

in England three years later than the Dominicans, by 1230 there were only nine

Dominican convents in England, as opposed to seventeen Franciscan ones. 58 The

Dominicans arrived in England in 1221, and they established their first house in

Oxford. Once established there, they did not hurry to settle down in other towns,

but remained there for three years, until they founded their second convent in

London in 1224. The third convent only appeared in 1226 in Norwich, and the

fourth in York in 1227. They did not go to Cambridge until 1238.59 It has been

suggested that the reason for this slow-motion settlement was the Doıninican's

preference to found convents only after raising sufficient number of educated

friars in the Oxford convent, who were then capable of making new foundations

57 R. French and A. Cunningham, Before Science: The Jnvention of the Friars' of Natural Philosophy (Aldershot, 1996), p. 204. 58 See Appendix 1. 59 For the list of dates of the foundation of Dominican convents in England, see

W. A. Hinnebusch, The Early English Friars Preachers, (Rome, 1951) pp. 493-495.

21

in accordance with the Constitutions. 60 Whatever logic there was behind the

settlement policy of Dominicans, clearly it was not the one Franciscans adopted.

French and Cunningham extended this argument to the foundation of studia in

both orders:

'When Dominicans went to studium towns and inserted themselves into the life of studium, the Franciscans followed them in the race for theology chairs ... The Dominicans were barely established at Cambridge before the Franciscans, breathless, turned up in 1225 and took up residence in the former house ofBenjamin the Jew.ı6 1

There is no reference to a Dominican convent in Cambridge before 1238. To look

at the foundation dates of the convents of both orders in France and England is

enough to falsify the statement of French and Cunningham.62 Besides, if the

Dominicans had been established in Cambridge before the Franciscans, the

Franciscans would almost certainly have stayed with them on their arrival in the

town. French and Cunningham's evidence for a rivalry between the two Orders

consists only of the settlement dates of the two Orders in Paris and Oxford, which

cannot be considered as a sign of the Franciscan's jealousy of the Dominicans.

Moreover, both in London and Oxford, the Franciscans had been warmly

welcomed by the Dominicans, who took care of them until the Franciscans had

60 M. O'Carroll, 'The Educational Organisation of the Dominicans in England and Wales 1221-1348: A Multidisciplinary Approach', in Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum, 50 (1980), 47.

61 I have referred to W. A. Hinnebush's list ofDominican convents in The Early English Friars Preachers (Rome, 1951) p. 493. Here, as well as in Knowles's list, the foundation date of the Cambridge convent is given as 1238. French and Cunningham do not give any reference for their date. 62 To servethis purpose, I made lists of the dates of the foundation of Franciscan and Dominican convents in England and France in the fırst half of thirteenth century. For these lists, see Appendix A below.

22

fo und a place of their own. There was some friction between the two Orders after

the 1240s, but this cannot be taken back to the 1210s and 1220s.

Joanna Cannon, in her article on the mendieant organizations in England,

argues that the Dominicans were the most thoroughly organized mendieant Order

in terms of schools and that other orders followed them and adapted their

scheme. 63 This cannot be true, given the picture of Franciscan settlement in

England as I have tried to draw above. Apart from other considerations, the

Franciscans certainly had more schools than the Dominicans in 1236. The

Franciscans defınitely pursued a different path from the Dominicans, who spread

the foundation of their English convents over the who le of the thirteenth century.

There is also an extremely important point here which has been ignored by

scholars working on the Franciscan educational system. Dr. Little in his fırst

article about this system wrote the following:

'The Franciscans, unlike the Friars Preachers had no tradition of teaming to start from: every Dominican convent was essentially a school, the early Franciscan convent was not. The Dominican educational system had merely to be organised; the basis was contemporaneous with the foundation of the Order; the Franciscan educational system had not only to be organİsed but to be created ab initio. ı64

As it will be demonstrated in the next chapter, the differences between the

Franciscan and Dominican educational systems went deep, right to the heart of

63 J. Cannon, "Panorama geografıco, cronologico e statistico sulla distribuzione degli Studia degli ordini mendieanti (Inghilterra)", in Le scuole deg/i Ordini mendieanti (see. XIII-XIV), ed. M. d' Alatri, Convegni del Centro di Studi sulla Spiritualita Medievale, 17, Todi 11-14 ottobre 1976 (Todi, 1978), p. 94. 64 A.G. Little, 'Educational Organisation of the mendieant Friars in England (Dominicans and Franciscans)', Transactions of the Royal Histarical Society, New Series, 7, (1894), 63-64.

23

the nature of the convent school. Dominican schola were designed to serve all

friars in the convent, but Franciscan studia only served clerics. Franciscan

education was not aimed at teaching all friars the basics of faith, it was aimed at

the higher education of clerics who were deterınined to be involved in the

scholarly world.65 Therefore, we cannot expect these two systems of education,

differing in aims and in subject matter, necessarily to besimilar in organization.

Indeed, the presumption, without specific evidence, ought surely to be that they

were different.

65 See Chapter ll, pp. 38-39.

24

Cbapter II

Building the Franciscan Educational System

The systems of education in the mendieant Orders is a highly interesting

issue in the history of Middle Ages. These systems, which consisted of networks

of schools, each type with different functions and in an hierarchical order, were

some of those rare institutions of the Middle Ages whose branches spread

throughout Europe. Among all of the mendieant Orders, the Franciscans and

Dominicans had the most extensive networks of schools. From the historian's

po int of view, the reconstruction of the educational network of the Franciscans is

mo re difficult than for that of the Dominicans s ince the extant primary sources of

the Franciscan Order are much fewer in number. The two main groups of sources

for the educational organization of the Franciscans are the various chronicles and

the legislative documents. I believe that the nature of these documents is worth

describing, since it is only through them that we may construct our current

knowledge about the Franciscan system of studia.

The chronicle containing the fullest information about educational

activities is that of Thomas ofEccleston.66 Essentially a history of the Franciscans

in the province of Anglia, Eccleston's chronicle gives valuable information about

the activities in theOrderin the period 1224-1258. Asa chronicler, he has got his

own style, and although he has omitted a good deal of information about events in

66 The mostrecent and best edition ofEccleston's chronicle is that by A.G. Little, Tractatus Fr. Thomae vulgo dicti de Eccleston, De Adventu Fratrum Minorum in Angliam, ed. A.G. Little (Manchester, 1951). The chronicle is also edited by J. S. Brewer inMonumenta Franciscana, Vo/.1, Rolls Series, 21 (London,1858), pp. 5-72.

25

the Order and in England during this period, he is, as Little deseribes him, 'honest,

well-informed, (and) accurate' in what he wrote.67 His ultimate purpose in writing

the chronicle seems to have been to publicize the glory and good deeds of his

Order, and to show that the servants of the cause of the Order had always been

rewarded and promoted to high positions.

A second chronicle, which informs us about sch9larly activities in the

Order is that of Salimbene.68 Salimbene's chronicle differs from Eccleston's

Tractatus in being a personal history, a story of of his own life and times, rather

than a general or provincial history of the Order. The period of the chronicle falls

between 1170 and 1288. He had been to a lot of places and had met the most

important people of his times, like Brother Elias, Emperor Frederick ll, Pope

Innocent IV, John ofParma and Hugh ofDigne. It isa very valuable source about

the daily life ofFranciscans in the thirteenth century.69

Apart from chronicles, the best sources for tracing the development of the

educational organization are the legislative documents of the Order. Certainly, the

fundamental legislative document of the activities of the Order of Friars Minor

was the Rule. St. Francis did not choose to adopt one of the already existing

67 A.G. Little, Franciscan Papers, Lists, and Documents (Manchester, 1943) p. 27. The reader can find a detailed discussion of the chronicles of the Franciscan and Dominican Order here. 68 The mostrecent study of Salimbene's chronicle is: M. d'Alatri, O.F.M. Cap.,La Cronaca di Salimbene: personaggi e tematiche (Roma, 1988). The best known edition is Chronica fratris Salimbene de Adam ordinis Minorum, ed. O. Holder­Egger, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores, Vol. XXXII, pp. 1905-13. 69 There isanother thirteenth century Franciscan chronicle, written by Jordan of Giano. It concems the Franciscan settlement in Germany, but does not give us any information about scholarly activities: Chronica Fratris Jordani, ed. H. Boehmer (Paris, 1908).

26

monastic rules, such as the Rule of St. Benedict or the Augustinian Rule. He

wanted to explain the way of life he expected from his followers in simple and

plain words. The first Rule, which is not extant today, was written in 1209.

However, with the passing of time the number of friars increased drastically; the

office of provincial minister was instituted and abuses began in the Order. All this

made the writing of another rule essential. The Rule of 1221 and the Rule of

1223, which was just a shorter and more explicit version of the former, provided

the foundation of Franciscan legislation. In both the Rules of 1221 and 1223, St.

Francis did not openly oppose the promotion of scholarly activities, but he

certainly di d not encourage it. In the Rule of 1221, he writes the very words

which afterwards became the foundation of Bonaventura's defense of studies in

the Order: 'Those who are illiterate should not be anxious to study.'70 In Chapter

7 of the same Rule, St. Francis orders, in accordance with the Bible, that

'everyone should remain at the trade and in the position in which he was called'.71

Y et he introduces a limitation to that, by asserting that 'the friars who have a trade

should work at it, provided that it is no obstacle to their spiritual progress and can

be practised without seandaL '72 This statement justified the recruitment of people

from all sorts of professions, including lectors and masters.

The Rule, of course, was an exceptional piece of legislation. The usual

organ for Franciscan legislation was the general chapter. The issues to be

discussed in general chapters, presided over by Minister Generals, were first

70 St. Francis of Assisi, Writings and Early Biographies, p. 63 71 lbid., p. 37. 72 lbid.

27

decided by the diffinitores. After the discussion of the agenda, new statutes were

added to existing constitutions and, if necessary, a revised and enlarged version of

the existing constitutions would be produced. 73 These constitutions made by

general chapters were referred to as constitutiones generales. A copy of these

constitutions was sent to all custodians in the Order. Probably all general chapters

created some constitutions, but records do not survive from many general

chapters. One of the fırst statutes ordained in the chapter of Assisi in 1227 by the

second Minister General, John Parenti, concemed the bearing of titles other than

Brother: 'Hic statuit nullum fratrem magistrum vel dominum sed omnes

communiter fratres vocari.'74 At a time when fuar-masters were already not

uncommon and when friars were rising to high positions in the Church, this was

an attempt to retain equality of status within the Order.

The earliest extant, substantial set of constitutions was produced by the

general chapter of 1239, presided over by Minister General Albert of Pisa. The

tyrannical administration ofBrother Elias from 1232 to 1239 made the members

of the Order aware of the necessity of a body of constitutions to restrict the

authority of minister generals. The most provocative act of Elias had been that he

chosen visitators from his own intimate circle, vesting them with untrammelled

authority. A significant number of the 1239 constitutions were directedat tirniting

and regulating the power of the office of visitator75. When asked at the Chapter of

73 The latin terms statutum, constitutio, ordinatio and actum were used interchangeably. 74 'He ordered that no brothershall be called master or lord, but everyone shall be called commonly brother': 'De Fratrum Minorum Constitutionibus Praenarbonensibus', ed. C. Cenci,AFH, 83 (1990), 51. 75 'Const. Prenarbonne', 69-75.

28

Metz in 1254 for constitutions, the Minister General John of Panna said that

instead of multiplying them they ought to try keeping the ones they already had,

which suggests that the legislation of the Order was already substantial by that

date.76 In any case, the Constitutions of 1239 were the backbone of the well-

known Narbonne Constitutions of 1260. Salimbene suggests that the Narbonne

Constitutions were actually a well-arranged version of the 1239 Constitutions:

'Et in illo capitulo (the general chapter of 1239) facta est maxima multitudo constitutionum generalium; sed non erant ordinatae; quas processu temporis ordinavit fr. Bonaventura generalis minister, et parum addidit de suo, sed poenitentias taxavit in aliquibus locis. ı77

So far, scholars have almost without exception referred to the Narbonne

Constitutions as the fırst legislation conceming the organization of studies in the

Order. However, the very recent edition of pre-Narbonne constitutions, an edition

compiled from three different manuscripts, gives us much valuable information

about scholarly activities in the Order around 1239. These constitutions will be

discussed at length below.

After the constitutions produced by general chapters, the second

76 D. Burr, 0/ivi and Franciscan Poverty: The Origins of the Usus Pauper Controversy (Philadelphia, 1989) 77 'And in that chapter a vast number of general constitutions were made; but they were not put in order. The Minister General Brother Bonaventura put them in order in the course of time and added a few of his own, though he re-assessed the value ofregulations in some places': Chronicafratris Salimbene de Adam ordinis Minorum, ed. O. Holder-Egger, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores, Vol. XXXII, p. 102. The term ordinatae in this context has been translated by J.R.H. Moorman as 'confırmed', but these constitutions seem in no particular need for confırmation and 'put in order' or 'well-arranged' seems a more natural translation: Moorman, p. 105.

29

legislative organ was the provincial chapter, headed by the provincial minister.

Thereby, there was the opportunity for legislation specifıc to individual provinces

depending on their needs. The third and last type of legislation comprised bulls

and ordinationes of the Papal See. As the Franciscan Order had to be wholly

obedient to the Pope, he had the right to interfere in all the affairs of the Order.

The Franciscan educational organization depended mainly on these three

types of legislation and these constitute the major part of the information we have

today about educational activities in the Franciscan Order. Each body of

constitutions and papal ordinations generally produced a seetion of legislation

entitled De Occupationibus Fratrum which had something to say about the

regulations goveming students, lectors and schools. Unfortunately, there is a

shortage of extant Franciscan legislation from the thirteenth century, which makes

the understanding of the early educational activities of the Franciscans quite

diffıcult. So far, the nature of Franciscan education has been studied largely from

chronicles and from legislative documents dating later than 1260. However, now,

with the editing of the pre-Narbonne constitutions, we have the chance of

reconstructing the educational organization of the period prior to 1260.

The first relevant statement we fınd in the pre-Narbonne constitutions is

that 'Ministri, custodes et lectores non sint visitatores.'78 This shows us that

'}ector' was already a well-established office within the Order of Friars Minor.

W e fınd a similar statement in the general constitutions of Paris 1292: 'Nullus

autem frater fungatur simul custodis et lectoris offıcio vel visitatoris, nisi

78 'Ministers, custodians and lectors shall not be visitators': lbid., p. 75

30

manifesta necessitas id requirat.'79 Another interesting point concerns Paris.

Because of the Franciscan school flourishing there, and which was considered in

the Order as the highest step in an intellectual career, Paris was given special

attention already in 1239:

'Statuimus quod singulis annis visitetur domus Parisiensis per specialem visitatorem, missum a generali ministro. Qui, si invenerit aliquem de studentibus insolentem, possit cum ministro provintiali remittere ipsum ad suam provintiam.'80

The same statement, with the same words except 'de studentibus', exists in the

Narbonne Constitution. There is another statement in the pre-Narbonne

constitutions dealing with the recruitment policy of the Order and which was never

quite repeated in the later constitutions:

'Nullus recipiatur in ordine nostro nisi sit talis clericus qui sit competenter in grammatica instructus vel logica vel medicina vel decretis vel legibus vel theologia, aut nisi sit talis clericus vel laicus, de cuius ingressu esset valde famosa et celebris edificatio in populo et in clero.'81

This statement can be interpreted in many ways. In the first years of the

Order the ratio of lay brothers to clerics was quite high. 82 This ratio fell between

79 'No brother shall perform the office of custodian, !ector or visitator at the same time, unless there is a clear necessity for that.': 'Statuta Glia Ordinis 1260, 1279 et 1292', ed. M. Bihl, AFH, 34 (1927), 298. 80 'W e orderthat the Paris convent will be visited every year by a special visitator assigned by the minister general. If he finds any of the students insolent, he has the right, with the provincial minister, to send him back to his own province': 'Const. Prenarbonne', 75. 81 'No-one shall be received into the order unless he is such a cleric as is well instructed in grammar or logic or medicine or canon law or civil law or theology, or unless he is such a cleric or layman from whose entrance there would be renowned and famous edification among the people and clergy': Jbid. 82 Felder H., Geschichte der wissenschaftlichen Studien im Franziskanerorden bis um die Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1904), p. 67. For a detailed discussion of the meanings oflay and clerical, see Chapter III, p. 51-54.

31

1220 and 1232, and the influence of the lay brothers in the Order was almost

broken. However, when Brother Elias assumed the position of Minister General,

he recruited lay people in great numbers and they were placed in high offices in

order to neutralize the clericilization of the Order, as we learn from Salimbene.83

A reaction to this was the main reason for this new unwillingness to recruit lay

brothers. The statute above was intended to bring balance to the number of lay

and derical brothers in the Order. As for the recruitment of clerics, we see that

the required qualifications are various. Almost all of the existing faculties in the

universities are covered. This is a clear proof that the Order was willing to recruit

clerics specialised in different branches. As for the young people, they were

expected at least to be well-instructed in grammar. Those clerics who were

instructed in theology were probably intended to be lectors in the studia of the

Order. As for subjects like medicine and law, there is no evidence that these

sciences were taught in Franciscan schools. The intention was probably to assign

them to offices within the Order where they could use their expertise. 84 It is

interesting to observe that, only thirty years after its foundation, the Order of

Friars Minor, where the word 'minor' indicated the humbleness of the brothers,

was turning into an Order ofFriars Major.

83 'Tertius defectus fratris Heliae fuit, quia homines indignos promovit ad officia ordinis. Faciebat enim laycos guardianos, custodes, ministros, quod absurdum erat valde, cum ordine eset copia bonorum clericorum. 'Also, }or a more detailed discussion ofElias see Chronica.fr. Salimbene, p. 103.For the recruitment ofhigh numbers of lay brothers the reader can refer to D. Berg, Armut und Wissenschaft. Beitrage zur Geschichte des Studienwesens der Bettelorden im 13. Jahrhundert (Dusseldorf, 1977) and Felder, Geschichte der wissenschaftlichen, p. 107. 84 The assignment of clerics to high offices in the order will be dealt in more detail in the third chapter.

32

The better-known Narbonne Constitutions echo this earlier statute:

'Nullus recipiatur in ordine nostro, nisi sit talis clericus, qui sit competenter instructus in grammatica vellogica; aut nisi sit talis laicus, de cuius ingressu esset valde celebris et famosa edifıcatio in populo et in clero. ' 85

The only difference is that grammar and logic are the only categories of teaming

mentioned. This difference is probably not of any great signifıcance as students of

law, medicine or theology could be expected to have adequate grammar and logic.

There might however, by 1260 when the Order already had a well-established

network of schools, have been less emphasis on the recruitment of ready-made

practitioners of the higher disciplines.

Unfortunately, the shortage of primary sources has forced scholars to

construct analogies with the Dominican organization, whose school activities are

m uc h better documented. 86 Y et there is no explicit evidence that the Franciscans

copied the Dominican system. The Franciscan Order was not as centralized as the

Dominican Order. Franciscans held general chapters once in three years, while the

Dominicans were holding them every year. As for the provincial chapters, there is

not one extant record of a Franciscan provincial chapter held in England. The

extant constitutions of provincial chapters hel d in the thirteenth century in the rest

of Europe does not exceed a dozen. The shortage of extant legislation does not

85 'Die altesten Redaktionen der Generalconstitutionen des Franziskaner Ordens', ed. F. Ehrle, ALKG, 6, 88 86 Apart from J. Cannon whose work has been discussed in the fırst chapter, see Little, 'Educational Organisation of the Friars in England'. In this article, Little argues that the Franciscan educational system resembled the Dominican one, but differed in origin. He gives the honor of initiation of this system in England to William ofNottingham, fourth provincial minister of England (p. 64).

33

indicate that a school organization did not exist in the early years. Even if this

shortage reflects an actual lack of legislation, it might mean that discretion was

more left in the hands of individuals.

Although this thesis is concemed with the English Franciscans

specifıcally, the Franciscan educational organization is best dealt with as a whole

for two reasons. Firstly, as I have mentioned above, there are no extant records of

any English provincial chapter, so this rules out the possibility of dealing with

England on its own. Secondly, central aspects of this organization, such as the

choice of students, the sequence of schools to be followed and books to be read

were standard throughout the Order, since they were subject to the legislation of

the general chapters. Below, I will try to draw a picture of this system, making

comparisons with the Dominican system when necessary.

The Franciscan school network comprised four different types of studio:

the ordinary convent-studio, intermediate studio, studio generolio, and, by the

beginning of the fourteenth century, studio principolio. Studio principolio, which

are fırst mentionedin the Ordinations ofBenedict XII in 1336, comprised the best

three studio generolio of the Order: Paris, Oxford and Cambridge. 87 As for the

curriculum covered in these principal schools, there is no reason to think that it

was different from that of studio generolio. The difference was mainly in the fact

that the schools in these cities were incorporated to the most famous universities

of the Middle Ages. In the thirteenth century constitutions, such as the

Constitution ofNarbonne 1260, Assisi 1279 or Paris 1292, only the Paris studium

87 'Ordinationes a Benedicto XII', ed. Bihl, 349.

34

is referred to as distinct from other studia generalia.88 In 1282, there were 140

students at Paris from 32 provinces.

The lectors of theology who read in these schools, each teaching for one

year, at the same time occupied a regent master's chair in the university.

Therefore, the election of these lectors was subject to special legislation. For

Paris, among the three lectors needed for the three years between one general

chapter and the next, one was elected by the provincial c hapter of France, and the

other two were elected by the general chapter, one from Cisınontanis, the other

from Ultramontanis. 89 All three had to be approved by the Minister General. 90

However, according to the Constitutions of Assisi 1316, lectors to teach in Paris

would be decided only by the Minister General himself91 For Oxford and

Cambridge, the procedure was similar. Two of them would be chosen in the

course of two years by the provincial chapter. The third was elected by the general

chapter.92 It should be noted, however, that studium principale was a name used

by Benedict XII. Until 1336, Paris, Oxford and Cambridge were generally referred

as studia generalia in all the Constitutions of the Order.

The Franciscan Order had by the end of the thirteenth century at least

thirteen studia generalia. These were in Bologna, Toulouse, Montpellier, Rome,

88 'Statuta Glia Ordinis 1260, 1279 and 1292', ed. Bihl, 71-80. 89 The official term ofteaching was one year. However, in the case ofOxford and Cambridge, the provincial chapter could re-elect the same people: Little, Grey Friars in Oxford, p. 36. 90 'Ordinationes a Benedicto XII', ed. Bihl, 346. 91 'Constitutiones Generales Ordinis Fratrum Minorum anno 1316 Assisii Conditae', ed. A. Carlini, AFH, 4 (1911), 290. 92 M. Bihl, 'Ordinationes a Benedicto XII', 346.

35

A vignon, Milan, Padua, Assisi, Cologne, Perugia, Paris, Cambridge and Oxford. 93

The term studium genera/e has been investigated by many scholars as

representing two distinct types, those incorporated to a university and those which

were not.94 P. M. Brlek calls those studia generalia which are incorporated to a

university, Studi Generali Universitari. 95 The only examples of this kind of

studium in the thirteenth century were again Paris, Oxford and Cambridge. In the

course of fourteenth century, Toulouse and Bologna joined them.96 As for the

meaning of studium generale, it has long been debated and no real consensus has

been achieved.97 To explain the meaning of a studium genera/e in the way

Franciscans used it is however easier. A studium genera/e was the last step in the

career of a gifted student, and was basically a high-theology school. The word

'generale' indicated that the studium was open to all students from different

provinces. Those who fulfılled all the requirements in these schools, at least in

those studia generalia that were incorporated to a university would incept as

doctors of theology and given licentia docendi, which would allow them to teach

in any university in Europe. In time, the most important offices in the Order

passed into the hands of these Franciscan doctors.98 The lectors for all studia

93 B. Roest, Reading the Book of History: Intel/ectual Context and Educational Functions of Franciscan Histeriography 1226-ca. 1350 (Gröningen, 1996) pp. 130-131. 94 H. Holzapfel, Handbuch der Geschichte des Franziskanerordens (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1909), p. 272. 95 Lorenzo di Fonzo gives a surnmary ofP. M. Brlek's views on the network and legislation of Franciscan educational activities: 'Studi, Studenti e Maestri Nell'Ordine dei Francescani Conventuali dal1223 al1517', MF, 44 (1944), 173. 96 lbid., 174. 97 For a through discussion and different views on the meaning of the term, see O. Weijers, Terminologie des Universites au X!Tf siecle (Rome, 1987) 98 This subject will be discussed in the third chapter.

36

generalia of the Order were chosen among those who had incepted as doctors. 99

Those who graduated from the remaining studia generalia would be lectors in the

various schools of the Order. Another thing we learn from the Narbonne

Constitutions was that it was a very desirable for novices to make a career in one

of the studia generalia and that they were trying to get the help of secular people

in order to be sent there. Such attempts were to be severely punished according to

the Constitution. 100

If we move one step down, we come to the intermediate studia which have

been referred to by various authors as studia particularia, or studia

provincialia. 101 However, both usages are misleading, and indeed there is no

proper term corresponding to the nature of these schools. Studium particu/are has

normally been interpreted as a school that was open to students from a particular

area. However, the nature of the studium particu/are in the Dominican Order has

been recently re-analyzed by M. Mulchahey where she defends the thesis that the

'Dominican studium particu/are was not a regional school but it was a particular

theology school'. She argues that the studium particu/are was designed to provide

an introductory training in the first half of the general theology course, on Peter

Lombard's 'Sentences'. 102 W e have not enough evidence to assert that the

99 See above, note 50, for the ordinatio of Pope Alexander IV in 1257 which legislates this. 100 Ehrle, Narbonne Const., p. 109 101 Di Fonzo, 'Studi, Studenti e Maestri', 171. Holzapfel, Handbuch der Geschichte, p. 272. 102 M. Mulchahey, 'The Dominican Studium System and the Universities of Europe in the Thirteenth Century' in Manuels, programmes de cours et techniques d'enseignement dans /es universites medievales, ed. J. Hamesse (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1994), p. 315.

37

corresponding Franciscan school had a similar nature. On the other hand, there

does not seem to be a comprehensive network of Franciscan schools, distinct from

ordinary convent schools, serving local areas.

On the other hand, the term studium provinciale indicates a school at the

apex of a province's educational structure. The idea of a group of schools to be

classed as studia provincialia originated in the list of schools that were not studia

generalia given in the Ordinations ofBenedict XII. 103 Now, if we analyze this list

on a provincial basis, we find the following distribution. Among these convents

the first fo ur were in the Province of France; similarly the next seven were in the

Province of Anglia. Bordeaux belonged to the province of Aquitaine; Narbonne

and Marseilles to the province of Provence; Asti to the province of Genoa; Nagi

Varad to the province of Hungary; Prague to the province of Potand or Bohemia;

Pisa to the province of Tuscany; Erfurt to the province of Saxony; Rimini to the

province of Bologna, and Todi to the province of Umbria. Clearly there were

many provinces which did not have a school on this list, whilst France, Anglia and

Provence had more than one of the listed schools. It is particularly noteworthy

103 'Nullus quoque frater dicti ordinis ad legendum in praememoratis studiis Sententias assumatur, nisi prius legerit N Libros Sententiarum cum scriptis approbatorum doctorum in aliis studiis quae in eodem Ordine dicuntur generalia, vel in conventibus infrascriptis, videlicet: Rothomagensi, Remensi, Metensi, Brugensi, Londoniensi, Eboracensi, Northwicensi, Novicastri, Stanfordiensi, Conventreiensi, Exoniensi, Burdegalensi, Narbonensi, Massiliensi, Astensi, Varadiensi, Pragensi, Pisano, Erfordiensi, Ariminensi, Tudertino.' (Also no brother of the said order will be assigned to read Sentences in the afore­mentioned studia [Paris, Oxford and Cambridge] unless previously he has read four books of Sentences with the writings of the approved doctors in the other studia, which in the same order are called generalia, or in the convents written below, namely: Rouen, Reims, Metz, Bruges, London, York, Norwich, Newcastle, Stamford, Coventry, Exeter, Bordeaux, Narbonne, Marseilles, Asti, Nagi-Varad, Prague, Pisa, Erfurt, Rimini, Todi): 'Ordinationes a Benedicto XII', ed. Bihl, 349.

38

that seven of these schools belonged to the province of Anglia alone. It is

difficult to see this list as a retleetion of the Franciscan provincial structure.

The structure underlying the list is better explained by the importance and

number of studia generalia in particular provinces. Thus the presence of Paris in

the province of France, and of Oxford and Cambridge in the province of

Anglia-these three, even when not deseribed as studia principalia, the most

important studia generalia in the Order--explains the number of these

intermediate schools in these provinces. The fact that there are two of these

intermediate schools in Provence may also be explained by the large number of

studia genera/ia in the vicinity (Toulouse, Avignon, Marseilles, Montpellier).

Among all the types of Franciscan studium, we know the least about

convent-studia. In none of the Acts of the Franciscans is there a statement saying

that every convent will have a school, as appears in the Dominican Acts of

1228.104 Yet by 1239 a studium was a common part of each Franciscan convent.

In the Assisi Constitutions of 1239, and afterwards in the Narbonne Constitutions

of 1260, it was ordered that friars 'sileant etiarn in claustro, dormitorio, choro,

studio et refectorio'. 105 Given the humbleness and smallness of the early

Franciscan convents, a studium could have been no more than a separate room

inside the convent. In this way, the meaning of studium was closer to that of a

classroom. This usage of the term might be specific to Franciscans. The

104 Little, 'Educational Organisation of the Mendieant Friars in England', 50 105 'They should be also silent in the cloister, dormitory, choir, studium and refectory': 'Const. Prenarbonne', 83. Ehrle, 'Narbonne Const', 99.

39

Dominicans called their convent-schools schola. ıo6 Similarly, H Denifte has

argued that for school-localities and Hörsiile, scholae was used. ıo7 In the sense

that Franciscans used the word studium, it is very difficult to understand what

constitutes its foundation. I have not come across the use of schola to indicate a

Franciscan school in any thirteenth century Franciscan document. ıo8

It is now necessary to turn from questions about the structure of the

educational network to questions conceming the nature of both the students and

the teaching in Franciscan schools. According to the Franciscan constitutions, it

was forbidden for the illiterate brothers to leam letters, and for the literate ones to

teach them. ıo9 This separation of lay and clerical brothers with regard to

education in the Franciscan Order certainly did not exist in the Dominican Order.

According to the Dominican constitutions, all brothers, lay or cleric, had to attend

the lectures. ı ı o Study was a kind of manual labor which all the Dominican friars

without exception had to perform. ı ı ı While this was the case, we cannot expect

the convent-schools of both Orders to have functioned in the same manner. The

scholae of the Dominican Order, as mentioned above, were teaching the basics to

all friars in order to train them as adequate preachers. However, the Franciscan

studia in the convents were specifıcally for the clerics, so there was clearly an

ı06 Mulchahey, 'The Dominican Studium System', p. 302 ıo7 For a discussion of the usage of terms studium, schola and studium generale, see H. Denifle, Die Entstehung der Universitiiten des Mitte/alters b is 1400 (Graz, 1956), p. 9. 108 Henry ill's chancery, however, does refer to Franciscan studia as scolae- 'ad tenendum in eadem turella scolas de theologia' (to hold schools of theology in the same tower): Eccleston, p. 50 n.i. ıo9 Ehrle, 'Narbonne Const. ', p. I 08. 110 W. A. Hinnebusch, The Early English Friars Preachers (Rome, 1951), p. 337 lll Jbid., p. 335.

40

opportunity for more specialized study, even in an ordinary Franciscan convent

studium, than in an ordinary Dominican convent schola.

According to the statements in the pre-Narbonne and Narbonne

Constitutions conceming admittance to the Order, quoted above, the clerics who

would be received into the Order, had to at least know adequate grammar or logic.

So they did not have to start to leam everything from scratch. It is clear that there

was no necessity to found schools, nor to assign lectors, to teach basic grammar.

Hence even the basic studium of the Franciscan Order had to function as an

advanced-level school. The use of the expression grammatica ve! logica actually

complicates things a little. Somebody who was instructed in logic was expected to

be well-instructed in grammar too. Yet it is diffıcult to teli if a novice who was

well-:-instructed in grammar was getting some sort of knowledge in logica before

progressing to theological studies.

The acting teachers in these studia were called lectores. In the thirteenth

century, in order to become a !ector, the candidate had to study three or four years

in a studium in his province or in the neighbourhood, and then go to Paris (or any

other studium general e) for a period of at least fo ur years, unless he was believed

to be suffıciently advanced to be promoted to the office oflectorship. 112 It was not

required that he should get a degree in order to teach in a studium. One suspects

that in the early years of the Order, many lectors were appointed on the grounds

that their superiors thought them 'suffıcient'.

It is almost certain, however, that the degree was required for those who

112 Ehrle, 'Narbonne Const.' , p. 108

41

were teaching in the studia generalia of the Order. This we leam from a Papal

Bull of 1257:

' .. concedimus, ut singuli fratres de Ordine vestro, quos seeunduro Constitutiones ipsius Ordinis Conventibus vestris deputandos duxeritis in Lectores, sine cuiusquam alterius licentia in Domibus praedicti Ordinis legere, ac docere valeant in Theologica facultate; illis locis exceptis, in quibus viget studium generale; ac etiarn quilibet in facultate ipsa docturus solemniter ıncıpere consuevit. ' 113

So the picture gets clearer: those who were going to be lectors in the

studia did not have to have a licentia docendi; it was enough that the superiors of

the Order judged him sufficient to teach. However, this was not valid for the

would-be lectors in the studium generale. The reason for this was that in studia

generalia where lectures were open to secular students, particularly in university

towns, there was likely to be strong opposition from secular masters to lectors

being unlicenced as masters. 114 In some places like Bologna the Franciscan

studium genera/e acted as the theology faculty of the university.115 We see that in

the early years all lectors who taught in the studium genera/e had received degrees

113 'We concede that brothers of your order, whom according to the Constitutiones of this order you have appointed as lector, are allowed to teach and to read in theology in the houses of the said order without any other licence; except in those places, where a studium generale flourished; and also it is accustomed that would-be teachers in the theology faculty in such places should incept solemnly': BF, ii, p. 208b, no. 317. 114 The conflict between the mendieant friars and the secular masters in the universities of Paris and Oxford between 1250 and 1291 resulted in some restriction of the friars' educational activities in the towns with a university. For the discussion and results of this conflict, see D. Z. Douais, !he Conjlict between the Seculars and the Mendiean/s at the University of Paris in the thirteenth century, (Westminster, 1954); Little, The Grey Friars ~n Oxford, pp.37-43. Franciscan schools other than studia generalia may have been open to secular students: H. Felder, Geschichte der wissenschaftlichen, p. 330-2; Holzapfel, Handbuch der Geschichte, p. 272. 115 Jbid. p. 273.

42

from the university. This applied wherever the Franciscan studium genera/e was

integrated into a university. This was the reason why the inception of the

Franciscan friar Thomas of York into the university of Oxford became such a big

issue between the Franciscan Order and the Oxford University. ı ı6

The appointment of lectors was in the hands of the Provincial Chapter.

The friars had the right to choose their candidate. For example, the Franciscans of

the Norwich convent requested in 1250 that Eustace of Normanville should be

appointed as their I ector. ı ı 7

There was no mention of a studium philosophicae, or studium logicae in

the Narbonne Constitutions. This does not mean that there were none, but

probably they were not officially organized by that date. Franciscan studia which

were serving only the clerics of the Order, were mainly theology schools, where

the students were already well-educated in grammar. The lectors for these schools

were supplied from among those who had spent sufficient time in a studium

genera/e or those who were already masters when they entered the Order. In the

early years of the Order, the lectors were largely supplied from the recruits which

entered the Order as masters. In Paris, the Ordet got its first chair in the university

with the entrance of Alexander ofHales in 1236. ı ı 8

Within a couple of decades of the Narbonne Constitutions we can see

ı ı 6 For a detailed account of this controversy, see the letter of Adam Marsh in Adae de Marisco Epistolae in Monumenta Franciscana, -vol. 1, ed. J.S. Brewer, Rolls Series, 21 (London, 1858) p. 338-344. Little, Grey Friars in Oxford, pp. 38-39. 117 Mon. Fran. Voll., letterno. 178, p. 319. 118 Moorman, p. 131.

43

some changes in this organization at an administrational level. The fırst one

concems the study of Arts or, as mendicants came to call it, Philosophy. Both the

Assisi 1279 and Paris 1292 Constitutions contain the following sentence: 'Iura

vero et philosophica in scolis theologiae ab eodem lectore et eodem tempore non

legantur, sed alibi et alias, ubi fuerit opportunum.' 119 Law and philosophy were to

be studied separately from theology. The reason why such an issue was

considered in the Assisi Constitutions nineteen years after Narbonne might well

indicate that in the meantime the friars had started to get knowledge of

philosophy and law informally from their lectors in the theology schools. There

was no mention yet of any separate philosophy school. However, some of the big

convents with well-educated masters might have started on their own discretion to

fo und such schools, or perhaps we should better call this 'to hold classes'. The

seventeenth-century historian, Anthony Wood, although not a reliable authority,

mentions a philosophy school in Oxford:

'But at the time Wesenham and Thomas Wallensis read, this their little schoole was translated to others within the new mansion of these Fryers, distinguished by the names of "Theologicall" and "Philosophical". The former were in the church at the lower end, where the Vespers of these brethren that proceeded were sometimes solemnized. The other were intheir cloister, wherein some ofthese following read when they proceeded "Masters", and some read as "Bachelors"' 120

Roger W esenham and Thomas of Wales were respectively the third and

119 'Indeed, law and philosophy shall not be read in the scfrööls of theology by the same I ector and at the same time, but elsewhere and at ·other times, where there is an opportunity. ': 'Statuta glia ordinis 1279 et 1292 ', ed. Bihl, 76. 120 Anthony Wood's Survey of the Antiquities of the City of Oxford, Vol. II: Churches and Religious Orders, ed. Andrew Clark (Oxford,1890), p. 364

44

fourth secular masters in the Oxford convent. In 124 7 Adam Marsh succeeded

Thomas of Wales as the fırst Franciscan master of the Oxford convent. 121 It is not

very probable that by this date there was a separate philosophy school, but

Wood's story may wellrecordsome later division of the school.

It is really diffıcult to track down the activities conceming the study of

philosophy. The fact that they were not well organized through Franciscan

legislation does not necessarily m ean that they di d not exist. Y et the fragments of

knowledge we have about them do not even half-complete the puzzle. From 1220s

onward the thirteenth century proved to be a fertile period for the study of Arts.

Although the study of arts and philosophy was stili considered mainly as a step

towards advanced theology, it was getting more and more emphasis per se. In

1228, Pope Gregory IX founded the university of Toulouse. The Pope wanted

both philosophy and grammar to be taught so that they might serve theology, and

masters in these subjects were to get their money from the Count of Toulouse.

Here the structure of the salari es gives an interesting insight for the understanding

of the position of Arts in the university world. The highest salary was paid, as

would be expected, to theology lectors; the second best was shared by the teachers

of Arts and Decretals, the least money was paid to Grammar teachers. Arts

teachers were valued therefore at the same level as Law teachers. 122 It is

interesting that given the Church's ambivalent attitude to arts and philosophy, the

Pope was now urging these courses in a studium genera/e designed specifıcally

for the Church's purposes. In a footnote to the papal bull which allowed

121 Moorman, p. 134 122AF, iii, pp. 214-215

45

Franciscan lectors to teach theology in convent schools without any external

licence-which was mentioned above-Sbaralea comments that for the teachers

of liberal arts and philosophy no papal approval was necessary. 123

Naturally, white Arts were getting so many credits from the supreme

authorities, one would expect the mendicants to be synıpathetic to it. However,

surprisingly, the Dominicans were quite strict on the prohibition of any books

written by heathens. In the Constitutions of 1228, same year as the foundation of

the papal university ofToulouse, it was stated that:

'in libris gentilium et philosophorum non studeant, etsi ad horarn inspiciant. Seeulares sciencias non addiscant, nec etiarn artes quas liberales vocant, nisi aliquando circa aliquos magister ordinis vel capitulum generale voluerit aliter dispensare; sed tantum libros theologicos tam juvenes quam alii legant.' 124

In 1255, the faculty of Artsin the University of Paris officially announced

the books which were going to be used in reading. These books included many

books of Aristotle such as the Physics, Metaphysics and the Liber de

Anima/ibus. 125 To this Dominicans responded with the Constitutions of V alencia

in 1259 where they provided a little latitude, by permitting young friars to be

123 BF, ii, p. 208b, no. 3 1 7n. 124 'They (the students) shall not study in the books of the gentiles and philosophers, although they may consult them occasionally. They shall not learn secular sciences, not even the Arts which are called liberal, unless at some time the master of the Order or the general chapter wish to make a dispensation otherwise conceming some (students); but the youngsters as well as the others shall read the theological books.': 'Die Constitutionen des Predigerordens von Jahre 1228', ed. H. Denifle,ALKG, Vol. 1 (Berlin, 1885). 125 'Statututum facultatis artium de modo docendi et regendi in artibus, deque libris qui legendi esserit': Chartularium Universila/is Parisiensis, ed. H. Denifte & E. Chatelain (Paris, 1889-97), pp. 277-279.

46

instructed in logic. 126 In 1262, three studio artium were established for the twenty-

seven convents. 127

The Franciscan Order was from the beginning more tolerant of the study

of Arts and philosophy. There is no legislation prohibiting the study of Arts, and

many masters who joined the Order had an Arts degree and favored the writings

of Aristotle. Pelder argues that, particularly at the time of Bonaventura. Arts

gained more importance. 128 Bonaventura himself believed in the existence of the

necessity for this. Bonaventura had graduated from the Arts faculty of Paris, and

he certainly believed that good could come from the study of Arts. He defends the

study of heretics and pagan philosophers as justified in order to see and avoid

their errors:

. 'Si quis enim studeret in dictis hereticorum, ut eorum sententias declinando magis intelligeret veritatem, non curiosus nec hereticus, sed catholicus esset. Quodsi verba philosophorum aliquando plus valent ad intelligentiam veritatis et confutationem errorum, non deviat a puritate aliquando in his studere, maxime cum multe sint questiones fidei, que sine his nequeunt terminari .... Lege Augustinum DE DOCfRINA CH:Rı:sn, ubi ostendit quomodo non potest intelligi sacra Scriptura sine aHarum scientarum price.' 129

126 Little, 'Educational Organization', 52. 127 lbid. 128 H. Felder, Die Geschichte der Studien, p. 408. 129 'For if anyone studies the words of the heretics to understand the truth better by disproving their sentences, he would be not curious, nor heretic, but just catholic. But if he more makes use of the words of the philosophers for the understanding of the truth and the confutation of errors, he does not deviate from purity by studying these at some times, particularly when there are many questions of faith, which cannot be solved without these (works of heretics) ... Read Augustine, Concerning the Doctrine of Christ, where he shows that the sacred Scripture cannot be understood without the knowledge of other sciences.': 'Textes Franciscaines', ed. F. M. Delorme, Archivio italiano per la storia della pieta, 1, (1951), p. 217.

47

Bonaventura had written this letter in 1254. It was addressed to a Parisian

master to reply to some questions and to explain some points concerning the

Franciscan Order. 130 No doubt Bonaventu:ra did not oppose the study of Arts and

Philosophy, but whether he could afford politically to organize the study in the

Order of these so-called secular sciences at a time when those Franciscans known

as 'Spirituals' were uneasy about the Order's involvement in intellectual pursuits,

is another matter.

The various works of A.G. Little about the Franciscan convent in Oxford

provide a different approach to this issue. Little's thesis was that Grosseteste, the

fırst lector in the Oxford convent, started a tradition which lasted for several

generations. 131 This tradition, according to Little, was based on the study of the

Bible, languages and mathematics, besides theology.132 The idea of the continuity

of this special course of study derives from the belief of Little in the influence of

Roger Bacon on his Order, his activities being a fruit and a mirror of the

Franciscan educational system. After quoting some passages from Roger Bacon' s

views on the utility of sciences and philosophy in his Opera lnedita and Opus

Tertium, Little makes the following remark: 'It is difficult to resist the temptation

of quoting more passages of this kin d ( illustrating as they do the Franciscan life),

especially as, in the dearth of records, actual instances are hard to fınd.'133

Elsewhere, Little observes that the introduction of the study of Arts and the

training of young novices in the Order riıay be due to Bacon's infinence who was

130 Delorme argues that this letter was written to Roger Bacon, but his evidence for this is not very strong. 131 Little, The Grey Friars in Oxford, p. 59 132 A.G. Little, 'The Franciscan School at Oxford: Grosseteste and Roger Bacon' in Franciscan Papers, Lists and Documents (Manchester, 1943), pp. 194-5. 133 Little, The Grey Friars in Oxford, p. 63

48

complaining of the ignorance of novices. 134

Like Little, H. Pelder also supports almost the whole of his picture of the

studies of Arts and philosophy in the Order by quoting the adıniration of Roger

Bacon for the early teachers in the Oxford studium like Robert Grosseteste, Adam

Marsh and Thomas of Wales. 135 Unfortunately, Pelder makes a histoncal mistake

by thinking that Roger Bacon had been a student in the Oxford school, and had

thereby received an exemplary Franciscan education:

'Aıınliches körmen wir von den mathematischen Fachem sagen. Bacon versichert uns nicht bloB, daB seine Lehrer am Franziskanerstudium zu Oxford unübertroffene Meister in diesen Wissenschaften waren. Er screibt auch (im Jahre 1267), daB er wahrend 40 Jahren seiner Lem- und Lehrtatigkeit sich beinahe ununterbrochen mit philologischen und mathematischen Studien habe beschaftigen können.' 136

Unfortunately it seems that Pelder was very much mistaken as to the date

of Roger Bacon' s entry to the Order. Today it is certainly acknowledged that he

entered the Order at a mature age. 137 The forty years he spent with philological

and mathematical studies were before his entry into the Order. The serious

mistake that both Little and Pelder made was to think that Roger Bacon actually

participated in the lectures of the early Franciscan teachers. In fact, he only knew

them through their works. Therefore, the qualities of Robert Grosseteste or Adam

134 Little, A. G., 'Educational Organisation of the mendieant Friars in England', 65. 135 Felder, Die Geschichte der Studien., pp. 409 ff. In view of what follows, it might be worth pointing out that two of these teachers were secular masters, not Franciscans. 136 Jbid., p. 417 137 S.C. Easton, Roger Bacon and his Searchfor a Universal Science (New York, 1952), p. 118.

49

Marsh, such as their interest and knowledge in languages and mathematics,

cannot be attributed to the Franciscan school in Oxford. 138

We have absolutely no evidence that Roger Bacon's vıews or his

enthusiasm for philosophy and sciences reflect the Franciscan way of life. The

fact that he was a Franciscan does not make all Franciscans like him. Indeed

Bacon criticized his Order on many points concerning education. We have much

evidence of the mutual antipathy between him and the Franciscan Order. He

writes against his own Order at so many points that it makes one think that he

ought to have regretted entering it. 'They forced me with unspeakable violence to

obey their will in other matters'. In one of his complaints about the corruption of

the text of the Bible, Bacon argues that the attempts to correct it had made it

worse, and that these attempts had been undertaken chiefly by Dominicans and

Franciscans.139 There is no reason why we should think that Bacon was admired

or his thoughts respected by his fellow-friars during his lifetime. The fact that he

was never actually appointed to an important position in the Order, although he

was in many respects well-qualifıed for advancement, also supports this

argument. Even the possibility of his teaching in a Franciscan studium is dubious.

He has been recorded as having taught in Paris, but there is no evidence that he

was a friar by then. The following quotations show the vast difference between

138 Easton gives various proofs for the inaccuracy ofLittle's view on the influence of Grosseteste on the Oxford school. He argues that mathematics and languages were never taught in the Oxford studium: Jbid, pp. 206-9. This is not to deny the personal connection and common interests of Grossteste and Adam Marsh. 139 Opus Minus in Moumenta Franciscana, Vol. 1, ed. J.S. Brewer, Rolls Series, (London, 1859), p. 333, Opus Tertium in Ibid., pp. 15, 93-4; Easton, Roger Bacon, p. 122.

50

the thought ofRoger Bacon and the administers of the Franciscan Order.

Roger Bacon in his Compendium Studii Philosophici wrote the following:

'Sed modemi omnes praeter paucos despiciunt has scientias et gratis presequuntur, et maxime theologi isti novi, scilicet pueri duorum ordinum, ut solatium suae imperitiae habeant, et suas ostendant coram multitudine stulta vanitates. Et in suis lectionibus, praedicationibus et consiliis semper docent contra has scientias, et totam studentium mentem recovacerunt ab istis scientiis, et ideo errant cum omnibus tam in substantia studii quam in modo ... Hae ve ro scientiae sunt istae: scientia linguarum sapientialium ( a quibus tota Latinamın sapienta translata est; cuiusmodi sunt Graecum, Hebraeum, Arabicum et Chaldeum), mathematica, perspectiva, alkimia, scientia experimentalis.' 140

The Compendium Studii Philosophici was written in ı272. 141 Forty-four years

later the Constitutions of Assisi in ı316 declared:

'Item districte per obediantam precipit generalis minister cum generali capitulo, quod nullus frater operationes Alchimie aut alias quascumque operationes doctrinarum vel artium suspectarum, que in publico non docentur aut ab ecclesia reprobate sunt, addicere, exercere, docere, seu libros vel scripturas continentes talia scienter retinere presumat.' 142

140 ' But all the modem (scholars) apart from a few, and especially these new

theologians, the boys of the two Orders (Bacon's refering to Franciscan and Dominicans), despise these sciences, and attack them freely, to have comfort in their ignorance and to show their vanities before the stupid crowd. And in their lectures, sermons and advice, they always teach against these sciences, and they have called back the whole mind of the students away from these sciences, and therefore they make mistakes with everything, just as much in the substance of study as in the method..... Indeed these sciences are these: the science of the languages of the wise (from which the whole wisdom of the Latins has been translated; ofwhich kindare Greek, Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldean), mathematics, perspective, alchemy and experimental science': Compendium Studii Philosophici in Monumenta Franciscana, Vol. 1, ed. J.S. Brewer, p. 433. 141 Easton, Roger Bacon, p. 69. 142 'The General Minister orders with the general chapter strictly through the obedience, that no friar shall leam, exercise or teach the practices of Alchemy or any other practices of the suspected doctrines and Arts, which are not taught publicly or which are disapproved of by the Church, or dares to retain the books and writings containing such things knowingly.': 'Constitutiones Generales O.F .M. Assisii Anni ı 3 ı 6', ed. A. Carlini, AFH, 4 ( 19 ı ı), 293.

51

The role of Arts and Philosophy as subjects in Franciscan studia raises

many legitimate questions, but it is time to recognize Roger Bacon as the

maverick he was. He should not be regarded as representative of the Franciscan

school at Oxford, stili less as the representative of the higher reaches of

Franciscan education as a whole. At least some of the sciences he believed useful

were condemned by the Franciscan Order. Although it relies only on the

fourteenth-century Chronicle of Twenty-four Generals, there is even the story that

he was imprisoned by the Order for suspected novelties. 143 Therefore the

approaches of Little and Felder, both using Roger Bacon as a representative of

Franciscan intellectual interests, seems a mistaken one.

143 AF, iii, p. 360. There isa dispute among the historians as to the accuracy of this information. See Easton, Roger Bacon, pp. 192 ff.

52

Chapter III

The Justification of Educational Activities

The curious transforrnation of a mendieant order like the Franciscans,

which started as a personification of a vivid devotion to humility with a strong

objection to dignified positions and a rejection of hierarchy, into a student order,

whose members assumed chairs in the universities, became bishops and

archbishops, and friends and advisers to kings, is a most interesting historical

issue to the student of medieval history. As mentionedin the previous chapters,

following the death of St. Francis, changes in the nature of the order conceming

humility, poverty, and equality between lay and clerical brothers accelerated. The

reasons for such a change should essentially be looked for in the internal dynamic

of the order, but there were also extemal factors which pushed the order mo re and

more into the intellectual world. Among the internal changes the most significant

one was the rapid clericalization of the order. Y et the change di d not li e only in

the fact that clerics were more in number but also that administrative offices in

provincial and general level passed almost exclusively to the hands of clerici, as

opposed to laici. These clerics, most of whom where teamed people, such as

university masters, theologians or lawyers, promoted educational activities at all

costs. This and what many sa w as further violations of the Rule and of the legacy

of St. Francis brought the order to the po int of division. A certain group called the

Spirituals emerged as the self-proclaimed true followers of St. Francis. The

attitude of the Spirituals towards intellectual activities was complicated and will

be dealt with below. A second internal reason for the order' s transformation into a

53

student order was that preaching, and the conversion of heretics and heathens,

were among the raisons d'etre of the Franciscan Order. To accomplish these

objectives a certain knowledge of theology was essential, although St. Francis did

not always seem to anticipate this. This provided the main argument for those

trying to justify scholarly activities.

Before discussing in detail the reasons mentioned, there is a strong

necessity to explain what clericalization in an Order like the Franciscans really

meant. A co mm on feature of all monastic institutions of the Middle Ages was that

their members consisted of two different groups: lay brothers (laici) and clerics

( clerici). The translation of the latin words laicus and clericus, is actually not as

straightforward as I have given in the sentence above. Laici in the Middle Ages

could mean illiterate or lay in the sense of someone who had not taken even

minor derical orders. Clerici on the other hand might mean just somebody who

was literate-with a reading knowledge of Latin--or an office clerk, or the clergy

of the Church. Confusingly, there are many instances where a clergyman was

called laicus because he was illiterate. 144 It is therefore rather difficult to make a

clear-cut distinction between clericus and laicus in the Franciscan Order. In many

cases, 'literate' and 'illiterate' would make as much sense of the usage as 'cleric'

and 'layman'. According to D. Berg, clerici not only meant learned, but also

priests:

'Eine genaue Betrachtung des Elis-Generalats im Zusammenhang mit Studienfragen erweist sich als notwendig, weil im Laufe der

144 For a useful and detailed discussion of the usage and meaning of clericus and laicus in the Middle Ages, see M. T. Clanchy, From Memory to Written Record­England 1066-1307, (Oxford, 1993) pp.225-230

54

30er Jahre franziskanische derici - d.h. hier 'Priester', nicht nur 'Gebildete' - tiefgreifende Vera.nderungen in der Ordenstruktur vornahmen, durch die Ungebildete und Nichtpriester nach kurzem Machtkampf von leitende.n Amtem im Orden ausgeschlossetı wurden. ' 14~

As for a literate clergyınan, we can safely say that he was a dericus. However, it

is not easy to determine to which category a schoolmaster with no ecclesiastical

career belonged. As a matter of fact, it is equally difficult to guess if an illiterate

clergyman would not be considered laicus.

S ince further discussion of the meaning of laicus and dericus is a rather

complicated issue, and unnecessary for the present argument, it will not be dealt

here. As for the clarity of the terms, when I use derici, I mean clergyman who

were literate and, moreover, well-instructed in grammar, since both Prenarbonne

and Narbonne Constitutions made the recruitment of a dericus different than the

description above impossible. I will refer to laicus as an illiterate brother

regardless of him being a clergyınan.

Clergyınen and priests in the order were essential in order to perform the

masses, to listen to confessions, in short to fulfıll the religious duties expected

from the townspeople where the convent was located. Y et, in order to do is, a

priest did not have to be well-instructed in the grammar of Latin, nor in any other

sciences. The qualifıcations expected from a dericus who was willing to join the

Franciscan order went far beyond the usual qualifıcations of a simple clergyman.

Why was it necessary to recruit so well-qualifıed derici?

145 D. Berg, Armut und Wissenschaft. Beitraege zur Geschichte des Studienwesens der Rette/orden im 13. Jahrhundert (Dusseldorf, 1977), p. 69

55

Certainly, not all the clerici joining the order were expected to teach, but

they were expected to fill adıninistrative officesin the order, andalsoto serve the

Papal See as bishops, archbishops, carelinals and legates. Being a clericus with an

intellectual career was the only way to achieve high positions in the Order and in

the Church. All the Provincial Ministers of England in the thirteenth and

fourteenth century with the exception of five, and of Fr. Roger of Denemed who

was doctor of Cambridge, were doctors of Oxford. 146 All the Minister Generals of

the Orderever since the time of John ofPanna (1254-57) were Doctors from Paris

University, with the exception of Fr. Hieronymous Masci of Ascoli, later Pope

Nicholas N, who had read as lector. 147 This is quite noteworthy. Incepting as a

Doctor at the university of Paris was the highest summit of an intellectual career

available in the Middle Ages. It is quite natural therefore, that these Minister

Generals, once they were in charge, did the best they could to promote studies and

to establish their Order tirmly in the university towns.

The career opportunities were not only restricted for the positions of

Provincial or Minister General. Ever since the foundation of the Order, the

Church had urged, encouraged and ordered Franciscans to become teachers,

preachers, pastors, bishops, legates, cardinals, inquisitors and even popes.

Gilbertus de Tornaco, well-known in the Paris studium, was employed by Pope

Alexander N to write his letters. 148 Many joined the Cru.sades as preachers. 149

146 J.S. Brewer, 'Fratrum Minorum Londoniae' in Monumenta Franciscana, Vol. 1, pp. 537-8. 147 Felder, Die Geschichte der Studien, p. 378. 148 Wadding, Annafes Minorum, ii, p. 57. 149 Little, Grey Friars of Oxford, p. 8.

56

The famous English master of Paris, Haymo of Faversham, was sent as legate to

the Greeks by the Gregory X. 150 Aluarus Pelagius, a Spaniard, was a penitentiary

to Pope John XXII, also a professor of Sacred Theology and Law. 151 A majority of

all the Franciscan bishops and cardinals in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries

were doctors of theology, most of them graduates of Paris. 152 W. R. Thomson

observes that, between 1243 and 1261, more than forty Franciscan bishops can be

identifıed in the documents of the period, and probably another dozen existed. 153

Thomson reveals that almost all of the Franciscan bishops were connected to a

school, and more than fıfty percent of them had a philosophical, legal, or

theological training. 154 There was a considerable opportunity of employment in

the courts of the nobility. Friars became royal commissioners and took part in the

royal administration. 155 Such were the various career opportunities awaiting a

young and talented Franciscan, who could not but feel that the way to these high

positions passed through Paris. The demands from the papacy and lay authorities

were probably the main reason why in the Constitutions of Assisi 1239, lawyers,

doctors and theologians were demanded as recruits from among the derici. At

least once, the lay nobility was even directly involved in the establishment of a

Franciscan studium generale. In 1292, Obizzo, the Lord ofFerrara, drew up a will

leaving a huge sum to the Franciscans, with the desire they build a new convent,

15° Francis Gonzaga, De Origine Seraphicis, p. 129. 151 Ibid. 152 Brewer, 'Fratrum Minorum Londoniae' in Monumenta Franciscana, Vol. 1, p. 531. 153 Thomson, Friars in the Cathedral, p. 20. 154 lbid., p. 151-152. 155 D. Burr, Olivi and Franciscan Poverty: The Origins of the Usus Pauper Controversy (Philadelphia, 1989), p. 5.

57

where perpetual masses would be celebrated for his soul. He demanded

additionally, that this convent should have a studium genera/e to which each

Franciscan province in Italy would send one student. 156

All this time, the rise of scholarly activities, the establishment of

Franciscans in the universities, and the opening of new studia went hand-in-lıand

with the occupation of positions of authority and dignity. Therefore, the

Franciscan involvement in intellectual circles should be looked for in the overall

change in the Order. The heavy pressure for change was coming from outside, but

the consequences of it proved to be internal.

After the death of St. Francis, his intimate lay-brother companions like

Bemard, Giles and Masseo moved to the background and left the stage to the

teamed men like John Parenti, Haymo of Faversham and Elias. These lay friars

were content to live in the same simplicity and poverty as in the early days of St.

Francis. They were against the relaxations in the Order and the literati who took

charge of the administration. 157 In time, around these brothers, groups of young

friars gathered who listened to the stories of St. Francis and shared the dissent of

their elders against the changes introduced in the Order. This group of young

friars, who came to be called 'Spirituals', decided to violate the virtue of

obedience in order to rescue the other virtues from what they saw as 'a wave of

evil things' among which the tuming away from prayer to the study of philosophy

156 lbid. p. 14. 157 Moorman, p. 108.

58

was a major one. 158 Their attempt to mak:e an appeal to the Pope in 1244 was

prevented by the Minister General of the time, Crescentius who punished them

severely.159

The Minister General who succeeded Crescentius was John of Parma. He

was a man of humble origins, yet teamed as we know that he had lectured on

Peter Lombard's 'Sentences' in the Paris, Bologna and Naples studia. 160 Both a

teamed man and a simple, humble zealot of true Franciscan spirit, John soon

succeeded in calming down the tensions within the Order. In his theological

views, however, John of Parma was an ardent Joachimist, a doctrine which had

influenced the Franciscan Order, particularly the Spiritual wing, strongly at that

time. 161 This was not a problem until 1254, when a young friar, Gerard of Borgo

San Donnino, studying in Paris, published his Liber Introductorius ad Evangelium

Etemum. 162 In this work, Gerard basically positioned the Fransiscans within

Joachim's apocalyptic views. He identifıed the Mendieant Orders with Joachim's

spiritual men, who would replace the existing hierarchy of the Church.

The book caused immense trouble for the Franciscans. The secular

158 Jbid., p. ll 1. Moorman quotes this from Angelo Clareno, Hist. Vll Trib, in ALKG, pp. 257-8. 159 /bid. 160 lbid., p. 112 n 161 Joachimism was essentially an apocalyptic and eschatological doctrine reflected in the works of Joachim of Fiore ı 135-1202 (For a detailed analysis of Joachim's doctrine, see B. McGinn, The Calabrian Abbot: Joachim of Fiore in the History of Westem Thought, (New York, ı 985). Joachimism was introduced into the Franciscan Orderin 1240's. It soon spread in the Franciscan provinces of Northem Italy and Provence. (See Roest, Reading the Book o/History, p. 163) 162 'Introduction to the Everlasting Gospel'. Joachim's doctrines were generally known as the Everlasting Gospel: Moorman, p. 115. Unfortunately, there is no extant copy of this work.

59

masters who were waiting for an exeuse to disgrace the Franciscans in the eyes of

the papacy, and to deprive them of their privileges, soon launched attacks against

friars. The teader of the secular masters, William of Saint Amour published two

treatİses in which he portrayed the Franciscans as the forerunners of the

Antichrist. The Friars put their ablest theologians in charge in order to write

treatises defending the Franciscan position. Thomas Aquinas, as the voice of the

Dominicans, replied to St Amour in his Contra Impugnantes Dei Cu/tum et

Religionem. On the part of Franciscans, Bonaventura, at that time a doctor in the

Paris studium wrote the impressive Quaestio de Evangelica Paupertate, which

had been deseribed as:

'exposition and defense of the Franciscan ideal of complete renunciation of material possesions to follow Christ and the apostles in poverty, hunger and nakedness was a task which aroused all his poetic imagination, and he obviously enjoyed making the many contradictions and absurdities in his opponent's arguments a target for his keen and sornewhat malicious wit.'163

Thomas of York, a Franciscan doctor of Oxford, who was by that time teaching in

the Cambridge studium, joined the struggle with his Manus quae contra

Omnipotentem tenditur in 1256.164 This event had noteworthy consequences for

our purposes. It showed how vulnerable the theological assertions in the

foundation of the Order were, and how necessary it was to produce able

theologians and logicians in order to defend the Franciscan position against such

attacks. This was, indeed, a strong point for the justification of educational and

scholarly activities. Doctors of theology were, in a way, spokesmen for the

163 Douais, The Conjlict between Mendicants and Secıilars, -p.ı-o. 164 D. E. Sharp, Franciscan Philosophy at Oxford in the Thirteenth Century (Oxford, 1930), p. 53.

60

Franciscan doctrine which in such times when heresy was wide-spread, needed to

be defended in many ways, though not only against heretics.

In the end, Gerard's book was denounced as heretical by a papal

commission. 165 U nder these conditions, and the newly-emerged connection of

Joachimism with heresy left John of Parma, then a well-known Joachimist no

choice but resign.

In the Chapter ofRome 1257, John was replaced with Bonaventura, then

the regent master of the Paris studium. 166 Bonaventura took up the flag of

leadership in this very troubled period, when there were severe internal and

external threats to the unity of the Order. In the fırst general chapter after his

election, that is in the Chapter ofNarbonne in 1260, he published the well-known

Constitutions of Narbonne. If one analyzes these constitutions, one can see that

especially concerning studies in the Order, Bonaventura was searching for a way

to justify them, by us ing the formula of the separation of lay and derical brothers,

more severely than the Rule itself suggests:

'Prohibemus, ut de cetero fratres, qui nesciunt legere psalterium, litteras non addiscant, nec alii eos doceant; et si quis contrafecerit, a communione offıcii et mense separetur usque ad satisfactionem condignam. Et de laicatu ad elericatum nullus ascendat absque licentia generalis.' 167

165 Moorman, p. 117 166 P. Giuseppe Abate, 'Per la Storia e la Cronologia di S. Bonaventura, O. Min. (c.1217-1274)', MF, 49 (1949), 563. 167 'W e prohibit that, that those of the brothers who do not know how to read psalter, should not learn the letters; nor should others teach them; and if anyone violates this, he will be seperated from the communion at the office and the tab le until the satisfaction of those in charge. And no one shall rise to the derical status from the lay status without the licence of general chapter.': 'Narbonne Const. ', ed. Ehrle, 108

61

Those who were illiterate were not allowed to participate in any kind of scholarly

activity. This prohibition was enforced to such an extent that lay brothers were not

even allowed to leam the letters. The lay were to remain as lay, but the clerics

could take the opportunity to extend their knowledge. Bonaventura, the Minister

General who presided over these constitutions, defended this point in a detailed

rnanner in his letter to an unknown master in Paris, by drawing on St. Francis, the

Rule of the Order and the Bible:

'Sed quid diearn de ascendetibus cathedram, curn Regula dicat quod "non curent nescientes litteras discere litteras", et Evangeliurn dicat quod NOLJMUS VOCARI MAGISTRI? Dico ego quod Regula non vetat studiurn litteratis, sed laycis et illiteratis ..... Vult enim juxta Apostolurn quod UNUSQUISQUE IN EA VOCATIONE, IN QUA VOCATUS EST, PERMANEAT, ut ad elericatum de laycatu nullus ascendat. Nec vult quod derici efficiantur layci studiurn recusando, aliquoin ipse transgressor fuisset, postrnodurn in litteras sciret, postrnodurn in litteris profecit in Ordine non sol um orando, sed eciarn legendo.' 168

Obviously, the Rule did not forbid the leaming of the letters. It only said

that those who do not know the letters should not care to learn it. What

Bonaventura was trying to achieve by strictly forbidding the teaming of the letters

by lay brothers, was to keep thern as sirnple brethren to avoid further rage from

the Spirituals as to the corruption of brothers by learning. He was thus defending

his position by clairning that the Order would corrupt those who entered it sirnple

and unlearned by teaching thern the letters and sending them to studia. On the

168 'But what do I say about the ascending to the chair, when the Rule says that ''those who do not know the letters should not care for teaming the letters", and when Bible says that WE DO NOT W ANT TO BE CALLED MAS1ERS? I say that Rule does not prohibit the study to the literate, but only to lay and illiterate': F. M. Delorme, ed. "Textes Franciscains", in Archivio italiano per la storia de/la pieta, 1 (1951), 216.

62

other hand, he could argue that those who joined the Order as teamed men-

already corrupt according to the Spirituals-could go further in their careers of

teaming and supply the demands of the papacy and lay authorities, or of the Order

itself, by becoming bishops, lectors, legates, minİsters and royal counsellors.

It was indeed a very intelligent formula. Dissenters could be happy with

the simple lay brothers, and the clerical wing could enjoy the opportunities of

career. It is also noteworthy that Bonaventura tries to justify his opinions by

quotations from the Bible and from St. Francis, both sources that he knew would

appeal to the Spirituals. With this formula he could also prevent abuses such as

lay people using the Order as a stepping stone to gain an education and a career

which they might not achieve in any other way. As for the increasing numbers of

doctors in the Order, he cleverly drew a comparison between the Early Church

and the Franciscan Order:

'Fateor coram Deo quod hoc est quod me fecit vitam beati Francisci diligere, quia similis est inicio et perfectioni Ecclesie, que primo incepit a piscatoribus simplicibus et postmodum profecit ad doctores clarissimos et peritissimos.' 169

Unfortunately, Bonaventura's attempts to sitence the dissenters in the Order were

not sufficient. In later years, the disagreement within the Order resurfaced and

grew even more bitter. 170 However, the following decades also ironically proved

that even the Spirituals could not stay away from education and schools. Those

169 'I declare before God that it is this which made me love the life of the blessed Francis, because its beginning is the same as the perfection of the Church, which fırst began by simple fıshermen and afterwards progressed to most famous and skillful doctors.': Jbid, p. 217 170 In 1318 four Franciscan Spirituals were burned at the stake, accused ofheresy: Burr, Olivi and Franciscan Proverty, p.ix.

63

who defended the Spiritual ideals were all leamed men and able writers. 171

Writing treatises and making them public was the only practicable way of

defending their arguments, and this was impossible without education.

171 The most important writers of the Spiritual wing are as follows: Hugh of Digne, whose Rule Commentary is the most famous of all, and who defended a strict poverty in his works (On the Ends of Poverty and Dispute Between a Zealot and His Domestic Enemy). Petrus Iohannis Olivi, who wrote the famous series of Questions on Evangelical Perfection, and who brought a new dimension to the issue of poverty with the idea of usus pauper, was a student of the Paris studium.

64

Conclusion In 1245, a young man around sixteen years of age, called Thomas of York,

entered the order. Even at this young age, he was learned and intelligent enough

to study De Natura Rerum of Rabanus Maurus and the Metaphysics of Aristotle.

In 1251, the provincial minister of Anglia, William of Nottingham wanted to

appoint Thomas of York as a I ector. However, Adam Marsh objected to the idea

on the grounds that he was too young. Y et, young Thomas' s intelligence and

learning soon dazzled everyone. 172 So, only two years later, on 14th of March

1253, he incepted at Oxford University as a doctor of theology, an event which

caused a lot tension and disturbance to the secular masters in the university and to

the Franciscans in Oxford. 173

After his inception he lectured first in the Oxford studium and afterwards

in Cambridge studium. 174 It is believed that he died in 1260, at stili quite a young

age. 175 His life had perhaps been short, but the works he had produced in this

short life was a perfect exemplar of the fruits of Franciscan education. Four works

have been attributed to him: the one mentioned in the previous chapter, Manus

quae Contra Omnipotentem; a Sermon on the Passion; the Opusculum-

Comparatio Sensibilium-and the Sapientiale. 176

A well-educated Franciscan theologian was expected to have understood

172 Sharp, Franciscan Philosophy at Oxford, p. 49. 173 This event has been discussed in the second chapter. 174 M oorman says that he went 'to assist in the building up of the friar' s school and the faculty of theology there': Moorman, p. 135. 175 Sharp, Franciscan Philosophy at Oxford, p. 49. 176 Sharp, Franciscan Philosophy, p. 51-52.

65

the theological background of the Franciscan ideal. He was expected to explain

and defend it when necessary, by drawing on the writings of St. Francis and the

Bible. The Manus quae Contra Omnipotentem, written in 1256, was just such a

response when Franciscan ideals were under attack from William de Saint Amour

and his all i es amongst the secular masters of Paris. Thomas of York was showing

that ability to argue and dispute, that would have been taught in the Oxford

studium. It was one of the ironies of Franciscan education that the Franciscan

Rule itself instructed that the friars 'should not be quarrelsome or take part in

disputes with words or eriticize others'. 177 Another fundamental duty of a

Franciscan was preaching. It was an inseparable part of the Franciscan ideal and,

in order to preach with charm and accuracy, there was a need to know both literal

and allegorical meanings of the Bible, for which the reading of the various

commentaries was necessary. Thomas ofYork's serınon is an example of this side

of the educated Franciscan's duties. There are numerous extant texts of sermons

by Franciscan scholars.

The third work of Thomas of York, the Comparatio Sensibilium is a

'detailed draft' of the Sapientiale. 178 The Sapientiale itself was a summa of

metaphysical problems, where he cited the works of many ancient philosophers,

Arabic, Jewish and Latin. Many Franciscan theologians of the thirteenth century

produced commentaries on Aristotle or wrote treatİses about non-theological

topics. This should not be interpreted as if Franciscan education was designed to

educate novices in non-theological topics; at least it was not so in the thirteenth

177 St. Francis of Assisi, Writings and Early Biographies, p. 60. 178 lbid., p. 52n

66

century. However, there was also no open prohibition of the study of writings of

pagan philosophers as there was in the case of the Dominicans.

This complex system, of which Thomas of York was a product, had been

established quite fast, as we have seen in the preceding chapters. Although

contradiçtory to the fundamental Franciscan ideals of humility and absolute

poverty, educational activities soon spread in the Or<ler with the continuous

support of all the general minİsters who followed St. Francis. The settlement in

the towns that had schools and universities brought in turn the recruitment of

university teachers and masters. For each master entering the Order, the

population of the Order would rise by perhaps a dozen, since students had a

tendeney to follow the same path as their teachers. The greater the master, the

greater the number of student recruits. The Chronicle of Twenty-four Generals

reports that, when Alexander of Hales took the Franciscan habit in Paris, there

was great astonishment.179 It would have taken less renowned Franciscans a long

time to do what Alexander of Hales achieved in one day, in terms of the

advertisement of the Order. For these reasons, Franciscans were willing to recruit

masters, the more famous the better. Whether or not in the early years they

thought through all the consequences is another matter. And when some of them

realized and repented, it was too Iate.

Nobody had really expected that once they joined the Order, all these

scholars would abandon their professions and pursue a life similar to that of St.

Francis. Many of them would not have joined the Order, if they had thought that

179 'The Chronicle ofTwenty-Four Generals', AF, iii, p. 218.

67

they would have to leave everything behind. They taught in the schools of the

Order, possessed books and published works. Those who were willing to acquire

more than a career in academia became minİsters or bishops, or placed

themselves in the royal and noble households. Opportunities were indeed endless.

The Franciscan Order, even without taking religious conviction into account,

soon became as attractive to young scholars as those scholars were to the order.

The English settlement illustrates this symbiotic relationship between the

scholars and the Franciscan Order very well. In a very short time, the Franciscans

moved to all the university towns and to those towns that had a good chance of

producing a university, or to towns that had, at the very least, good schools and

scholars. Although Oxford could hardly rival Paris as an intellectual centre, the

English Province as a whole, with its two highly-rated studia generalia and its

seven intermediate studia, became the province that was the largest single

supplier oflectors for studia throughout the Order. Felder argues correctly that the

English gave to the Franciscan Order a greater number of eminent scholars than

any other nation. 180

One could argue that England was a special case, with more intellectual

resources than any other region in Europe. Y et, even if we accept this as true,

without the settlement policy the Franciscans pursued there, it would not have

been possible to create the same Province of Anglia that became such a source of

pride to the Franciscan Order.

180 Felder, Die Geschichte der Studien .. , p. 316

68

Appendixl THE POSSIBLE DA TES OF THE FOUNDATION OF

FRANCISCAN AND DüMINICAN CONVENTS IN ENGLAND.

CONVENT FRANCISCAN DüMINICAN CANTERBURY 1224 1237 LONDON 1224 1224 OXFORD 1224 1221 CAMBRIDGE 1226 (1225?) 1238 NORTHAMPTON 1226 1233 NORWICH 1226 1226 WORCESTER 1226 1347 HEREFORD 1228 1246 BRISTOL 1230 1230 GLOUCESTER 1230 1241 KING'SLYNN 1230 LEICESTER 1230 1252 LINCOLN 1230 1238 NOTIINGHAM 1230 SALISBURY 1230 1281 ST AM FORD 1230 1241 YORK 1230 1227 COVENTRY 1234 NEWCASTLE 1237 1239 UPON1YNE EXETER 1240 1232

* The dates for the Franciscan convents have been taken from K.nowles. As for the dates of the Dominican convents I have referred to list given in the Appendix ofW.A.Hinnebusch, The Early English Friars Preachers (Rome, 1951). It should be noted that most of these dates are the dates where the convent was first recorded.

69

Appendixll THE POSSIBLE DA TES OF THE FOUNDATION OF

FRANCISCAN AND DOMINJCAN CONVENTS IN FRANCE•

NAMEOFTHEOONVENT LAROCHELLE VALENCIENNES PARIS AIX MONTPELLIER STRASBOURG METZ TOULOUSE LEPUY LIMOGES BESANÇON POITIERS BORDEAUX CASTRE S AVIGNON NARBONN E AUXERRE CHARTRES ANGERS RO UEN TROYES ORLEANS PROVINS MEAUX AMIENS SENS REIMS SISTERON CARCASSONNE BAYONNE DIJON PERPIGNAN LYON NICE CAEN ARLES MARSElllE V ALENCE CAHORS VERDUN BOURGES TOURS

FRANCISCAN ı 230(1 228?) 1225 (1 221 ?) 1219 1220 1220 1221 1221 1222 1223 1223 1224 1224 1227 1227 1227 1228 1228 1231 1231 1232 1233 1233 1233 1233 1233 1233 1235 1238 1240 1242 1243 1243 1243 1245 1247 1248 1248 1248 1255 1255 1261 1265

DOMINICAN 1228 1233 1217 1273 1220 1224 1230 1215 1221 1219 1224 1248 1230 1258 1231 1228 1240 1230 1225 1224 1232 1219 1266

1243 1230 1219 1248 1247 1221 1237 1244 1218 1243 1233 1231 1230 1234 1230 1235 1240 1242

• The data in this list has been taken from R. Emery, Friars in Medieva/ France; A Catalogue ofFrench Mendieant Convents, 1200-1500, (New York,1962)

70

Appendixm

FRANCISCAN CONVENTS IN EXISTENCE BY 1240 IN ENGLAND

/ _..--. . ... -.. ... r

~

\ 1-Jtv.ıcıu.He ·

• '

\ "'---·

WorceSter-6

\-tere-kro~

' G.~ce5.-ler-•

York •

Lı"~\ rı •

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