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Julius II

Julius II

Julius II, né Giuliano della Rovere (December 5, 1443 – February 21, 1513), was pope from 1503 to 1513.

Early life

Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere) was a nephew of Sixtus IV. He was educated among the Franciscans by his uncle, who took him under his special charge, and later sent to a convent in La Pérouse with the purpose of obtaining knowledge of the sciences. However, he does not appear to have joined the order of St. Francis, but rather remained a member of the secular clergy until his elevation to bishop of Carpentras, France, in 1471; very shortly after his uncle succeeded to the papal chair. In the same year he was promoted to cardinal, taking the same title formerly held by his uncle, Cardinal of San Pietro ad Vincula. With his uncle as Pope, he obtained great influence, and he held no fewer than eight bishoprics (e.g. Lausanne 1472-76), in addition to the archbishopric of Avignon. In the capacity of papal legate he was sent to France in 1480, where he remained four years, and acquitted himself with such ability that he soon acquired a paramount influence in the College of Cardinals, an influence which increased rather than diminished during the pontificate of Innocent VIII.

Ascension to papacy

However, a rivalry had gradually grown up between him and Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, and on the death of Innocent VIII in 1492 Borgia was elected Pope. Della Rovere, jealous and angry, accused Borgia of being elected over della Rovere by means of simony and a secret agreement with Ascanio Sforza. Della Rovere at once determined to take refuge from Borgia's wrath at Ostia, and in a few months afterwards went to Paris, where he incited Charles VIII to undertake the conquest of Naples. Accompanying the young king on his campaign, he entered Rome along with him, and endeavoured to instigate the convocation of a council to inquire into the conduct of the pope with a view to his deposition; but Alexander, having gained a friend in Charles's minister Briçonnet by the offer of a cardinal's hat, succeeded in defeating the machinations of his enemy. Alexander died in 1503, most likely due to malaria, though his death was attributed to poison. Alexander's son, Cesare also fell ill at the same time. Della Rovere did not support the candidature of Cardinal Piccolomini of Milan, who was consecrated under the name of Pius III, but who died little more than a month afterwards. Della Rovere then succeeded by dexterous diplomacy in tricking the weakened Cesare Borgia into supporting him. He was elected to the papal dignity by the unanimous vote of the cardinals, almost certainly by means of bribery.

Reign as pope

From the beginning Julius II set himself with a courage and determination rarely equalled to rid himself of the various powers under which his temporal authority was almost overwhelmed. By a series of complicated stratagems he first succeeded in rendering it impossible for the Borgia to retain their power over the papal states. He then used his influence to reconcile the two powerful houses of Orsini and Colonna, and, by decrees made in their interest, he also attached to himself the remainder of the Roman nobility. Being thus secure in Rome and the surrounding country, he next set himself to oust the Venetians from Faenza, Rimini, and the other towns and fortresses of Italy which they occupied after the death of Alexander VI. Finding it impossible to succeed with the doge by remonstrance, he in 1504 brought about a union of the conflicting interests of France and Germany, and sacrificed temporarily to some extent the independence of Italy in order to conclude with them an offensive and defensive alliance against Venice. The combination was, however, at first little more than nominal, and was not immediately effective in compelling the Venetians to deliver up more than a few unimportant places in the Romagna; but by a brilliant campaign Julius in 1506 succeeded in freeing Perugia and Bologna from their despots (Giampolo Baglioni and Giovanni II Bentivoglio, respectively), and raised himself to such a height of influence as to render his friendship of prime importance both to the king of France and the emperor. Given these political struggles during his papacy, it is no surprise that it is during Julius II's papacy that the Swiss Guard was founded, in order to provide a constant core of soldiers to protect the pope. The official founding date is given as January 21, 1506. Events so favoured his plans that in 1508 he was able to conclude with Louis XII, the Emperor Maximilian, and Ferdinand II of Aragon, the famous League of Cambrai against the Venetian Republic. In the spring of the following year, the Republic was placed under an interdict. The results of the league soon outstripped the primary intention of Julius. By the single Battle of Agnadello the dominion of Venice in Italy was practically lost; but, as neither the king of France nor the emperor was satisfied with merely effecting the purposes of the pope, the latter found it necessary to enter into a combination with the Venetians to defend himself from those who immediately before had been his allies against them. The Venetians on making humble submission were absolved in the beginning of 1510, and shortly afterwards France was placed under the papal ban. Attempts to bring about a rupture between France and England proved unsuccessful; on the other hand, at a synod convened by Louis at Tours in September 1510 the French bishops withdrew from the papal obedience, and resolved, with Maximilian's cooperation, to seek the deposition of Julius. In November 1511 a council actually met for this object at Pisa. Julius hereupon entered into the Holy League with Ferdinand II of Aragon and the Venetians against France, in which both Henry VIII and the emperor ultimately joined. He also convened a general council (that afterwards was known as the Fifth Council of the Lateran) to be held at Rome in 1512, which, according to an oath taken on his election, he had bound himself to summon, but which had been delayed, he affirmed, on account of the occupation of Italy by his enemies. In 1512 the French were driven across the Alps, but it was at the cost of the occupation of Italy by the other powers, and Julius, though he had securely established the papal authority in the states immediately around Rome, was practically as far as ever from realizing his dream of an independent Italian kingdom when he died of fever in February 1513 and was buried at the basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli. The abilities and ambition of Julius were regal and military rather than in any sense ecclesiastical. He was more concerned for his own personal fame as a member of the family of della Rovere than for the advancement of the influence and authority of the Church. His dauntless spirit, his mastery of political stratagem, and his moral indifference in the choice of means rendered him the most prominent political figure of his time. While, however, his political and warlike achievements would alone entitle him to rank amongst the most remarkable of the occupants of the papal chair, his chief title to honour is to be found in his patronage of art and literature. He did much to improve and beautify the city; in 1506 he laid the foundation stone of the new St. Peter's; and he was the friend and patron of Bramante, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for Julius. Julius was succeeded by Leo X. While no firm evidence exists, it is thought that the card game Pope Julius is named after him.

Book

Barbara Tuchman, in her book The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam (1984; ISBN 0345308239) offers a vivid narrative of Julius II's career. Her overall assessment of Julius is strongly negative, and she attributes to him some of the blame for provoking the Reformation.

Film

In the film The Agony and the Ecstasy about the life of Michelangelo, Julius is vividly portrayed as a soldier-pope by Rex Harrison. ---- Text from the 9th edition (1880) of an unnamed encyclopedia (Two 120 year-old bibliographic references omitted). Julius 2 Julius 2 Julius 2 Julius 2 ko:교황 율리오 2세 ja:ユリウス2世 (ローマ教皇)

December 5

December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 26 days remaining.

Events

- 1484 - Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany and leads to one of the severest witchhunts in European history.
- 1492 - Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola.
- 1560 - Francis II of France dies and is succeeded by Charles IX of France.
- 1590 - Niccolò Sfondrati becomes Pope Gregory XIV.
- 1766 - In London, James Christie holds his first sale.
- 1776 - At the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Phi Beta Kappa is founded as the first scholastic fraternity in the United States.
- 1831 - Former US President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
- 1848 - California gold rush: In a message before the U.S. Congress, US President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.
- 1892 - Sir John Thompson becomes the fourth Prime Minister of Canada.
- 1926 - Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin is premiered.
- 1932 - German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
- 1933 - Prohibition ends: Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to enact the amendment (this overturned the 18th Amendment which had outlawed alcohol in the United States).
- 1934 - Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.
- 1936 - The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.
- 1941 - In Battle of Moscow Zhukov launched a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army, with the biggest offensive launched against Army Group Centre.
- 1941 - John Steinbeck's book Sea of Cortez is published (Steinbeck used knowledge gained writing this book to develop the marine biologist character Doc in Cannery Row).
- 1945 - Flight 19, a squadron of five U.S. Navy TBF Avenger bombers on a training flight out of Fort Lauderdale, is lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
- 1952 - The Abbott and Costello Show, starring comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, debuts on American television.
- 1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL-CIO.
- 1958 - Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.
- 1964 - Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
- 1974 - Party Political Broadcast, the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, is broadcast on BBC 2.
- 1976 - United Nations General Assembly adopts Pakistan resolution on security of non-Nuclear States.
- 1977 - Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation to the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.
- 1978 - The Soviet Union signs a 'friendship treaty' with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
- 1979 - Sonia Johnson is formally excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her outspoken criticism of the church concerning the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
- 1992 - Kent Conrad of North Dakota resigns his seat in the United States Senate and is sworn into the other seat from North Dakota, becoming the only US Senator ever to have held two seats on the same day.
- 2004 - BJP dissidents in the Indian state of West Bengal launch the Dr. Syamaprasad Jana Jagaran Manch forum.
- 2005 - The 2005 Southeast Asian Games end in Manila.
- 2005 - The Lake Tanganyika earthquake causes significant damage, mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Births

- 1377 - Jianwen Emperor of China (d. 1402)
- 1443 - Pope Julius II (d. 1513)
- 1495 - Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish grammarian (d. 1542)
- 1537 - Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shogun (d. 1597)
- 1539 - Fausto Paolo Sozzini, Italian theologian (d. 1604)
- 1547 - Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (d. 1625)
- 1595 - Henry Lawes, English composer (d. 1662)
- 1661 - Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, English statesman (d. 1724)
- 1687 - Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762)
- 1782 - Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States (d. 1862)
- 1803 - Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev, Russian lyric poet (d. 1873)
- 1820 - Afanasy Fet, Russian poet (d. 1892)
- 1822 - Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, American president of Radcliffe College (d. 1907)
- 1830 - Christina Rossetti, British poet (d. 1894)
- 1839 - George Armstrong Custer, American general (d. 1876)
- 1841 - Marcus Daly, American mining tycoon (d. 1900)
- 1850 - Alexander Girardi, Austrian actor (d. 1918)
- 1855 - Clinton Hart Merriam, American ornithologist (d. 1942)
- 1859 - John Jellicoe, British Royal Navy admiral (d. 1935)
- 1867 - Józef Piłsudski, Polish revolutionary and statesman (d. 1935)
- 1868 - Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist (d. 1951)
- 1869 - Ellis Parker Butler, American author (d. 1937)
- 1870 - Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer (d. 1949)
- 1871 - Bill Pickett, American rodeo performer (d. 1932)
- 1872 - Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player (d. 1906)
- 1875 - Sir Arthur Currie, Canadian soldier (d. 1933)
- 1879 - Clyde Cessna, American airplane manufacturer (d. 1954)
- 1886 - Rose Wilder Lane, American writer and reporter (d. 1968)
- 1890 - David Bomberg, British painter (d. 1957)
- 1890 - Fritz Lang, Austrian-born American film director (d. 1976)
- 1896 - Carl Ferdinand Cori, Austria-Hungarian-born American biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1898 - Grace Moore, American soprano (d. 1947{

1443

Events

- Albanians, under Skanderbeg, defeat the Turks
- John Hunyadi defeats Turks at the Battle of Nis
- Vlad II Dracul begins his second term as ruler of Wallachia, succeeding Basarab II.

Births

- January 27 - Albert, Duke of Saxony (died 1500)
- February 23 - Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (died 1490)
- May 17 - Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1460)
- May 31 - Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England (died 1509)
- December 5 - Pope Julius II (died 1513)
- Rodolphus Agricola, Dutch scholar and humanist (died 1485)
- John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, English Lancastrian leader (died 1513)
- Piero del Pollaiuolo, Italian painter (died 1496)
- Philip II, Duke of Savoy (died 1497)
- Anne Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick (died 1449)

Deaths

- January 28 - Robert le Maçon, Chancellor of France
- April 12 - Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury
- August 16 - Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shogun (born 1434)
- Erasmo of Narni, Italian mercenary (born 1370)
- Zeami Motokiyo, Japanese actor and playwright (born 1363) Category:1443 ko:1443년

1513

Events

- January 20 - Christian II becomes King of Denmark and Norway.
- March 11 - Leo X elected pope.
- March 27 - Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sights North America (specifically Florida) for the first time mistaking it for another island. Later, on April 2, he landed somewhere on the east coast of the newly discovered land.
- April - Juan Ponce de Leon and his expedition become the first Europeans known to visit Florida.
- June 6 - Italian Wars: Battle of Novara - Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis de la Tremoille, forcing the French to abandon Milan. Dukeindia Massimiliano Sforza is restored.
- August 16 - Battle of the Spurs (or Battle of Guinegate). English troops under Henry VIII defeat a French army under Marshal La Palice.
- August 22 - Capture of Terouenne by Henry VIII of England.
- September 9 - Battle of Flodden Field, King James IV of Scotland defeated and killed by an English army under Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. James's son the Duke of Rothesay becomes James V, King of Scots.
- September 25 - Vasco Núñez de Balboa, "silent upon a peak in Darién", first sees the Pacific Ocean.
- October 7 - Battle of La Motta - Spanish troops under Ramon de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
- December - Louis XII makes peace with the Pope and Spain.

Births

- October 30 - Jacques Amyot, French writer (died 1593)
- December 23 - Thomas Smith, English scholar and diplomat (died 1577)
- Abe Motozane, Japanese general (died 1587)
- Michael Baius, Belgian theologian (died 1589)
- George Cassander, Flemish theologian (died 1566)
- Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (died 1535)
- John Knox, Scottish religious reformer (died 1572)
- Elizabeth Seymour, sister-in-law of Henry VIII of England (died 1563)
- Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare, Irish rebel (died 1537)

Deaths

- February 20 - King John of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (born 1455)
- February 21 - Pope Julius II (born 1443)
- March 10 - John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, English general (born 1443)
- September 9 - King James IV of Scotland (born 1473)
- Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll, Scottish nobleman and politician
- Robert Fabyan, English chronicler
- George Manners, 12th Baron de Ros, English nobleman
- Piero Soderini, Florentine statesman (born 1450)
- Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, Duke of Suffolk (born 1471) Category:1513 als:1513 ko:1513년

1503

Events

- January 20 - Seville in Castile is awarded exclusive right to trade with the New World.
- April 21 - Battle of Cerignola. Aragonese forces under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba defeat the French under the Duc de Nemours, who is killed. Considered to be the first battle in history won by gunpowder small arms.
- May 10 - Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands and he names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.
- May 13 - Capture of Naples by the Spanish.
- July 23 - Orbital calculations suggest that on this day Pluto moved outside Neptune's orbit, remaining there for 233 years.
- August 8 - King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland.
- September 22 - Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini becomes Pope Pius III succeeding Pope Alexander VI, but dies on October 18.
- December 29 - Battle of the Garigliano - Spanish forces under Cordoba defeat a French-Italian mercenary army under the Marquis of Saluzzo. The French forces withdraw to Gaeta.
- Giuliano della Rovere becomes Pope Julius II succeeding Pope Pius III.
- Leonardo da Vinci starts work on the Mona Lisa.
- Perpendicular style chapel added to Westminster Abbey.
- Battle of Ruvo - French-Spanish Wars in Italy.
- Vasco da Gama established India's first Portuguese fortress at Cochin.
- Mariotto Albertinelli paints his masterpiece, the "Visitation of the Virgin".

Births

- January 11 - Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, Italian artist (d. 1540)
- March 10 - Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1564)
- March 22 - Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian writer (died 1583)
- June 1 - Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (died 1567)
- June 28 - Giovanni della Casa, Italian poet (died 1556)
- June 30 - John Frederick, Elector of Saxony (died 1554)
- August 12 - Christian III of Denmark and Norway (died 1559)
- November 17 - Agnolo di Cosimo, Italian artist and poet (d. 1572)
- December 14 - Nostradamus, French physician and prophet (died 1566)
- Nicholas Bourbon, French poet
- Lucas David, Prussian historian (died 1583)
- Robert Estienne, French printer (died 1559)
- Charles Etienne, French anatomist (died 1564)
- John Frith, English protestant priest and martyr (died 1533)
- Henry II of Navarre (died 1555)
- Shimazu Katsuhisa, Japanese nobleman
- Parmigianino, Italian painter (died 1540)
- Garcilaso de la Vega, Spanish poet (died 1536)

Deaths

- February 11 - Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII of England (born 1466)
- May 20 - Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Italian patron of the arts (b. 1463)
- June 30 - Pierre d'Aubusson, Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes (born 1423)
- August 18 - Pope Alexander VI (born 1431)
- October 18 - Pope Pius III (born 1439)
- November 23 - Margaret of York, wife of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1446)
- December 28 - Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (born 1471)
- Richard Amerike, English merchant and patron of John Cabot (born 1445)
- Peter II, Duke of Bourbon (born 1438)
- Reginald Bray, British courtier (born 1440)
- Edward Story, Bishop of Carlisle and Chichester Category:1503 ko:1503년 simple:1503

1513

Events

Births

Deaths

Pope Sixtus IV

Sixtus IV, born Francesco della Rovere (July 21, 1414 – August 12, 1484) was Pope from 1471 to 1484, essentially a Renaissance prince, the Sixtus of the Sistine Chapel where the team of artists he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance to Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age (Michelangelo's frescoes were added in a later phase). He was born to a modest family near Savona, Liguria: the precise town is variously stated to be Albisola or, more often, Celle Ligure, a town near Savona in the Republic of Genoa. He joined the Franciscan Order, an unlikely choice for a political career, and his intellectual qualities were revealed while he was studying philosophy and theology at the University of Pavia. He went on to lecture at many eminent Italian universities. He was made Minister General of the Franciscan order in 1464. In 1467 he was made a Cardinal by Pope Paul II. With his election, and after some ineffective sorties against the Turks in Smyrna, where fund-raising energy was more successful than half-hearted attempts to storm Smyrna and some attempts at unification with the Russian Orthodox Church, he turned to temporal issues and dynastic considerations. Sixtus continued the fruitless arguing with Louis XI of France, who continued to uphold the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438), that provided royal consent to papal decrees before they were promulgated in France, a cornerstone of the independence of the Gallican Church that could never be shifted, while Louis maneuvered to replace Ferdinand I of Naples with a French prince, which the pope as a princely strategist could not permit. Like a number of popes, Sixtus was guilty of nepotism. In the fresco by Melozzo da Forlì (above right) he is accompanied by his Della Rovere and Riario nephews, not all of whom were made cardinals: the apostolic protonotary Raffaele Riario (on his right), the future pope Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513) standing before him, and Girolamo Riario and Giovanni della Rovere behind the kneeling Platina, author of the first humanist history of the popes. In his territorial aggrandizement of the Papal States his nephew Cardinal Raffaele Riario, for whom the Palazzo della Cancelleria was constructed, was a leader in the 1478 failed "Pazzi conspiracy" to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother and replace them in Florence with the other nephew, Girolamo Riario. The archbishop of Pisa, a main organizer of the plot, was hanged on the walls of the Florentine Palazzo della Signoria, and Sixtus replied with an interdict and two years' of war with Florence. He also encouraged the Venetians to attack Ferrara, which he wished to obtain for another nephew. The angered Italian princes allied to force Sixtus to make peace, an act which annoyed Sixtus immensely. As a temporal prince, who constructed stout fortresses in the Papal States, Sixtus committed himself rather scandalously to Venice's aggression against the duchy of Ferrara, which he incited the Venetians to attack in 1482; their combined assault was interdicted by an alliance of Sforza Milan, Medici Florence, and the King of Naples, his hereditary ally and usual strongarm of the Papacy. For refusing to desist from the very hostilities that he had instigated (and for being a dangerous rival to Della Rovere Papal ambitions in the Marche), Sixtus placed Venice under interdict in 1483. Sixtus consented to the Spanish Inquisition and issued a bull in 1478 that established an Inquisitor in Seville, under political pressure from Ferdinand of Aragon, who threatened to withhold military support from his kingdom of Sicily. Nevertheless, Sixtus quarrelled over protocol and prerogatives of jurisdiction, was unhappy with the excesses of the Inquisition and took measures to condemn the most flagrant abuses in 1482, though he sold indulgences and is said to have fathered his sister's son. In ecclesiastical affairs, Sixtus instituted the feast (December 8) of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. He formally annulled (1478) the reformist decrees of the Council of Constance.

Princely patronage

As a civic patron in Rome, even the anti-papal chronicler Stefano Infessura agreed that Sixtus must be admired. The dedicatory inscription in the fresco by Melozzo da Forli in the Vatican Palace records: "You gave your city temples, streets, squares, fortifications, bridges and restored the Aqua Virgine as far as the Trevi..." In addition to restoring the aqueduct that provided Rome an alternative to the river water that had made the city famously unhealthy, he restored or rebuilt over 30 of Rome's dilapidated churches, among them San Vitale (1475) and Santa Maria del Popolo, and added seven new ones. The Sistine Chapel was sponsored by Sixtus, as was the Ponte Sisto, the Sistine Bridge— the first new bridge across the Tiber since Antiquity— to facilitate the integration of the Vatican Hill with the heart of old Rome. This was part of a broader scheme of urbanization carried out under Sixtus, who swept the long-established markets from the Campidoglio in 1477 and decreed in a bull of 1480 the widening of streets and the first post-Roman paving, the removal of porticoes and other post-classical impediments to free public passage. At the beginning of his papacy in 1471, he donated several historically important Roman sculptures that founded a papal collection of art that would eventually develop into the collections of the Capitoline Museums. He also refounded, enriched and enlarged the Vatican Library. He had Regiomontanus attempt the first sanctioned reorganization of the Julian calendar and called Josquin des Prez to Rome for his music. His bronze funerary monument in St. Peter's Basilica, like a giant casket of goldsmith's work, is by Antonio Pollaiuolo.

The cardinals of Sixtus IV

At the death of Sixtus, the conclave of cardinals that met to elect his successor numbered thirty-two surviving cardinals, a greater number than at any time since the close of the twelfth century, excepting perhaps for the multiplied rival cardinalates of the Great Schism (1378-1417). Of the thirty-two, only three cardinals survived from before Paul II (1464-1471): the two nephews of Calixtus III (1455-1458), Rodrigo and Luis Borgia, and the nephew of Pius II (1458-1464), Francesco di Nanni Todeschini de' Piccolomini. Six further cardinals survived from the pontificate of Paul II: Thomas Bourchier, Oliviero Caraffa, Marco Barbo, Jean Balue, Giovanni Battista Zeno, and Giovanni Michiel. The remaining twenty-three had been made cardinals by Sixtus IV, and the roster of the princely houses of Italy, France and Spain will be familiar to any reader of Renaissance history: Giuliano della Rovere, Stefano Nardini, Pedro Gonsalvez de Mendoza, Giovanni Battista Cibo (soon to be Pope Innocent VIII), Giovanni Arcimboldi, Philibert Hugonet, Giorgio da Costa, Charles de Bourbon l'ancien, Pierre de Foix le jeune, Girolamo Basso della Rovere, Gabriele Rangoni, Pietro Foscari, Juan of Aragon, Raffaele Sansoni Riario, Domenico della Rovere, Paolo Fregoso, Giovanni Battista Savelli, Giovanni Colonna, Giovanni Conti, Juan Moles de Margarit, Giangiacomo Sclafenati, Giovanni Battista Orsini, and Ascanio Maria Sforza-Visconti.

External link

Sixtus 4 Sixtus 4 Sixtus 4 Sixtus 4 Sixtus 4 ko:교황 식스토 4세 ja:シクストゥス4世 (ローマ教皇)

Franciscan

The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans) is a mendicant religious order of men tracing their origin to Francis of Assisi and following the Rule of St. Francis. The official Latin name is the Ordo Fratrum Minorum (literally, "Order of Little Brothers"); Francis thus referred to his followers as "Fraticelli", meaning "Little Brothers". Franciscan brothers are informally called friars. The order has historically been known as the greyfriars. Among the most important Franciscans are its founder, Francis, as well as Anthony of Padua, Bonaventure, John Duns Scotus, Roger Bacon, Alexander of Hales, William of Ockham, and Giovanni da Pian del Carpini.

The beginning of the brotherhood

A sermon which Francis heard in 1209 on Matt. x. 9 made such an impression on him that he decided to devote himself wholly to a life of apostolic poverty. Clad in a rough garment, barefoot, and, after the Evangelical precept, without staff or scrip, he began to preach repentance. He was soon joined by a prominent fellow townsman, Bernardo di Quintavalle, who contributed all that he had to the work, and by other companions, who are said to have reached the number of eleven within a year. The brothers lived in the deserted lazar-house of Rivo Torto near Assisi; but they spent much of their time traveling through the mountainous districts of Umbria, always cheerful and full of songs, yet making a deep impression on their hearers by their earnest exhortations. Their life was extremely ascetic, though such practises were apparently not prescribed by the first rule which Francis gave them (probably as early as 1209), which seems to have been nothing more than a collection of Scriptural passages emphasizing the duty of poverty. In spite of the obvious similarity between this principle and the fundamental ideas of the followers of Peter Waldo, the brotherhood of Assisi succeeded in gaining the approval of Pope Innocent III. What seems to have impressed first the Bishop of Assisi, Guido, then Cardinal John of St. Paul and finally Innocent himself, was their utter loyalty to the Church and her clergy. Innocent probably saw in them a possible answer to his desire for an orthodox preaching force to counter heresy. Many legends have clustered around the decisive audience of Francis with the Pope. The realistic account in Matthew Paris, according to which the Pope originally sent the shabby saint off to keep swine, and only recognized his real worth by his ready obedience, has, in spite of its improbability, a certain historical interest, since it shows the natural antipathy of the older Benedictine monasticism to the plebeian mendicant orders.

Work and extension of the brotherhood

Benedictine It was not, however, a life of idle mendicancy on which the brothers entered when they set out in 1210 with the papal approbation, but one of diligent labor. Their work embraced devoted service in the abodes of sickness and poverty, earnest preaching by both priests and lay brothers, and missions in an ever widening circle, which finally included heretics and Muslims. They came together every year at Pentecost in the little church of the Portiuncula at Assisi, to report on their experiences and strengthen themselves for fresh efforts.

The last years of Francis

Francis had to suffer from the dissensions just alluded to and the transformation which they operated in the originally simple constitution of the brotherhood, making it a regular order under strict supervision from Rome. Exasperated by the demands of running a growing and fractious Order, Francis asked Pope Honorius III for help in 1219. He was assigned Cardinal Ugolino as protector of the order by the Pope. Francis resigned the day to day running of the Order into the hands of others but retained the power to shape the Order's legislation, writing a Rule in 1221 which he revised and had approved in 1223. At least after about 1223 the day to day running of the Order was in the hands of Brother Elias of Cortona, an able friar who would be elected as leader of the friars a few years after Francis' death but who aroused much opposition because of his autocratic style of leadership. In the external successes of the brothers, as they were reported at the yearly general chapters, there was much to encourage Francis. Caesarius of Speyer, the first German provincial, a zealous advocate of the founder's strict principle of poverty, began in 1221 from Augsburg, with twenty-five companions, to win for the order the land watered by the Rhine and the Danube. In 1224 Agnellus of Pisa led a small group of friars to England. Beginning at Canterbury, the ecclesiastical capital, they moved on to London, the political capital and Oxford, the intellectual capital. From these three bases the Franciscans swiftly expanded to embrace the principal towns of England.

The three rules of the order and the testament of Saint Francis

The first rule

The oldest "rule", referred to above, no longer preserved in its original form, seems to have contained not much more than the three Scriptural commands in Matt. xix. 21; Luke ix. 3; and Matt. xvi. 24. Thus it was more a propositum vitae, a life project, than a rule as traditionally understood. The attempted reconstruction by Muller ascribes to it too extensive a content, though Sabatier goes too far in the other direction when he limits it to these three sayings of Christ, which, according to Tommaso da Celano, formed the kernel of the rule, surrounded by certain other more detailed prescriptions. Sabatier's theory that these were gradual accretions, depending especially on decisions of the yearly general chapter, needs further evidence to confirm it although Oktavian Schmucki has discerned definite stages in the development of the 1221 Rule. The oldest biographers say nothing of any intermediate stage between the primitive rule and that of 1221. The former, based upon the idea of poverty and self-denying labor in the cause of Christ, was intended for an association of a similar kind to the Pauperes Catholici or "Poor Men of Lyons." It had little or nothing in common with the older monastic rules, Benedictine or Augustinian.

The rule of 1221

The rule of 1221 is more adapted to the needs of a monastic order intended to further the general ends of the Church and based upon the three usual vows, but laying special stress on that of poverty. It was drawn up by Francis himself, but under the influence of Cardinal Ugolino, as well as of the learned and practical Caesarius of Speyer and apparently of Brother Leo, who from 1220 on was the constant companion of the founder. The matter of the primitive rule was included in it, but scattered among a large part of detailed directions, besides many edifying thoughts and pious outpourings of the heart, probably the work of Francis. But there is much in the new rule which breathes a different spirit. The humble founder, though refusing the title of general of the order, and appearing simply as "minister-general," sometimes with the addition "the servant of the whole brotherhood," appears now at the head of a regular monastic hierarchy, consisting of provincial ministers over the provinces, custodes over smaller districts. Definite rules for the novitiate, the habit, hours of prayer, and the discipline of the houses were modeled after the older monastic tradition. In place of the informal yearly gatherings of the brotherhood, there are now regular chapters at fixed times. Of special interest are the provisions for apostolic poverty and the ascetic life in general, which show this rule to be essentially a development of the older discipline, with the obligation of poverty made more strict while that of other ascetic practises was mitigated, partly for the reason that the new Fratres minores were expected to be diligently occupied in exhausting labors.

The later rule

The Later Rule, confirmed by Honorius III on November 29, 1223, is a distillation of the 1221 Rule written in the more terse style of a canonist. The edifying tone, the citation of the Scriptural texts, have disappeared from it. Instead of the strong emphasis upon Christ's admonitions to his disciples with which the rule of 1221 had begun, the enumeration of the three traditional monastic vows is here substituted. The character of the order as a mendicant order, pledged to an ideal of the strictest poverty, is retained and the prescriptions on poverty strengthened as the support of the lay Franciscan penitents allowed the brothers to dispense with reliance on money in any form. The spirit of the earlier rules is intermingled with a number of other prescriptions which clearly show the official character of the new statutes, framed so that the order can serve the church in the interest of the papacy and in conformity with the other organs of the hierarchy. A cardinal appointed by the Pope as protector of the whole order was to support the elected Minister General in his governance of the order. The conditions for entrance are more definitely laid down; the Roman Breviary is expressly named as the obligatory basis of the daily devotions of priests belonging to it; and the preaching brothers have a more dependent position than before. In a word, the life here regulated is no longer the old free, wandering life of the first years, marked by apostolic poverty and loving, simple-hearted devotion to the Lord, but rather it is tamed to a more sedate quasi-monastic system, shorn of much of its original freedom but with a sustainability that the original ideals had failed to provide.

The "Testament"

Francis, as may be seen from more than one passage in the accounts of his last years, was unhappy about some of the changes that occurred as the order grew. As a demonstration against them, he left what is called his "Testament", whose occasional reading together with the rule was enjoined on the brethren. Its tone is rather plaintive than angry; it looks back in a spirit of regret to the primitive days of the first love. It urges unswerving obedience to the Pope and the heads of the order, but at the same time emphasizes the necessity of following its principles, especially the imitation of the poverty of Christ. The brethren are commanded to oppose the introduction of any future secularizing influences, and at the same time are forbidden to ask for any special privileges from the Pope. In spite of the direct command in the "Testament" against considering it as a new rule, the Observantist section of the Franciscans practically regarded it as even more binding than the formal rule, while the advocates of a less strict observance paid little attention to it, especially to its prohibition of asking for ecclesiastical privileges.

Development of the order after the death of Francis

Dissentions during the life of Francis

The controversy about poverty which extends through the first three centuries of Franciscan history began in the lifetime of the founder. The ascetic brothers Matthew of Narni and Gregory of Naples, to whom Francis had entrusted the direction of the order during his absence, carried through at a chapter which they held certain stricter regulations in regard to fasting and the reception of alms, which really departed from the spirit of the original rule. It did not take Francis long, on his return, to suppress this insubordinate tendency; but he was less successful in regard to another of an opposite nature which soon came up. Elias of Crotona originated a movement for the increase of the worldly consideration of the order and the adaptation of its system to the plans of the hierarchy which conflicted with the original notions of the founder and helped to bring about the successive changes in the rule already described. Francis was not alone in opposition to this lax and secularizing tendency. On the contrary, the party which clung to his original views and after his death took his "Testament" for their guide, known as Observantists or Zelanti, was at least equal in numbers and activity to the followers of Elias. The conflict between the two lasted many years, and the Zelanti won several notable victories, in spite of the favor shown to their opponents by the papal administration -- until finally the reconciliation of the two points of view was seen to be impossible, and the order was actually split into halves.

Development to 1239. The laxer party

St. Anthony of Padua has usually been regarded as the first leader of the Observantists; but recent investigations have shown that he was inclined to the opposite side. When Elias sent a delegation to Rome in 1230 to obtain papal sanction for his views, Anthony was one of the envoys; and there is little doubt that the bull Quo elongati of Pope Gregory IX, favoring this side, was due in large measure to his influence. The earliest leader of the strict party was rather Brother Leo, the witness of the ecstasies of Francis on Monte Alverno and the author of the Speculum perfectionis, a strong polemic against the laxer party. Next to him came John Parenti, the first successor of Francis in the headship of the order. In 1232, however, Elias succeeded him, and administered the affairs of the order in the interest of his own party for seven years. Much external progress was made during these years; many new houses were founded, especially in Italy, and in them, without regard to the founder's depreciation of secular learning, special attention was paid to education. The somewhat earlier settlements of Franciscan teachers at the universities (in Oxford, for example, where Alexander of Hales was teaching) continued to develop. Contributions toward the promotion of the order's work came in abundantly, and Elias authorized his subordinates to get around the provision of the rule against the receiving of money, usually by the appointment of agents outside the order, who had the custody of the funds. Elias pursued with great severity the principal leaders of the opposition, and even Bernardo di Quintavalle, the founder's first disciple, was obliged to conceal himself for years in the forest of Monte Sefro.

To 1274. Bonaventure

At last, however, the reaction came. At the general chapter of 1239, held in Rome under the personal presidency of Gregory IX., Elias was deposed in favor of Albert of Pisa, the former provincial of England, a moderate Observantist. None the less, Elias' attitude remained widely prevalent in the order. The next two ministers-general Haymo of Faversham (1240-44) and Crescentius of Jesi (1244-47), governed to a great extent in this sense, and had the new Pope Innocent IV on their side. In a bull of November 14, 1245, he even sanctioned an extension of the system of financial agents, and declared the funds in their custody the property of the Church, to be held at the disposal of the cardinal-protector and not to be alienated without his permission. The Observantist party took a strong stand in opposition to this ruling, and carried on so successfully an agitation against the lax general that in 1247, at a chapter held in Lyons, where Innocent IV. was then residing, he was replaced by the strict Observantist John of Parma (1247-57). Elias, who had been excommunicated and taken under the protection of Frederick II., was now forced to give up all hope of recovering his power in the order. He died in 1253, after succeeding by recantation in obtaining the removal of his censures. Under John of Parma, who enjoyed the favor of Innocent IV. and Pope Alexander IV, the influence of the order was notably increased, especially by the provisions of the latter pope in regard to the academic activity of the brothers. He not only sanctioned the theological institutes in Franciscan houses, but did all he could to facilitate the entrance of their teachers to the universities, especially Paris, the headquarters of theological study. It was due to the action of his representatives, who were obliged to threaten the university authorities with excommunication, that the degree of doctor of theology was conceded to the Dominican Thomas Aquinas and the Franciscan Bonaventure (1257), who had previously been able to lecture only as licentiates. In the same year Bonaventura succeeded John of Parma. In spite of his adherence to Observantist principles, Bonaventura took a decided stand against the teaching of Joachim of Fiore, which John of Parma had been inclined to favor. Not a few of the "Spiritual" party, as they were now coming to be called, were condemned to lifelong imprisonment; and for the purpose of discouraging their extreme tendency a new life of the founder was compiled by Bonaventura, at the request of the general chapter held at Narbonne in 1260, and authorized by that of Pisa three years later as the only approved biography. Apart from the severe measures taken against Joachim's followers, Bonaventura seems to have ruled (1257-74) in a moderate spirit, which is represented also by various works produced by the order in his time -- especially by the Expositio regulae written by David of Augsburg (q.v.) soon after 1260.

To 1300. Continued dissensions

The successor of Bonaventura, Jerome of Ascoli (1274-79), the future Pope Nicholas IV, and his successor, Bonagratia (1279-85), also followed a middle course. Severe measures were taken against certain extreme Spirituals who, on the strength of the rumor that Pope Gregory X was intending at the Council of Lyons (1274-75) to force the mendicant orders to tolerate the possession of property, threatened both pope and council with the renunciation of allegiance. Attempts were made, however, to satisfy the reasonable demands of the Spiritual party, as in the bull Exiit qui seminiat of Pope Nicholas III (1279), which pronounced the principle of complete poverty meritorious and holy, but interpreted it in the way of a somewhat sophistical distinction between possession and usufruct. The bull was received respectfully by Bonagratia and the next two generals, Arlotto of Prato (1285-87) and Matthew of Aqua Sparta (1287-89); but the Spiritual party under the leadership of the fanatical apocalyptic Pierre Jean Olivi regarded its provisions for the dependence of the friars upon the Pope and the division between brothers occupied in manual labor and those employed on spiritual missions as a corruption of the fundamental principles of the order. They were not won over by the conciliatory attitude of the next general, Raymond Gaufredi (1289-96), and of the Franciscan Pope Nicholas IV (1288-92). The attempt made by the next pope, Pope Celestine V, an old friend of the order, to end the strife by uniting the Observantist party with his own order of hermits (see Celestines) was scarcely more successful. Only a part of the Spirituals joined the new order, and the secession scarcely lasted beyond the reign of the hermit-pope. Pope Boniface VIII annulled Celestine's bull of foundation with his other acts, deposed the general Raymond Gaufredi, and appointed a man of laxer tendency, John de Murro, in his place. The Benedictine section of the Celestines was separated from the Franciscan section, and the latter was formally suppressed by Boniface in 1302. The leader of the Observantists, Olivi, who spent his last years in the Franciscan house at Narbonne and died there in 1298, had pronounced against the extremer "Spiritual" attitude, and given an exposition of the theory of poverty which was approved by the more moderate Observantists, and for a long time constituted their principle.

Temporary success of the stricter party. Persecution

Under Pope Clement V (1305-14) this party succeeded in exercising some influence on papal decisions. In 1309 Clement had a commission sit at Avignon for the purpose of reconciling the conflicting parties. Ubertino of Casale, the leader, after Olivi's death, of the stricter party, who was a member of the commission, induced the Council of Vienne to arrive at a decision in the main favoring his views, and the papal constitution Exivi de paradiso (1313) was on the whole conceived in the same sense. Clement's successor, Pope John XXII (1316-34), favored the laxer or conventual party. By the bull Quorundam exigit he modified several provisions of the constitution Exivi, and required the formal submission of the Spirituals. Some of them, encouraged by the strongly Observantist general Michael of Cesena, ventured to dispute the Pope's right so to deal with the provisions of his predecessor. Sixty-four of them were summoned to Avignon, and the most obstinate delivered over to the Inquisition, four of them being burned (1318). Shortly before this all the separate houses of the Observantists had been suppressed!

Renewed controversy on the question of poverty

A few years later a new controversy, this time theoretical, broke out on the question of poverty. The Spirituals contended eagerly for the view that Christ and his apostles had possessed absolutely nothing, either separately or jointly. This proposition had been declared heretical in a trial before an inquisitor. A protest was now made against this decision by the chapter held at Perugia in 1322, as well as by such influential members of the order as William of Ockham, the English provincial, and Bonagratia of Bergamo. John XXII ranged himself decidedly with the Dominicans, who combated the theory, and by the papal bull Cum inter nonnullos of 1322 declared the Franciscan doctrine of the poverty of Christ erroneous and heretical. Appealing from this decision, Bonagratia, Occam, and Michael of Cesena were imprisoned at Avignon for four years, until they escaped by the help of the Emperor Louis the Bavarian. Supported by him, they carried on a literary war against the papal and Dominican denial of the absolute poverty of Christ and his apostles. The Pope deposed Cessna and Occam from their offices in the order, and excommunicated them with the Franciscan Anti-Pope Peter of Corvara (Nicholas V.) and all their adherents. Only a small part of the order, however, joined them, and at a general chapter held in Paris (1329) the majority of all the houses declared their submission to the Pope. The same step was taken in the following year by the antipope, later by the ex-general Cesena, and finally, just before his death, by Occam.

Separate congregations

Out of all these dissensions in the fourteenth century sprang a number of separate congregations, almost of sects. To say nothing of the heretical parties of the Beghards and Fraticelli, some which developed within the order on both hermit and cenobitic principles may here be mentioned:

The Clareni

or Clarenini, an association of hermits established on the river Clareno in the march of Ancona by Angelo da Clareno after the suppression of the Franciscan Celestines by Boniface VIII. It maintained the principles of Olivi, and, outside of Umbria, spread also in the kingdom of Naples, where Angelo died in 1337. Like several other smaller congregations, it was obliged in 1568 under Pope Pius V to unite with the general body of Observantists.

The Minorites of Narbonne

As a separate congregation, this originated through the union of a number of houses which followed Olivi after 1308. It was limited to southwestern France and, its members being accused of the heresy of the Beghards, was suppressed by the Inquisition during the controversies under John XXII.

The reform of Johannes de Vallibus

This was founded in the hermitage of St. Bartholomew at Brugliano near Foligno in 1334. The congregation was suppressed by the Franciscan general chapter in 1354; reestablished in 1368 by Paolo de' Trinci of Foligno; confirmed by Gregory XI. in 1373, and spread rapidly from Central Italy to France, Spain, Hungary and elsewhere. Most of the Observantist houses joined this congregation by degrees, so that it became known simply as the "brothers of the regular Observance." It acquired the favor of the popes by its energetic opposition to the heretical Fraticelli, and was expressly recognized by the Council of Constance (1415). It was allowed to have a special vicar-general of its own and legislate for its members without reference to the conventual part of the order. Through the work of such men as Bernardin of Siena, Giovanni da Capistrano, and Dietrich Coelde (b. 1435? at Munster; was a member of the Brethren of the Common Life, died December 11, 1515), it gained great prominence during the fifteenth century. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Observantists, with 1,400 houses, comprised nearly half of the entire order. Their influence brought about attempts at reform even among the Conventuals, including the Observantists of the Common Life, founded by Boniface de Ceva and spreading principally in France and Germany; the reformed congregation founded in 1426 by the Spaniard Philip de Berbegal and distinguished by the special importance they attached to the little hood (cappuciola); the Neutri, a group of reformers originating about 1463 in Italy, who tried to take a middle ground between the Conventuals and Observantists, but refused to obey the heads of either, until they were compelled by the Pope to affiliate with the regular Observantists, or with those of the Common Life; the Caperolani, a congregation founded about 1470 in North Italy by Peter Caperolo, but dissolved again on the death of its founder in 1480; the Amadeists, founded by the noble Portuguese Amadeo, who entered the Franciscan order at Assisi in 1452, gathered around him a number of adherents to his fairly strict principles (numbering finally twenty-six houses) and, died in the odor of sanctity in 1482.

Unsuccessful attempts to unite the order

Projects for a union between the two main branches of the order were put forth not only by the Council of Constance but by several popes, without any positive result. By direction of Martin V., John of Capistrano drew up statutes which were to serve as a basis for reunion, and they were actually accepted by a general chapter at Assisi in 1430; but the majority of the Conventual houses refused to agree to them, and they remained without effect. At Capistrano's request Eugenius IV. put forth a bull (Ut sacra minorum, 1446) looking to the same result, but again nothing was accomplished. Equally unsuccessful were the attempts of the Franciscan Pope Sixtus IV., who bestowed a vast number of privileges on both the original mendicant orders, but by this very fact lost the favor of the Observantists and failed in his plans for reunion. Julius II. succeeded in doing away with some of the smaller branches, but left the division of the two great parties untouched. This division was finally legalized by Leo X., after a general chapter held in Rome, in connection with the reform-movement of the Fifth Lateran Council, had once more declared the impossibility of reunion. The less strict principles of the Conventuals, permitting the posesssion of real estate and the enjoyment of fixed revenues, were recognized as tolerable, while the Observantists, in contrast to this usus moderatus, were held strictly to their own usus arctus or pauper. The latter, as adhering more closely to the rule of the founder, were allowed to claim a certain superiority over the former. The Observantist general (elected now for six years, not for life) was to have the title of "Minister-General of the Whole Order of St. Francis" and the right to confirm the choice of a head for the Conventuals, who was known as "Master-General of the Friars Minor Conventual" -- although this privilege never became practically operative.

Spread of the order in modern times

See: Franciscan Order in modern times

Distinguished names

Although surpassed in the number of prominent and influential theological authors by the Jesuits and Dominicans, the order still boasts a number of distinguished names. The first century of its existence produced the three great scholastics Alexander of Hales, Bonaventure, and Duns Scotus, the "Admirable Doctor" Roger Bacon, and the well-known mystic authors and popular preachers David of Augsburg and Berthold of Regensburg. Among Franciscan celebrities of the later Middle Ages may be mentioned Nicholas of Lyra, the Biblical commentator, Bernardin of Sienna, John of Capistrano, Mollard and Menot as preachers, and the famous canonists Astesanus, Alvarus Pelagius, and William of Ockham. Later again came sound historical investigators such as Luke Wadding and Pagi. In the field of Christian art, during the later Middle Ages, the Franciscan movement exercised considerable influence, especially in Italy. Several great painters of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, especially Cimabue and Giotto, were spiritual sons of Francis in the wider sense, and the plastic masterpieces of the latter, as well as the architectural conceptions of both himself and his school, show the influence of Franciscan ideals. The Italian Gothic style, whose earliest important monument is the great convent church at Assisi (built 1228-53), was cultivated as a rule principally by members of the order or men under their influence. The early spiritual poetry of Italy was inspired by Francis himself, who was followed by Thomas of Celano, Bonaventura, and Jacopone da Todi; and in a certain sense even Dante may be included within the sphere of Franciscan influence (cf. especially Paradiso, xi. 50).

The Clarisses or Poor Clares

For the history of the female branch of the order, founded in the lifetime of Francis, see Poor Clares.

The third order

Origin and rule

The first Rule given to lay men and women passionate about following St. Francis was found in the Guarnacci Library in Volterra, Italy. This primitive Rule is known as the Earlier Exhortation or the Earlier Version of the Letter to All the Faithful and was likely composed before 1215. An expanded version, the Later Exhortation was completed by about 1220. Both have been established as having been composed by St. Francis. Both documents call the lay faithful to a life of penance, i.e. of turning away from sin and toward God. The first lay followers were known as the Brothers and Sisters of Penance. In the Earlier Exhortation, Francis describes the elements of the conversion process: 1) love God 2) love one's neighbor 3) turn away from their sinful tendencies 4)"receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ" and, as a result of the above, 5) producing worthy fruits of penance - a renewed life characterized of charity, forgiveness and compassion toward others. Francis speaks in ecstatic terms of those who embrace this way of life: "Oh, how happy and blessed are these men and women when they do these things and perservere in doing them since the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon them and He will make His home and dwelling among them. They are children of the heavenly Father whose works they do, and they are spouses, brothers and mothers of Our Lord Jesus Christ." (source:"De Illis Qui Faciunt Penitentiam": The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order: Origins, Development, Interpretation, Robert M. Stewart, OFM) The rule of the Secular Franciscan Order was originally written by St. Francis of Assisi himself. He was concerned about the expansion of his order at the expense of families. He refused entrance to his order by married men (and the women from admission to the Poor Claires) who sought to follow the Franciscan way, because families should not suffer. He wrote a rule that was simple and clear so the lay person could live within the bonds of the Sacrament of Marriage and love and serve the Lord by serving their fellow men. This rule with few changes is still the framework of the present Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order. (source: Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order)(addition to this record by J.T. McF. Mood, SFO [jtmoodsfo@aol.com])

External links

- [http://www.ofm.org/ Ordo Fratrum Minorum], official website
- [http://www.ofmcap.org/ Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum], official website
- [http://www.nafra-sfo.org/ The National Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order - USA]
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06217a.htm The Catholic Encyclopedia: The Franciscan Order]
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06244b.htm The Catholic Encyclopedia: The Fraticelli]

Books

- A History of the Franciscan Order: From Its Origins to the Year 1517 by John Moorman ISBN 0198264259
- Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages (3rd Edition) by C.H. Lawrence, ISBN 0582404274
- The Spiritual Franciscans: From Protest to Persecution in the Century After Saint Francis by David Burr. ISBN 0271021284 Category:Franciscan orders ja:フランシスコ会

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority.

Meaning of bishop

The etymology of the word bishop comes from the Greek word episkopos (επισκοπος), which can be generally translated as bishop, overseer, superintendent, supervisor, or foreman. From the word episkopos are derived the English words episcopacy, episcopate and episcopal.

Bishops in the New Testament

The New Testament uses the word episkopos five times.
- Acts of the Apostles 20:28
- Epistle to the Philippians 1:1
- First Epistle to Timothy 3:2
- Epistle to Titus 1:7
- First Epistle of Peter 2:25 Words related to episkopos are used in two other verses. Some English Bibles translate this word as bishop (KJV, RSV, NRSV, etc.), while others, attempting to distance themselves from certain types of church hierarchy, use a more neutral alternative, such as "overseers" (NIV, ESV, etc.). The ministry of these New Testament episkopoi was not directly commissioned by Jesus, but appears to be a natural, practical development of the church during the first and second centuries AD. The portions of the New Testament that mention episkopoi do not appear to be ordering a new type of ministry, but giving instructions for an already existent position within the early church. In places (particularly in the verses from the Epistle to Titus) it appears that the position of episkopos is similar or the same as that of presbyter (πρεσβυτερος), or elder, and, later, priest. The Epistle to Timothy mentions deacons (διακονοι) in a manner that suggests that the office of deacon differs from the office of the bishop, and is subordinate to it, though it carries similar qualifications. In the Acts of the Apostles, episkopoi are mentioned as being shepherds of the flock, imagery that is still in use today. The other passages from the New Testament describe them as stewards or administrators, and teachers. In 1 Timothy episkopoi are required to be 'the husband of but one wife'. It is unclear whether this forbids men who have married a second time in series, or polygamists. However, it is clear that the New Testament has no prohibition against bishops marrying and having children. It is interesting to note that in the second chapter of the 1 Peter, Jesus is described as 'the Shepherd and Episkopos of your souls' (τον ποιμενα και επισκοπον των ψυχων υμων).

Bishops in the Apostolic Fathers

At the turn of the first century AD, the church started to acquire a clear organisation. In the works of the Apostolic Fathers, and Ignatius of Antioch in particular, the role of the episkopos, or bishop, became more important.

"Plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 6:1.
"your godly bishop" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 2:1.
"the bishop presiding after the likeness of God and the presbyters after the likeness of the council of the Apostles, with the deacons also who are most dear to me, having been entrusted with the diaconate of Jesus Christ" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 6:1.
"Therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, [being united with Him], either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7:1.
"Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father [according to the flesh], and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, that there may be union both of flesh and of spirit." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 13:2.
"In like manner let all men respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallesians 3:1.
"follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles; and to the deacons pay respect, as to God's commandment" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 8:1.
"He that honoureth the bishop is honoured of God; he that doeth aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the devil" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 9:1.

— Lightfoot translation.

It is clear that, by this period, a single bishop was expected to lead the church in each centre of Christian mission, supported by a council of presbyters (now a distinct and subordinate position) with a pool of deacons. As the church continued to expand, new churches in important cities gained their own bishop, but churches in the regions around an important city were served by presbyters and deacons from the bishop's city church. Thus, in time, the bishop changed from being the leader of a single church to being the leader of the churches of a given geographical area.

Bishops and civil government

The efficient infrastructure of the Roman Empire became the template for the organization of the church in the fourth century, particularly after the Edict of Milan. As the church moved from the shadows of privacy into the public forum it acquired land for churches, burials and clergy. In 391, Theodosius I decreed that any land that had been confiscated from the church by Roman authorities be returned. The most usual term for the geographical area of a bishop's authority and ministry, the diocese, began as part of the structure of the Roman Empire under Diocletian. As Roman authority began to fail in the western portion of the empire, the church took over much of the civil administration. This can be clearly seen in the ministry of two popes: Pope Leo I in the fifth century, and Pope Gregory I in the sixth century. Both of these men were statesmen and public administrators in addition to their role as Christian pastors, teachers and leaders. In the Eastern churches, latifundia entailed to a bishop's see were much less common, the state power did not collapse the way it did in the West, and thus the tendency of bishops acquiring secular power was much weaker than in the West. However, the role of Western bishops as civil authorities, often called prince bishops, continued throughout much of the Middle Ages.

Sovereign bishops

prince bishop The most important of these prince bishops was the Pope, who ruled as monarch of the Papal States by virtue of his title as Bishop of Rome. His claim to this fief rested on the forged Donation of Constantine, but in fact his authority over this kingdom in central Italy grew slowly after the collapse of Roman and Byzantine authority in the area. The Papal States were abolished when King Victor Emmanuel II took possession of Rome in 1870 and completed the reunification of Italy. This became a perennial source of tension between the Papacy and the government of Italy. In 1929, Pope Pius XI made a deal with the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini and became the independent sovereign of the Vatican, while giving up any rights to the rest of the former Papal States. He was recognised as an independent monarch by the Lateran Treaties, an authority the current Pope continues to hold. The only other bishop who is a head of state is the Bishop of Urgell, a Co-Prince of Andorra. Three senior bishops served as Electors in the Holy Roman Empire. By the terms of the Golden Bull of 1356, the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne were made permanent electors, who chose the next Holy Roman Emperor upon the death of his predecessor. The Archbishop of Mainz was President of the Electors and