PART TWO
HISTORY AND CHRONICLE
SECTION ONE
DOCUMENTS AND TESTIMONIES FROM OUTSIDE THE ORDER
(1526-1632)
III
VARIOUS TESTIMONIES ON ORIGINS AND FIRST DEVELOPMENT OF THE ORDER
(1526 – 1594)
INTRODUCTION
TEXTS AND NOTES
by
CONSTANZO CARGNONI
I FRATI CAPPUCCINI. Documenti e Testimonianze del Primo Secolo. Edited by COSTANZO CARGNONI. Rome 1982, II, 287-294.
INTRODUCTION
To comprehensively analyse the evolution of the Capuchin reform, it is essential to consider an additional body of documents. These records, which may yield further insights with further research, provide valuable evidence of the transition from the contentious and polemical initial stages to a more peaceful and gradual expansion.
The first documents date back to the first twenty years or so of the reform. First of all, the dramatic episode of the flight of the two Tenaglia brothers to the Camaldolese of Monte Corona, witnessed by the important letter of Paolo Giustiniani of 11 April 1526 (doc. 35) and the deliberations of the chapter of the Camaldolese of Cupramontana of 24 and 30 April of the same year (doc. 36).
The ‘temptation’ in the Tenaglia brothers to permanently end their adventure of reforming the Franciscan Order by staying with the hermits of Paolo Giustiniani lasted only a month and a half. The two soon had to resume their wandering. And it was here that the protection of the Duchess of Camerino, Caterina Cybo, niece of Pope Clement VII, intervened, and we know that this providential fact would definitively solve the problem of the continuation of the reform, leading to the Pope’s approval of the bull Religionis zelus on 3 July 1528.[1]
With the advent of Cybo, that distinctive and decisive intervention of energetic and influential women in defence of the Capuchin reform commenced. For this, the initial chroniclers of the Order and traditional historiography were able to refer to them as “the most loving mothers of our congregation.” We still possess and include in this collection two of her letters in favour of the Capuchins, written shortly after the election of Paul III to Cardinal E. Gonzaga. These letters are accompanied by a recommendation from his son-in-law, Guidobaldo della Rovere, dated 29 October and 19 November 1534 (doc. 39,1-3) and a supplication to Clement VII to secure a hermitage for the Tenaglia brothers (doc. 40).
Cardinal Gonzaga, who was in Rome following the conclave of Paul III, responded to the Duchess’s request by highlighting the challenges of defending her ‘fratini’, as Cybo affectionately referred to the Capuchins. However, the Duchess responded promptly, asserting that every virtuous Christian should defend these friars “for their lives and exemplary conduct”. In a diplomatic gesture, she suggested to appease Cardinal Quiñones through Cardinal Grimaldi bishop of Bari.
Recommendations, an ancient custom of the Italians, appear to be effectively employed in this situation, particularly during the advantageous period of protection that was subsequently established for the Capuchins by C. Cybo. Her actions inspired V. Colonna, and through the marriage of Cybo’s daughter, the Duchy of Urbino [mother of Guidobaldo II della Rovere who married Giulia Varano, daughter of C. Cybo] became another woman prepared to assist the Capuchins in their initial expansion. Undoubtedly encouraged by Cybo and V. Colonna who would later write a letter to her,[2] the Duchess of Urbino Eleonora Gonzaga in joint enterprise with Ludovico Tenaglia, were able to keep united the ranks of the reform and send some friars to augment it in Italy through new foundations.
In a letter dated April 24, 1535, the Duchess Gonzaga recommended the Capuchins to the Venetian authorities. The envoy of the Duke of Urbino in Venice, Gian Giacomo Leonardi, conveyed this recommendation through the Duchess. The letter argued that the Capuchins were already established in numerous other cities and reiterated Cybo’s praise for them. (Document 41).
Indeed, by the time the first great general chapter met in Rome in November of that same year 1535, with another session in September of the following year, as many as nine provinces had already been formed in Italy. Of this first expansion of the reform, which laid the foundations of the Order’s presence in Italy, we have reported a few tenuous but significant documents, in the form of small selected fragments, as examples. They concern the arrival of the Capuchins in Montepulciano in 1532 with a letter of recommendation and protection from Card. Del Monte to the “Chapter” of Montepulciano, dated 11th June (doc. 37). These first Capuchins settled in the hermitage of St. Mary Magdalene -formerly of the reformed Conventuals – with the reputation of being, “above all [the] others”, friars “of a hermitic life”. This hermitage, which is also the first point of support for the Capuchin reform in Tuscany, is referred to in a magnificent testimony by Francesco Strada, a young Jesuit, one of the first companions of Ignatius of Loyola, who, in a letter of 1539, describes a day spent in that solitude with a large devout crowd intent on listening to a fervent and frequent penitential preaching of the Capuchins, after which there was a moving procession of children dressed as penitents, with admirable effects of renewal of Christian customs (doc. 43).
Then there is a “very ancient memory” of the coming of the Capuchins to Arezzo, dating back to 1535, selected from the documentary collections of Fr Filippo Bernardi of Florence (doc. 42,1). It still has the flavour of the primitive ephemeral dwellings of the Capuchins, “poor and abandoned” churches, and gives a sense of the “desperate life” of the pioneers of the reform. Not so, however, forty years later, in a letter of recommendation from the Rectors of a Confraternity to the Priors of the Community of Arezzo (doc. 42,2), where the Capuchin life is praised as “holy, catholic and Christian”, and very useful to the Church for its apostolic activity, but also useful “to the world in temporal things”, because… the Capuchins possess nothing.
We could also add here a precious testimony of Vincenzo Lori to Giuseppe Zarlino (doc. 49), which, although it dates back to August 11, 1582, refers, however, to the years 1526-1528, the least documented period in Capuchin history, when the reform had not yet organised its ranks and specified its aims. It is the testimony of some old peasants in the countryside of Cerreto d’Esi who recalled how, over fifty years earlier, Br Matteo da Bascio and Br Paolo da Chioggia had for a long time based themselves at the solitary “little church … as animals do” and people brought them food and drink. Matthew, however, ‘was more vagabond’, while Paul was more stable and more learned in his preaching. And there was a certain comings and goings of other brothers “from different parts”. And it was here in the hermit church of San Martino that Giuseppe da Collamato would also take the ‘Capuchin’ habit. This splendid peasant memory removes a little veil from the messy, difficult, stray life of the early Capuchins, when the reform was like an instrument being tuned.
History says that the Capuchin reform was breathtaking in its development and immediately attracted numerous vocations. An indication of how much spiritual strength and unexpected attraction the evangelical radicalism of this renewed Franciscanism had on young people can be found in some curious letters of Antonio Minturno Sebastiani, a prelate and humanist, written from Messina in 1534, in which he laments why a very dear friend of his, Giambattista Bacchini da Modena, convinced by the fervent preaching of Ludovico Cumi da Reggio Calabria, one of the initiators of the Calabrian Capuchin reform, suddenly abandoned everything and became a friar. It is a very precious testimony because it reveals the thinking of scholars and men of letters about the Capuchins at a time when they were finding their spiritual and communitarian equilibrium. At the same time, it gives an insight into the spiritual vivacity of the pioneers of the reform in Calabria (doc. 38, 1-3).
A last noteworthy document concerns a detail of the presence of the Capuchins in Bergamo, linked to the testimony of a certain Father Domenico, a priest from Bologna who was a guest of the friars (doc. 44). The Capuchins had settled in Bergamo, outside the city at the beginning of May 1535 in an “uninhabited little house on the Morla meadows, in the shadow of the votive shrine of St Alexander”.[3] A year later, with the help of the Consortium of St Alexander, they were able to move into a small friary of only one floor built for them, according to the Capuchin ‘little model’. They were still living in this poor hovel when the apostasy of their famous Vicar General Bernardino Ochino occurred and this event “formed an atmosphere of distrust and hostility around the Capuchins”. It is in this context that the testimony was gathered during an interrogatory process by the Inquisition in Bergamo – dating back to the end of December 1543 – should be read. The young priest from Bologna came from Geneva, the centre of Calvinism, and was immediately suspected of being a heretic. The fact that he had then found hospitality at the poor Capuchin habitation, while there were many other religious houses in the city that were richer and more comfortable, suggested the coordinates of a secret heretical plan and relationship. The suspicion of the religious authorities instead served to exalt the spirit of hospitality and welcome of the poor Capuchins.
With this procedural document, we discern a significant transformation in the dynamics of church politics. The aspirations of Italian evangelism, characterised by its mediations, uncertainties, and ambiguities, had unfortunately come to an end following the departure of Bernardino Ochino. In Rome, the resolute stance of Cardinal Carafa, who would later become Pope Paul IV, was gradually gaining ascendancy. On July 21, 1542, the papal bull establishing the Roman Inquisition was promulgated. While the young Bolognese priest was being subjected to trial in Bergamo, the renowned G.M. Giberti passed away in Verona. Within a matter of years, the situation underwent a radical transformation. It was a pivotal juncture, a period of metamorphosis that would ultimately pave the way for the Council of Trent, which convened on December 13, 1545.
The young Franciscan family of Capuchins eagerly anticipated this event. In fact, the abolition of the Order was the consensus of the majority of the cardinals, and the objective of their adversaries, while the populace, feeling resentful and deceived, had undoubtedly branded the Capuchins as heretics. The nuncio, Monsignor Fabio Mignanelli, reported an impression of the moment: “Consider the remedy that can and will be enacted for the congregation of the Capuchins, of whom one hears daily that they abandon their habit and follow their master.”[4] These were months of dismay. The friars, hindered in their expansion, prevented from exercising the ministry of preaching, subjected to questions on doctrine, resorted primarily to fasting, penance, and prayer. Ochino’s notoriety had become their disgrace. However, the sanctity of their lives and the astuteness of the Vicar General Francesco da Jesi, who had all the preachers of the Order sign and send to Rome a profession of faith on the most contentious doctrines of Catholic dogma, were instrumental in averting the calamity. Bernardine of Asti, during the first half of the Tridentine Council, had the Capuchin habit of penance appear among the purple and infulae of the prelates and those of the various religious Orders. Furthermore, his witness of poverty and evangelical simplicity undoubtedly contributed significantly to fostering sympathy for the young Franciscan reform. Paolo da Foligno asserts that “he would appear barefoot and wearing a patched-up habit, accompanied by a flask to solicit daily for a small amount of bread and wine, and occasionally with a small pot to beg a small portion of soup from the kitchens of those courts. His actions were invariably accompanied by an admirable temperament, characterised by supreme gravity and simplicity.”.[5]
During the third period of the Council (18 January 1562 – 4 December 1563), the Capuchin theologians held a notable presence. Led by the Vicar General Tommaso da Città di Castello, there were seven religious. When the draft of the Decretum de reformatione regularium, intended for discussion in the general congregation, was presented to the council fathers on 20 November 1563, the Capuchins faced a significant challenge. Among other provisions, Canon 3 addressed the issue of uniformity in religious attire: “Quod in singulis Ordinibus aequalitas in vestitu serventur” [That sameness in dress that is to be observed in each Order]. This implied the abolition of the poor “rough, and harsh” habit, characterised by its pointed hood, which symbolised an austere lifestyle and was a significant point of imitation of Saint Francis. However, a more concerning prospect was outlined in canon 4 of the same draft decree, which abolished poverty in common for all Mendicant Orders except the Observants. This prospect posed a existential threat to the Capuchins, as they would have lost their raison d’être. It was also a potential strategy to reintegrate them into the family of the Observants. In response, the Capuchin Vicar General, acting on behalf of the entire Order, protested to the conciliar fathers. He expressed his intention to adhere to the Rule and the intentions of Saint Francis by renouncing all possessions of movable and immovable property.
During the discussions of the decree issued on 23-27 November, the Capuchins were given significant prominence in the defence of their contemplative lifestyle. They had successfully cultivated an atmosphere of sympathy in their advocacy for poverty. Numerous bishops intervened, recommending that an exception be made for the Capuchins regarding the habit and their way of life (Document 45.1). Consequently, when the Decretum de regularibus et monialibus was promulgated during the fifth and final session of the Council on December 3, 1563, in chapter 3 pertaining to possessions, the Capuchins were mentioned prior to the Observants, as if they had been granted absolute poverty (Document 45.2). Furthermore, the proposed canon 3 concerning the uniformity of the habit was entirely eliminated. This was, after the bull Religionis zelus of 1528, the definitive ecclesial approval of the Capuchins and the resounding triumph of their ideal. The significance of this pivotal moment in the Order’s history lies in its profound implications and consequences.
From that moment forward, the Capuchin reform emerged within the Church as a manifestation of the Tridentine era, during which ecclesiastical, noble, communal, and popular endorsements converged.
Following the Council of Trent, the Order’s expansion was irresistible, and it swiftly crossed the Alps, spreading throughout Europe. At this juncture, let us examine some “post-conciliar” testimonies that, in their unique manner, portray a harmonious and dynamic image of the Order during the latter half of the 16th century. Notably, Bishop Gaspare Viviani recounted the lively apostolate of the Capuchins at Candia to Cardinal della Rovere on July 26, 1568 (document 46). Additionally, the devout and admiring recollection of Matteo da Bascio and Francesco Tittelmans is evident in the testimony of one of the earliest followers of Saint Philip Neri, Mgr Gian Francesco Bordini, dating back to 1573 (document 47). Furthermore, it is intriguing to observe the strong attachment that the city of Cremona exhibited towards the Milanese Capuchins who had settled there in 1566, demonstrating this longstanding close bond with them. This information is recorded in a letter from Bishop Nicolò Sfondrati of Cremona to Cardinal Giulio della Rovere, dated April 7, 1573 (document 48).
During the XXIV session of the Council of Trent, held on November 1563, the council prescribed the obligation for bishops to personally visit the parishes within their dioceses. This pastoral visitation, tailored to the needs of the era, became a privileged instrument for the reform of the Church. While convents of religious were exempt from this obligation, occasionally, some bishops, through a special apostolic delegation, also visited the churches of the regulars. We have documented a remarkable fragment of one such visitation conducted by Monsignor Angelo Peruzzi on December 11, 1582, in the small church of the ancient convent of Pistoia (document 50). This snapshot provides a vivid portrayal of the small but neat and trim churches of the early Capuchins, adorned with their distinctive and modest liturgical furnishings.
From Pistoia, we make a diversion to Corsica, where the Capuchins commenced their penetration in 1540. Towards the end of the 16th century, a local historian, Archdeacon A. Filippini, authored a Historia of the island and also alluded to the presence of the Capuchins in a brief paragraph that praised the popularity and veracity of their preaching (document 51).
To conclude this collection, we present the inaugural printed biographical account of Saint Felix of Cantalice (d. 1587). This account signifies the culmination of Capuchin holiness following the Council of Trent (document 52) and embodies the most harmonious and exemplary synthesis of the Capuchin ideal.