The Little Flowers of St. Francis ( Italian : Fioretti di San Francesco ) is a florilegium (excerpts of his body of work), divided into 53 short chapters, on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi that was composed at the end of the 14th century. The anonymous Italian text, almost certainly by a Tuscan author, is a version of the Latin Actus beati Francisci et sociorum eius , of which the earliest extant manuscript is one of 1390 AD. Luke Wadding ascribes the text to Ugolino da Santa Maria, whose name occurs three times in the Actus . Most scholars are now agreed that the author was Ugolino Brunforte ( c. 1262 – c. 1348).
16-465: Little Flowers of Francis of Assisi is the name given to the classic collection of popular legends about the life of Francis of Assisi and his early companions. The main body of the collection was translated into Italian by an unknown fourteenth-century friar from a larger Latin work, the Actus B. Francisci et Sociorum Ejus , attributed to Ugolino Brunforte . The four appendixes (on the stigmata of Francis,
32-517: A publication now in the public domain : Robinson, Paschal (1908). " Ugolino Brunforte ". Catholic Encyclopedia . Vol. 3. Sarnano Sarnano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche , located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of Ancona and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Macerata . Sarnano borders
48-525: Is in Berlin. The Italian translation was first printed at Vicenza in 1477. The text was the inspiration for Roberto Rossellini 's 1950 film Francesco, giullare di Dio ( Francis, God's Jester ), which was co-written by Federico Fellini . It was also used as a source for the libretto of Olivier Messiaen 's opera Saint-François d'Assise . In Lore Segal 's short story "Other People's Houses: A Liberal Education" ( The New Yorker, February 24, 1961),
64-486: The Fioretti says as much about its author as its subject. "Ugolino, it is true, draws himself when he draws his master. It is a singularly, fresh, simple, child-like character with its unfailing belief in the love of God, and the essential goodness of all he has created." Filled with the romance of his native country, the simple friar, so pure in his insight, and so vivid in his realization, painted an immortal picture of
80-800: The Saintly life as it was lived in the Middle Ages, on the background of the enchanted country between the Apennines and the Adriatic, the land of Monte Giorgio, the heart of Italy. Although the Latin original has not come down to us, we have in the Actus B. Francisci et Sociorum Ejus , edited by Paul Sabatier in Collection d’Études (Paris, 1902, IV), an approximation to it which may be considered on
96-584: The birds was described by Masseo, and written of by the Englishman Roger of Wendover , in 1236. The vernacular version is written in Tuscan and is reckoned among the masterpieces of Italian literature. Arthur Livingstone, author of a 1930s edition of the Little Flowers , characterizes it as "a masterful work of folk literature from the Middle Ages". The earliest manuscript is dated 1390, and
112-526: The convent of Roccabruna , but passed most of his life at the convent of Santa Maria in Monte Giorgio, whence he is often called Ugolino of Monte Giorgio . In 1295 he was chosen Bishop of Abruzzi (Teramo) under Pope Celestine V , but before his consecration Celestine had resigned and Boniface VIII , who suspected Ugolino as belonging to the zelanti , annulled the appointment with the bull In supremae dignitatis specula . Nearly fifty years later he
128-469: The fifty-three chapters that constitute the Latin work in question seem to have been written before 1328. Written a century and a half after the death of Francis of Assisi, the text is not regarded as an important primary source for the saint's biography. However, it has been the most popular account of his life and relates many colourful anecdotes, miracles and pious examples from the lives of Francis and his followers. These poetic stories shed much light upon
144-541: The genesis and development of the following of Francis. Some stories contained in the Fioretti can be found in much earlier works. Fioretti di San Francesco , Chapter 13: Preaching to the Birds relates that Francis , Masseo and Agnolo traveled to and preached at a city called Saburniano ( Cannara ). Those that heard them were so inflamed by their message that they desired to leave the city and follow these friars into
160-455: The life of Juniper , and the life and the sayings of Egidio) are additions of later compilers. A striking difference is noticeable between the earlier chapters of the Fioretti , which refer to Francis and his companions, and the later ones, which deal with the friars in the province of the March of Ancona . The first half of the collection reflects traditions that go back to the early days of
176-402: The narrator's brother and his friend Dolf give the book as a gift to each other. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Fioretti di San Francesco d'Assisi". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Ugolino Brunforte Ugolino Brunforte (c. 1262 – c. 1348)
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#1732772052996192-447: The order; the other is believed to be substantially the work of Ugolino da Monte Giorgio of the noble family of Brunforte. Living as he did a century after the death of Francis, Ugolino was dependent on hearsay for much of his information; part of it he is said to have learned from Giacomo da Massa, who had been well known and esteemed by the companions of Francis. Whatever may have been the sources from which Ugolino derived his materials,
208-427: The whole as representing the original of the Fioretti . That Ugolino was the principal compiler of the Actus seems certain; how far he may be considered the sole author of the Fioretti is not so clear. His labour, which consisted chiefly in gathering the flowers for his bouquet from written and oral local tradition, appears to have been completed before 1328. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
224-570: The wilderness. Francis told them that such a thing was not necessary, but instead he established the third order "for the universal salvation of all people". Francis had already been 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 Clares ) who sought to follow the Franciscan way, because families should not suffer. Francis preaching to
240-533: Was an Italian Friar Minor and chronicler, known principally as the author of the Fioretti or Little Flowers of St. Francis . Few details of Ugolino's life are known. His father Rinaldo, Lord of Sarnano in the Marches , belonged to an ancient and noble family from which had sprung the famous Countess Matilda of Tuscany . Ugolino entered the Order of Friars Minor at the age of sixteen. He served his novitiate at
256-653: Was elected provincial of Macerata . At the time of his death in 1348, was provincial of the Friars Minor in the March. Most scholars are now agreed that Ugolino was the author of the Fioretti , or Little Flowers of St. Francis , in their original form. Ugolino was probably one of several collectors of traditions in the Marches. The Fioretti appears to have been written sometime between 1322 and 1328. In some ways
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