CHAPTER XI

_Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The Feast of the Pardon of St. Francis or "il Perdono d'Assisi"_

The sanctuary of the Portiuncula has, in its present surroundings, rightly been called a jewel within a casket--a casket indeed too large for so small a gem. But the great Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli was the best the Umbrians could procure for the object they loved best after their Basilica in the town, and the famous architects of the day were called in to build it.[112] A smaller shelter would have served the purpose in earlier times but the ever increasing flow of pilgrims who came in thousands for the "Perdono" rendered it necessary to think about a church large enough to contain them; and it was the dominican Pope Pius V, who enabled the work to be commenced in 1569, giving large sums to the vast enterprise. Jacopo Barozio da Vignola gave the ground-plan, leaving the execution of it, at his death in 1573, to be carried out by the well-known Perugian architect and sculptor, Giulio Danti, and his fellow-citizen Galeazzo Alessi, who designed the fine cupola and arches. The church was built in the doric style, divided into nave and aisles with numberless side chapels; and certainly they succeeded in giving it a great feeling of space and loftiness, which if less charming than the mysterious gloom of other churches yet seems to belong better to the open and sunlit Umbrian plain, where it rises as a beacon to the people for many miles round. The earthquake in 1832, which laid the villages near Ponte San Giovanni in almost total ruin, shook down the nave and choir of the Angeli creating havoc impossible to describe. By supreme good fortune, shall we say by a miracle, the cupola of Danti and Alessi remained intact above the Portiuncula, which otherwise would have been utterly destroyed. In rebuilding the church, Poletti, the Roman architect employed, deviated slightly from Vignola's original plan, and further he erected a more elaborate and far less elegant façade than the first one, but baroque as it is we may be thankful that the niches for statues of the saints have remained empty. There have been other earthquakes since that of 1832, and when they occurred a pyramid of faggots was carefully piled upon the Portiuncula for protection in case a miracle might not intervene a second time to save it from destruction.

The friars took an active part in the work, building the campanile and carving the handsome pulpit and the cupboards in the sacristy. The marble altar was given in 1782 by Mehemet Ali, the ruler of Egypt, and many noble Italian families contributed towards the erection of the chapels containing decadent paintings which it would be useless to describe or to look at. One priceless treasure ornaments the chapel of San Giuseppe (in the left transept), a work of Andrea della Robbia in terra-cotta of blue and white which is like a portion of the sky seen through the cool branches of a vine on a glaring summer's day. Andrea is truly the sculptor of the franciscans, for there are but few of his works where an incident from St. Francis' life is not introduced, and with what feeling they are realised. On one side of the beautiful Madonna who bends to receive her crown from the hands of the Saviour, is represented with great dignity and simplicity St. Francis receiving the Stigmata, on the other St. Jerome and his lion. Beneath is a predella divided into three compartments, the Annunciation, Christ in the manger, and the Adoration of the Magi; and Andrea has framed in the whole with a slightly raised garland of apples, fir-cones and Japanese medlars, which suits the delicacy of the workmanship of the small scenes better than a heavier wreath of fruit and leaves. In the Capella delle Reliquie (in the right transept) is a Crucifixion painted on panel by Giunta Pisano (?) with medallion half figures of the Virgin and St. John; below are kneeling angels by an Umbrian artist, whose work contrasts most strangely with the ancient painting belonging to the dark years before Giotto.

In a preceding chapter we lamented the efforts that have been made to decorate the Portiuncula, now alas no longer the shrine among the oak trees; not only in earlier centuries did Umbrian artists cover its rough stones in many parts with frescoes, but the German artist Overbeck has added another superfluous decoration to the façade, severely, but justly criticised by M. Taine, and a German lady has painted the Annunciation on the apse. A very small picture by Sano di Pietro of the Madonna and Child hangs above, a very charming example of the master's work. Very little remains of Pietro Perugino's Crucifixion, and what there is has been well covered over with modern paint. The choir of the monks built outside the Portiuncula having been removed in the eighteenth century half of Perugino's fresco was destroyed, leaving only the groups of people at the foot of the Cross, amongst whom we recognise St. Francis.

A naïve legend is recalled to us by the stone slab let into the wall close to the side entrance, recording the spot where Pietro Cataneo, the first vicar of the Order during the life of the saint, is buried. He was as holy as the rest of those first enthusiasts, and after death so many miracles were wrought at his tomb that the peace of the friars was disturbed. The case becoming serious they had recourse to St. Francis who, seeing the danger that their lonely abode would become a place of pilgrimage, addressed an admonition to Pietro Cataneo, saying that as he had ever been obedient in life so must he be in death and cease to perform such marvellous miracles. After this when peasants came to pray for some favour at his tomb no answer was vouchsafed, so that gradually their faith in his intercession ceased and peace again reigned at the Portiuncula.

The extent of the present church is so immense that the site of all the scattered huts of the brethren and the little orchard so carefully tended by the saint, are contained within its walls. Over what was the infirmary where St. Francis died St. Bonaventure built a chapel which Lo Spagna decorated with portraits (?) of the first franciscans, now seen very dimly like shadows on its walls by the flickering light of the tapers. Out of the half gloom stands strongly outlined in a niche above the altar, a beautiful terra-cotta statue of St. Francis by Andrea della Robbia. The hood is thrown back, the head slightly raised, and in the sad but calm expression of the exquisitely modelled face Andrea conveys a truer feeling of the suffering Poverello than all the so-called portraits. One of these, said to be painted on the lid of the saint's coffin by Giunta Pisano, hangs outside the chapel, but it looks more like a bad copy of Cimabue's St. Francis in the Lower Church, and we would fain leave with the remembrance unspoilt of Andrea's fine conception. Passing through the sacristy containing a head of Christ by an unknown follower of Perugino and a small Guido Reni (?), we reach the chapel of St. Charles Borromeo where an ancient and much restored portrait of St. Francis, said to be painted on part of his bed, hangs above the altar; it is in every way less interesting than the one in the sacristy of the Lower Church. From here an open colonnade leads past a little plot of ground, which in the days of the Little Brethren was the orchard of the convent. One day as the saint left his cell he stopped a moment to speak with the friar who attended to the land, "begging him not to cultivate only vegetables, but to leave a little portion for those plants which in due time would bring forth brother flowers, for the love of Him who is called 'flower of the field and lily of the valley.'" Accordingly a "fair little garden" was made, and often while St. Francis caressingly touched the flowers, his spirit seemed to those who watched him to be no longer upon earth but to have already reached its home. On the other side, carefully preserved within wire netting, is the famous Garden of Roses, and standing in the midst, like ruins of some temple, are the four pillars which in olden times supported a roof above the Portiuncula. In the days when St. Francis had his hut close by, this cultivated garden was only a wilderness of brambles in the forest, and the legend tells how the saint being assailed by terrible temptation as he knelt at prayer through the watches of the night, ran out into the snow and rolled naked among the brambles and thorns to quiet the fierce battle within his soul. The moonlight suddenly broke through the clouds shining upon clusters of white and red roses, their leaves stained with the saint's blood which had fallen upon the brambles and produced these thornless flowers, while celestial spirits filled the air with hymns of praise. Throwing a silken garment over him and flooding his pathway with heavenly radiance, the angel led him to the Portiuncula where the Madonna and Child appeared to him in a vision. The legend has been often illustrated, Overbeck's fresco on the façade of the chapel records it yet again where St. Francis is represented as offering to the Virgin the roses he had gathered.

A few steps beyond the Garden of the Roses lies the Chapel of the Roses built by St. Bonaventure over the hut of St. Francis, which was afterwards enlarged by St. Bernardine. The place where he spent his few moments of repose and so many hours of prayer, can be seen through the grating on a level with the chapel floor, and resembles more the lair of a wild animal than an ordinary abode of man; but such places were dear to him, and he rejoiced in having the open forest outside his cell into which he wandered at all times of the day and night, and where the brethren, ever curious to watch their beloved and holy master, could see him on moonlight nights holding sweet converse with heavenly spirits. The choir of the chapel is frescoed by Lo Spagna who repeated again the figures of the first franciscans, adding those of St. Bonaventure, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. Louis of Toulouse, and St. Anthony of Padua on the left wall, and St. Clare and St. Elisabeth of Hungary on the right wall. The fresco on the ceiling is said to be by Pinturricchio. The paintings in the nave by Tiberio d'Assisi are faintly coloured and a poor example of Umbrian art; only the last scene is interesting, where St. Francis publishes the indulgence in the presence of the seven bishops, as it gives an accurate representation of the Portiuncula in the fifteenth century with Niccolò da Foligno's fresco still upon the façade. It tells the legend of the "Perdono" which even to the present day plays so important a part in the religious life of Assisi, bringing crowds every year to the Portiuncula for whom the Angeli was finally built. Disentangling the story from the legend by no means diminishes its charm, while we get a very striking historical scene showing us St. Francis in yet another light. Once when the saint was praying at the Portiuncula, Christ and his Mother appeared to him to ask what favour he desired, for it would be granted by reason of his great faith. The salvation of souls being ever the burden of his prayers he begged for a plenary indulgence, to be earned by all who should enter the Portiuncula on a special day. "What thou askest, O Francis," replied Christ, "is very great; but thou art worthy of still greater favours. I grant thy prayer; but go and find my Vicar, the Sovereign Pontiff Honorius III, at Perugia, and ask him in my name for this indulgence." Early next morning St. Francis, accompanied by Peter Cataneo and Angelo da Rieti, started along the road to Perugia where Innocent III, had but lately died and the pious Honorius been immediately elected as his successor. It was in the early summer of 1216 that the little band of friars were led into the presence of the Pope in the old Canonica, but not for the first time did St. Francis find himself in the presence of Rome's sovereign, gaining his cause now as before through the great love that made his words and actions seem inspired. At first the Pope murmured at the immensity of the favour asked but finally, his heart being touched by the fervour of the saint, he said: "For how many years do you desire this indulgence. Perchance for one or two, or will you that I grant it to you for seven?" The Pope had still to learn the depths of love in the saint's heart who stood before him pleading so earnestly for the souls of men, not during his life only, but during centuries to come. "O Messer il Papa," cried St. Francis in accents almost of despair, "why speakest thou of years and of time? I ask thee not for years, but I ask thee for souls." "It is not the custom of the Roman Curia," answered the Pope, "to grant such an indulgence."

"Your Holiness," said the saint, "it is not I who ask for it, but He who has sent me, the Lord Jesus Christ."

The Pope conquered by these words and driven by a sudden impulse said, "We accord thee the indulgence." The Cardinals who had remained silent now began to murmur and reminded the Pope, like cautious guardians of the Papal interests, that this plenary indulgence would greatly interfere with those granted for pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and for visiting the tombs of the Blessed Apostles.

"We have given and granted it to him," answered Honorius. "What has been done we cannot undo, but we will modify it so that the indulgence will be but for one full day." And motioning the saint to approach he said: "From henceforth we grant that whoso comes to and enters this church, being sincerely repentant and having received absolution, shall be absolved from all punishment and all faults, and we will that this indulgence be valid every year in perpetuity, but for one day only from the first vesper of the one day until the first vesper of the next." Hardly had the Pope ceased speaking when St. Francis radiant with joy turned to depart.

"_O semplicione quo vadis?_ O simple child without guile, whither goest thou? Whither goest thou without the document ratifying so great a favour?" quoth the Pope.

"If this indulgence," answered the saint, "is the work of God, I have no need of any document, let the chart be the Blessed Virgin Mary, the notary Christ and my witnesses the angels."

Round this historical interview the legend makers wove the pretty story of the roses which flowered in mid-winter among the snow, relating that after the concession of the indulgence in the summer of 1216 occurred this rose miracle, and Christ in a vision bade the saint go to Rome in order that the day might be fixed for the gaining of the indulgence, and to convince Honorius of the truth of his revelation he was to carry some of the roses with him. But having already obtained the Pope's sanction at Perugia, it was unlikely that the saint would wait another year before proclaiming the glad tidings to all the country-side, and we may be sure that no sooner had he returned to the Portiuncula from Perugia than he made speedy preparations for the arrival of a great concourse of people. On the afternoon of the first of August the plain about the Portiuncula was filled with pilgrims from far and near, and many friars hastened from distant parts to listen to their master's wonderful message. He mounted the wooden pulpit which had been erected beneath an oak tree close to the chapel, followed by the seven Umbrian bishops who were to ratify his proclamation of the indulgence. St. Francis discoursed most eloquently to the assembled multitude and then in the fullness of his joy cried out to them, "I desire to send you all to Paradise," and announced the great favour he had obtained for them from the Holy Pontiff. When the bishops heard him proclaim the indulgence as "perpetual" they murmured among themselves, and finally exclaimed that he had misunderstood the words of the Pope, and that they intended to do only what was right and ratify the indulgence for ten years. Full of righteous feeling the bishop of Assisi stepped forward to correct the error into which the saint had fallen, but to the astonishment of his companions he declared the indulgence to have been granted for all time. Then the others murmured still more, saying he had done this because he was an Assisan and wished to bring great honour to his diocese; so the bishop of Perugia, determining to set the mistake right, began to speak, but he found himself forced by a supernatural power to proclaim the indulgence in the very words of St. Francis. The same thing happened to the other five bishops, and St. Francis then saw his dearest wishes realised.

Daily the fame of the Portiuncula increased, and the year 1219 witnessed another immense gathering of people, but this time it was the meeting of the five thousand franciscan friars who came from distant parts to attend the Easter Chapter held by St. Francis in the plain. One of the most vivid and interesting chapters (the xiii) in the _Fioretti_, pictures for us "the camp and army of the knights of God," all busily employed in holy converse about the affairs of the Order. It relates how "in that camp were shelters, roofed with lattice and mat, arranged in separate groups according to the diverse provinces whence came the friars; therefore was this Chapter called the Chapter of the Lattices or of the Mats; their bed was the bare earth, though some had a little straw, their pillows were stones or billets of wood. For which reason the devotion of those who heard or saw them was so great, and so great was the fame of their sanctity, that from the court of the Pope who was then at Perugia, and from other towns in the vale of Spoleto, came many counts, barons and knights, and other men of gentle birth, and much people, and cardinals and bishops and abbots with many other clerics, to see so holy and great a congregation and so humble, the like had never yet been in the world of so many saintly men assembled together: and principally they came to see the head and most holy father of all these holy men...."[113]

THE PARDON OF ST. FRANCIS OR "IL PERDONO D'ASSISI."

We cannot study the story of any Umbrian town without experiencing the feeling that it belongs to the past and was built in an age, which can only dimly be realised in the pages of old chronicles, by a people who were ever hurrying to battle, bent on glory and conquest for their cities. The character of the inhabitants has changed, and though the wonderful little cities they built upon the hills remain much as in mediæval times, they have a peaceful and quiet loveliness of their own which could not have existed in those days of fevered struggle and unrest. The word Assisi brings up, even to those who have seen the town but for a day, a host of sunlit memories; of way-side shrines with fading frescoes, whence Umbrian Madonnas smile down upon the worshippers; of ravines and forest trees; of vineyards where the peasants greeted you; of convent and Basilica glowing golden and crimson in the sudden changes from afternoon to sun-down, as they lie bathed in the last rays of light upon the hill above the darkness of the valley. All these things and many more pass through our minds, but the picture would be incomplete if we fail to recall two days in August when the undying power of St. Francis once more reaches across the centuries, arousing the people to a sudden return to mediæval times of expiation, prayer and strong belief in the power of a great saint's intercession.

The very mention of a feast savours in Italy of delightful things, of songs, of crowds of happy-looking people bent on the pleasures of a holiday as well as on praying for the good of their souls, and as a feast at Assisi sounded fairer than any other, we determined to become for the moment pilgrims and seek with them for the "Pardon of St. Francis." So as the days drew near to August we stood once more on the terrace of the Hotel Subasio, and as we felt the cool air of the early morning coming from the mountains, long days of interminable heat at Florence were forgotten, and Assisi, with her gardens full of sweet-scented summer flowers, her streets resounding only with the plash of the water of many fountains, seemed to us indeed to possess more beauty, variety and brilliancy of colour than we had realised before. Never had the nights been so still as in that late July, when the peasants had gathered in their harvest and were waiting for the time of vintage; only the shrill notes of the crickets answered each other occasionally along the valley, and the frogs croaked on the margin of the rills below the town. But soon this calmness ceased as the country roused itself for the annual spell of madness; there were voices in the vineyards during the night, bonfires in the plains, and a general tremor of excitement filled men and animals, setting the thin Assisan cocks crowing at unearthly hours in the morning. A night of sounds and wakefulness preceded a day when the people of all the cities and villages near appeared to have arrived in Assisi, not for the feast--for it was only the 29th of July--but for the fair. We followed them to the Piazza della Minerva, no longer the quiet place of former visits when only a few citizens sat sipping their cups of coffee, or talked together as they walked leisurely up and down. Temples, buildings and frescoes were forgotten as we watched the peasants gather round the booths to purchase articles of apparel and household wares, bargaining in shrill voices to the delight of purchaser, seller and onlooker. All the people of the country seemed to be here, and the Umbrian sellers had decked their stalls with a dazzling mass of coloured stuffs as attractive to us as to the Umbrian women. We bought large kerchiefs with red roses on a yellow ground to wear over our heads at the feast, and enormous hats with flapping brims, which the peasants, always interested in a neighbour's purchase, helped us to choose, saying, "take this one for no rain will come through it, and you need never use an umbrella." So a sun-bonnet was bought for rain and we went away convinced that no more delightful shopping could be done than during a fair day at Assisi, when a passing farmer and his family were ready to help us to choose the goods and to bargain, and moreover comforted us in the end by the assurance that in their opinion the money had been well spent. Later we strolled up to the Piazza Nuova, where an immense fair of oxen was being held, transforming another sleepy corner of the town into a busy, bustling thoroughfare. They were quiet beasts enough and we walked in among them stroking their soft noses as we watched the groups of excited peasants performing the various rites of selling and buying. When an ox was sold the broker joined the hands of vendor and purchaser by dint of much pulling, and then shook them up and down, shouting all the while, until our joints ached at the sight of this energetic signing of a treaty. The bargaining causes enormous amusement, the discussion on either side bringing a current of eager talk through the crowd; only the oxen were thoroughly weary of the whole affair as they gazed pensively at their owners. They were large milk-white creatures, the whole place was one white shimmering mass seen against the old walls of the town and the blocks of Roman masonry, calling up idle fancies of Clitumnus down in the valley just in sight, whose fields had given pasture to the oxen of the gods.

The whole of that day Assisi was full of Umbrian men and women greatly concerned in buying and selling; but on the next the streets began to fill with people from distant parts of Italy, whose only thought was for St. Francis. At a very early hour of the 30th we were roused by the sound of many voices in the distance; going out on the terrace we saw a crowd of pilgrims coming across the plain, and others moving with slow steps up the hill. When near the Porta S. Francesco they knelt outside in the road and sang their hymn of praise before entering the Seraphic City. From dawn to evening a steady stream of pilgrims passed into the town, and the chanting, rising and falling like a fitful summer breeze, was the only sound to be heard throughout the day. Such different groups of people knelt together in the church, with nothing in common but the love for the franciscan saint whose name was for ever on their lips. They came from distant corners of Southern Italy generally in carts drawn by mules or oxen, for few could afford the luxury of coming by train. The Neapolitan women and those from the Abruzzi wore spotlessly white head-kerchiefs which fell round their shoulders like a nun's coif, a white blouse and generally a brilliant red or yellow skirt gathered thickly round the hips; the men were even more picturesque, with their waistcoats and knickerbockers of scarlet cloth, their white shirt sleeves showing, and their stockings bound round with leathern thongs. Some of the women from the Basilicata wore wonderful necklaces of old workmanship, and gold embroidered bands laid across their linen blouses, while long pins with huge knobs of beaten silver fastened their headgear of black and white cloth. There were two women from the mountains of the Basilicata who wore thick cloth turbans, and blue braid plaited in and out of their hair at one side, giving them a coquettish air; they suffered beneath the burden of their thick stuff dresses made with straight short jackets and skirts and big loose sleeves. Their felt boots were ill-fitted for Umbrian roads, and altogether they were attired for a winter climate and not for a burning August day in mid Italy. "Ah, it is cool among our mountains," they said with a sigh gazing wearily down at the plain which sent up hot vapours to mingle with the dust. Many of them had been three weeks on their journey and they look upon it as a great holiday, an event in their lives which cannot be often repeated for they are poor and depend for their livelihood upon the produce of their fields; but even the poorest brings enough to have a mass said at the Portiuncula and to drop some coppers on the altar steps. A few wandered through the Upper Church looking at Giotto's frescoes, but unable to read the story for themselves turned to us for an explanation when we happened to be there. They patted our faces, saying _carina_ by way of thanks, but realised little or nothing about the saint they had come so far to honour, only being certain that his intercession was all powerful. Several peasants sat in turn upon the beautiful Papal throne in the choir, both as a cure and as a preventive against possible ailments, and thinking there was some legend as to its miraculous qualities we asked them to tell us about it. They looked up surprised and very simply said, "It stands in the church of San Francesco," this was enough in their eyes to explain all miracles and wonders. A favourite occupation was kneeling by the entrance door of the Lower Church and listening for mysterious sounds which are said to come from the small column fixed in the ground. "What are you doing," we asked, cruelly disturbing the devotion of an old man in our desire for information. "I am listening to the voice of St. Francis," he answered, telling us that we might hear it too, but as he was in no hurry to cede his place to others we had no chance of verifying his strange assertion. The priests had a double function to perform, for while hearing confessions they held a long rod in their hands with which they tapped the heads of the peasants passing down the church; it was a blessing, which by the ignorant might be mistaken for some mysterious kind of fishing in invisible waters. At first the northern mind was surprised at the familiar way the pilgrims used the churches as their home, many being too poor to afford a lodging in the town. Especially at the Angeli we saw the strange uses side altars were put to; a family, having heard several masses and duly performed all their spiritual duties, would settle themselves comfortably on the broad steps of an altar, unfasten their bundles and proceed to breakfast off large hunches of bread and a mug of water; what remained of the water was employed in washing their feet. One man who had tramped for many days along dusty roads and wished to change his clothes, conceived the novel idea of retiring into a confessional box for the purpose. His wife handed him in the clean things and presently he drew aside the curtain, and emerged in spotless festive apparel with his travelling suit tied up in a large red handkerchief.

Late in the evening of the 30th we happened to be at the Angeli when a new batch of pilgrims arrived, and for a long time we watched them reverently approach the Portiuncula on their knees, singing all the time the pilgrim's hymn with the ever-recurring refrain, "Evviva Maria e Chi la creò," which resounded through the church in long drawn nasal notes ending in a kind of stifled cry. There was something soothing in the plaintive, monotonous cadence as it reached us at the Garden of the Roses, where we had gone to breathe the cool air which blows across the open colonnade even on the hottest of summer days. We were listening to Father Bernardine's peaceful talk about St. Francis and the cicala which sang to him in the fig tree, and the lamb which followed the brethren to office, when suddenly we were startled by shrieks and screams in the church. "It is nothing, only the Neapolitans," said Father Bernardine, smiling at our distress. But unable longer to bear what sounded like the moanings of the wind which always fills one with uneasy feelings, half of fear, half of expectation that something unusual is going to happen, we hurried once again into the church. There a sight met our eyes which we shall never forget. Lying full length on the ground, their faces prone upon the pavement, were women crawling slowly, so slowly that the torture seemed interminable, from the entrance of the great church to the Portiuncula, and as they crawled they licked the floor with their tongues leaving behind them a mark like the trail of a slug. As we watched these poor penitents dragging themselves along, unconscious of aught around them and only overwhelmed by the consciousness that they must make atonement for past sins, a terrible sense of compassion, misery and disgust came over us. Who could restrain their tears, though they may have been tears of anger that people should be allowed to practise such ignoble acts of self-abasement. One girl especially called forth all our sympathy. She came running in out of the sunlight, and after standing for a moment at the entrance with her eager face uplifted towards the holy shrine, her eyes alight with the strange look of one bent upon some great resolve, she threw herself down full length upon the ground and commenced the terrible penance which she had come all the way from the Abruzzi mountains to perform.[114] She was very slight and her black skirt fell round her like a veil, showing the delicate outline of her figure against the marble pavement. Resting her naked feet against the knees of a man kneeling behind her, she pushed herself forward with the movement of a caterpillar. Another man tapped his pilgrim's staff sharply on the floor in front of her face to direct her towards the chapel, whilst her mother ever now and then bent down to smooth away the tangle of dark hair which fell round the girl like a shroud. Though prematurely aged by toil and suffering, the elder woman had a beautiful face, reminding one of a Mater Dolorosa as with bitter tears she assisted at her daughter's deep humiliation. Just as this sad little group neared the Portiuncula the girl stopped as though her strength were exhausted, when the mother, choked by sobs, lifted the heavy masses of her daughter's hair and tried to raise her from the ground. The pilgrims pressed round singing "Evviva Maria e Chi la creò" until the sound became deafening, while the men struck the ground almost angrily with their sticks, and at last the girl still licking the ground crawled forward once again. When she reached the altar of the Portiuncula she stretched out one hand and touched the iron gates, and then like a worm rearing itself in the air and turning from side to side, she dragged herself on to her knees. As consciousness returned and the Southern blood coursed again like fire through her veins, she started to her feet and with wild cries entreated San Francesco to hear her, beating the gates with her hands and swaying from side to side. The cry of a wounded animal might recall to one's memory the prayer of that young girl, storming heaven with notes of passionate entreaty wrung from a soul in great mental agony. Other penitents came up to take her place almost pushing her out of the chapel. We last saw her fast asleep on the steps of a side altar curled up like a tired dog, but on her face was an expression of great calm as though she had indeed found the peace sought in so repulsive and terrible a manner. Silently we left the church and turned towards Assisi, breathing with joy the pure air and looking long at the hills lying so calm and clear around us. Next day, the 31st of July, there was an excited feeling in the town, not among the Umbrians, for they take the annual feast of the "Perdono" quietly enough, but among the pilgrims, who having now arrived in hundreds and paid their first visit to the franciscan churches of the hill and of the plain, stood about in the lower piazza of San Francesco waiting with evident impatience for the opening of the feast of the afternoon. We caught their feeling of expectation and found it impossible to do aught else than watch the people from the balcony, and then we went down and wandered about among them. There were such tired groups of women under the _loggie_ of the piazza, leaning back in the shadow of the arches with their shawls drawn across their faces to shut out the glare of the August sun. A crowd of girls rested on the little patch of grass near the church, some eating their bread, others sleepily watching the constant passage of people in and out of the church; for long spaces they sat silent, listlessly waiting, then suddenly one among them would rise and sing a southern song, sounding so strange in Umbria. Her companions, casting off the desire to sleep, joined in the chorus until the song was ended and they once more became silent watchers. The shadows began to deepen round the church, the feeling of expectation increased, and the hours of waiting seemed long to the crowd and to us, when about four o'clock the dense mass of people in front of the church divided. A procession of priests in yellow copes filed out of the Basilica, one among them carrying the autograph benediction of St. Francis (see p. 210), and went to the little chapel near the Chiesa Nuova built over the stable where the saint is said to have been born. Here the holy relic is raised for the faithful to venerate, and the procession returns to San Francesco. It is a small but important ceremony, the prelude to the granting of the indulgence. We had reached the chapel before the procession, through side streets, but soon returned to the lower church for the crowd was intolerable, and we had been warned that once the blessing had been given a mad rush might be made to reach San Francesco and that sometimes people were trampled under foot. Out of the burning heat we entered the cool dark church where Umbrian peasants had already taken their places, as spectators, but not as actors in the feast. Seated on low benches against the wall they formed wondrous groups of colour, like clumps of cyclamen and primroses we have seen flowering in a wood upon an Italian roadside. The gates across the church had been shut, and were guarded by gendarmes; we had arrived too late. But presently Fra Luigi appeared at the gate of St. Martin's chapel, and hurriedly we followed him down the dark, narrow passage leading to the sacristy; we had only just time to run across the church and take our places outside the chapel of St. Mary Magdalen, when the great crowd surged into the church. The excitement became intense, and the pilgrims who had followed in the procession as docile as lambs now could restrain themselves no longer, and hustled the priests forward, pressing them against the iron gates in their efforts to approach the altar. There was a moment of tension as the whole of the iron screen bent beneath the weight of the crowd when the gendarmes half opened the gate to allow the priests to pass through. With the relic swaying above their heads, they slipped in from among the pilgrims, who, finding the gates once more barred against them, began to moan and shout with deafening fury. The organ pealed forth mad music, the incense rose in clouds around the altar, and eager faces peered through the gates, which were battered with angry fists as the people pushed against each other so that the whole crowd rocked from side to side. Through it all stood the quiet figure of the priest, raising the relic high above the heads of the people whose voices were for the moment hushed, as the words of benediction were pronounced. Rapidly crossing the church, followed by his attendants, he entered the sacristy and shut the door, while four gendarmes stationed themselves at the corners of the altar to prevent people from mounting the steps, and others went to unbar the gates. There was a great creaking of bolts and hinges and in a moment the pilgrims rushed forward, afraid of losing even a single moment of the precious hours of indulgence, and cries of "San Francesco" almost drowned the sound of hurrying footsteps. Families caught each other by the arms and swept wildly round the altar, often knocking people down in their wild career, old women gathered up their skirts and ran, the Abruzzesi in their scarlet jackets, whom we had seen so calmly walking down the streets, stepped eagerly forward with outstretched arms and clasped hands calling loudly on the saint. Round they went in a perpetual circle, first past the altar, then through the Maddalena chapel out into the Piazza, and back again without a single pause. Each time they entered the church they gained a new plenary indulgence. From the walls the frescoed saints leant towards us, and never had they seemed so full of peace and beauty, as on that day of hurry and strange excitement. We saw them through a mist of dust, but they were more real to us than the fanatics streaming past in mad career, and we greeted them as friends. Then as the sun went down in a crimson sky behind the Perugian hills, a great stillness fell upon the people, the gaining of indulgences for that day had ceased, and quietly those who had no shelters went into the country lanes to pass the night, or rested beneath a gateway of the town. Already Assisi was returning to her long spell of silence, for next morning at dawn the pilgrims would be on their road to Sta. Maria degli Angeli for the early morning mass.

Rashly we left the quietness of the town to join the crowd again down in the plain late the next afternoon when the feast was nearly over. The press of people was felt more at the Angeli than at San Francesco, as they gained the indulgence by simply walking round the church and through the Portiuncula without going outside. It was useless to struggle, or to attempt to go the way we wanted, for we were simply carried off our feet and borne round the church in breathless haste in the temperature of a Turkish bath. There were moments of suspense when we doubted, as the crowd bore us swiftly forward, whether we should pass the confessional boxes without being crushed against the sharp corners. The cries of "Evviva Maria, Evviva San Francesco," became deafening as we neared the Portiuncula, and the people surged through the doors, throwing handfuls of coppers and silver coins upon the altar steps, and even at the picture of the Madonna above the altar in their extraordinary enthusiasm. How tired they looked, but in their eyes was a fixed look showing the feelings which spurred them on to gain as much grace as time would allow. They never paused, they never rested. With a last glance back upon the people and the names of Mary and Frances ringing in our ears we left the stifling atmosphere for the burning, but pure air outside.

How peaceful it all seemed in comparison to the scene we had just witnessed. The Piazza was full of booths as on a market day, with rows of coloured handkerchiefs, sea-green dresses such as the peasants like, and endless toys and religious objects; old women sat under large green umbrellas selling cakes, and cooks, in white aprons and caps, stood by their pots and pans ready to serve you an excellent meal. From under a tree a man sprang up as we passed with something of the pilgrim's eagerness about him, saying, "See, I will sing you a song and dance for you," shaking his companions from their sleep and snatching up his accordion, he began a wild, warlike dance upon the grass, while the others accompanied him with an endless chant. And so the hours crept on, until once again as the sun went down the pilgrims streamed quietly out of the church, but this time they gathered up their bundles and walked to the ox waggons which were standing ready in the road, and quite silently without delay they seated themselves, fifteen or twenty in a cart, to start upon their long journey home.

Never had the town been so deadly still as on the 2nd of August, when the inhabitants had gone down the hill to the church of the Angeli where they sought to obtain their indulgences now the pilgrims had departed. Very quietly they knelt on the marble floor during the High Mass, silently they prayed, and with slow reverent steps they passed in and out of the Portiuncula until the Vesper hour, and the beautiful, calm evening then found them gathered round the altar of their saint. "Pray, ye poor people, chant and pray. If all be but a dream to wake from this were loss for you indeed."

FOOTNOTES:

[112] St. Francis called the Portiuncula Santa Maria degli Angeli, but now the name is more connected with the large church. See p. 97.

[113] St. Dominic was present at this famous gathering, and the _Fioretti_ gives a curious account of the way in which he watched the doings of a brother saint, at first a little inclined to criticise his methods, so different to his own, but finally being won over by the franciscan doctrine of absolute poverty.

[114] Those who know the teaching of St. Francis (see _Fioretti_, chap. xiii.) will feel how the saint would have fought against this device for the expiation of sins, invented by the priests of Southern Italy. No Umbrian has ever sunk to such depths of self-abasement, and during all the first days of the "Perdono" festival they keep aloof, waiting till the pilgrims' departure before obtaining their indulgences.

APPENDIX

To visitors who stay at Assisi for more than the usual hurried day, the following notes of walks and excursions may be of some use. A few of them have been already indicated by M. Paul Sabatier, in a paper printed at Assisi, to explain the sixteenth century map of the town found by him in the Palazzo Pubblico, of which a copy hangs in a room in the Hotel Subasio.

_In the Town._--The public garden on the slope of the hill above the Via Metastasio is a delightful place. It was the ilex wood of the Cappucine convent until the present garden was laid out in 1882 by Sig. Alfonso Brizzi, when the friars' convent became a home for the aged poor.

_From Porta S. Giacomo._--(_a_) A new idea of Assisi is obtained by following the mountain track from the Campo Santo round by the quarries and below the Castle to Porta Perlici. Looking across the ravine of the Tescio and up the valley of Gualdo and Nocera is a vision of Umbrian country in its austerest mood. Even if the whole of this walk cannot be taken we recommend all to follow the broad smooth road leading to the Campo Santo for a little, as the view of San Francesco and the valley beyond is very beautiful. (_b_) By taking the Via di Fontanella (see map), straight down the hillside, the picturesque bridge of S. Croce is reached in about twenty minutes. M. Sabatier recommends the ascent of Col Caprile just opposite for the fine view of Assisi, but those who do not care for an hour's climb would do well, having seen the old bridge and its charming surroundings, to retrace their steps, and after about two minutes turn off to the right through the fields along a narrow footpath leading to a bridge over the Tescio and a farmhouse. Following the right bank of the torrent we reach the Ponte S. Vittorino (see map), and return to the town by the old road skirting the walls of the franciscan convent and emerging opposite the Porta S. Francesco. Want of space prevents more being said than to urge all visitors to go this walk, which is little known and will be found one of the loveliest they have ever seen. Every step brings something new; banks of orchis and cyclamen, glimpses of crimson and yellow rock in the brushwood by the hillside, the soft blue distance of the valley beyond, and above all, innumerable views of San Francesco, seen now with a bridge in the foreground, now framed in by the curved and spreading branches of an oak, and at every turn carrying our thoughts away to valleys of Southern France and fortress-churches crowning the wooded hills (see illustrations, pp. 215, 220). To realise the variety of scenery to be found in Umbria we must come to Assisi and hunt out her hidden lanes and byways.

_From Porta Perlici._--(_a_) Out of this gate, turning to the left by the city walls, is one of the roads leading to the Castle; the others are clearly marked on the map. (_b_) The carriage road to Gualdo and Nocera goes for some miles along the valley, but is not completed.

_From Porta Cappucini._--(_a_) The Rocca Minore is reached by a grass path going up the hill just inside the walls. A fine view of the eastern slope of Assisi is obtained (see illustration, p. 10). (_b_) The Carceri is about an hour's walk from this gate, donkeys are to be had in the town for the excursion, or a small carriage drawn by a horse and a pair of oxen can get there, but it is the least pleasant way of going.

_From Porta Nuova._--(_a_) A pleasant though not the shortest way back to the town, is the one which skirts round the hill inside the mediæval walls from this gate to Porta Mojano, and then outside the walls through the fields past the Portaccia to the carriage road just below Porta S. Pietro. (_b_) The ascent of Monte Subasio occupies about two hours and a half, though quick walkers will do it in less time. There are several paths which anyone will indicate to the traveller. The easiest, though the longest (about four hours), is the one mentioned by M. Sabatier, the road to Gabbiano and Satriano, which branches off to the left from the Foligno road not far from the Porta Nuova. After walking along the Gabbiano road for an hour, a lane leads up the hill for another hour to the ruined abbey of San Benedetto (p. 82). The path skirts the mountain to Sasso Rosso, three quarters of an hour, the site of the fortress of the family of St. Clare, and then one hour and a half brings us to the southern slope of Mount Subasio called the Civitelle, where the craters of the extinct volcano are to be seen. The highest point (1290 metres), is reached in another half hour. The view is very fine; Nocera and Gualdo lie to the north, Monte Amiata to the west, a range of snowy mountains to the south, Mount Terminillo, the Sabine Appenines and the mountains of the Abruzzi, and Mount Sibella to the east. The return to Assisi, without passing the Carceri, takes two hours. (_c_) The road to San Damiano is marked on the map; it is good but very steep, requiring oxen to draw the carriage up the hill on the return. On foot it is only a quarter of an hour from the gate. (_d_) A long day's drive will take the traveller to Spello, Foligno and Montefalco, but it is a tiring excursion and only a faint idea can be obtained of these beautiful Umbrian towns. It is better, if possible, to give a day to each, and to see Bevagna, with her two exquisite romanesque buildings, on the way to Montefalco.

_From Porta Mojano._--(_a_) To follow the path taken by St. Francis, when carried from the bishop's palace to the Portiuncula (p. 111), just before his death, we must take the road leading from the gateway to a small chapel, and turn to the right down a lane marked Valecchio on the map. St. Francis either passed through Porta Mojano or the Portaccia (now closed), but from here we follow in his footsteps straight down the hill to the hamlet of Valecchio, set so charmingly on a grass plot among the walnut trees, with part of its watch tower still standing (p. 104). In the plain we come to cross roads; the one on the left leads to San Damiano in about forty minutes, that to the right to the leper hospital (now known as S. Agostino), whence St. Francis blessed Assisi for the last time (p. 111). (_b_) From the gate a few minutes brings us to a path crossing the fields to the left, to the old church of S. Masseo built in 1081 by Lupone Count of Assisi to serve as a chapel to the monastery, now the dwelling place of peasant families. (_c_) From Porta Mojano a lane leads straight down to the plain, and just before reaching the high road where it crosses the railway at right angles, the chapel of S. Rufino d'Arce--the real Rivo-Torto--is seen in the fields to the left (see pp. 93-95). By the side of the lane close to the railway line is the chapel of Sta. Maria Maddalena (see pp. 93-95). This is about half an hour's walk.

_From Porta S. Francesco._--There are several drives. (_a_) Perugia. (_b_) Bastia, the first station on the railway between Assisi and Perugia, possessing a triptych by Niccolò da Foligno. A beautiful view of the river Chiaggio is obtained at the bridge of Bastiola. (_c_) A road from the Angeli branches off to Torre d'Andrea, where there is a picture by a scholar of Pinturicchio. But more delightful is the chapel of S. Simone a little further on, built right in the midst of the cornfields, whose walls are covered with frescoes of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. (_d_) A beautiful drive is to the Rocca di Petrignano, a hill-set village above the Chiaggio. To fully recount its story, the picturesqueness of its rock-cut streets and the charm of the chapel upon the heights, whose walls are covered from floor to roof with votive Madonnas and saints, would need a chapter to itself. It has been enthusiastically described by M. Broussolle in his _Pélerinages Ombriens_, but it may be well to remark that he calls the Rocca di Petrignano, for some unknown reason, the Rocca d'Assisi. (_e_) It is an hour and a half's walk to the church of S. Fortunato, across the bridge of S. Vittorino, recommended by M. Sabatier in his list of excursions. The way side chapel of S. Bartolo, with its interesting apse is passed on the way.

It would be well to get the Italian military map, Fo. 123 (either at Seeber, Via Tornabuoni, Florence, or at D. Terese, Perugia), if the pilgrim to Assisi wishes to explore the country round Assisi.

INDEX

A

AGNES, Blessed, persecution of, 263; enters convent of San Damiano, 264; assists at death-bed of St. Clare, 271.

AGOSTINO DA SIENA, tomb by, 189.

ALBI, Cathedral of, 129.

ALBORNOZ, Cardinal, takes Assisi, 23; rebuilds castle, 24, 326; builds chapel in San Francesco, 24, 193; builds portion of colonnade of convent, 221; 327.

ALESSI, Galeazzo, _note [80]_ 193; remodels San Rufino, 296; designs cupola of the Angeli, 335.

ALEXANDER IV, Pope, 207; canonizes St. Clare, 280.

---- VI, Pope, 330; 331.

ALUNNO, _see_ Niccolò da Foligno.

ANGELO, Brother, 72; 271.

ANGELI, Padre, book by, _note [57]_ 106, 152.

ANTHONY, St., of Padua, at Assisi, 140; 166; 192; 250.

ANSANO, St., 304; 320.

AREZZO, 20; 239.

ARLES, Apparition of St. Francis at, 250.

ARNO, 72; 250.

ARNOLD, Matthew, quoted, 55.

ASSISI, passim.

AVIGNON, Popes at, 21; _note [89]_ 209.

B

_Baglioni_, The, besiege and take Assisi, 33, 34, 210; feud with the Fiumi, 33; _note [101]_ 259; downfall of, 36.

---- Gian Paolo, 34, 334.

---- Malatesta, 331.

_Bagnora_, St. Bonaventure born at, _note [95]_ 229.

_Basileo_, Bishop, builds first church of San Rufino, 292.

_Bastia_, Benedictine convent at, 105, 262, 263.

_Benedict_, St., repairs the Portiuncula, 99, 100.

BENEDICTINES, Abbey of, on Mount Subasio, 82, 83; gifts of, to St. Francis, 84, 103, 264.

BERENSON, Bernhard, 171; quoted, 198, 199, 207, 208; 251; 257.

BERNARD of Quintavalle, 48; 94; 114; 182; 273; house of, 308.

BERNARDINE, St., of Siena, 206; 221; 340.

BERNARDONE, Pietro, family of, _note [22]_ 41; quarrels with St. Francis, 47, 235, 278, 309; house of, 307; shop of, 308.

BEVAGNA, Roman battles near., 5; St. Francis preaches to the birds at, 62, 244.

BLASCO, Ferdinando, tomb of, 194.

---- Garzia, tomb of, 194.

BOLOGNA, St. Francis preaches at, 56.

BONAVENTURE, St., quoted, 69, 229-256; _note [76]_ 181; 206; 210; 273; 274; 338.

BONIFACE VIII, Pope, seeks counsel of Guido of Montefeltro, 223.

BORGIA, Lucrezia, 330.

BRIENNE, Gauthier de, 45; 232.

BROGLIA di TRINO, 25; 83; 328.

BRIZI, Alfonso, _note [109]_ 322; _note [111]_ 329.

----, Giuseppe, 197.

BURCKHARDT, J., 164.

C

CAMPELLO, Fra Filippo, aids in building San Francesco, 129; builds Santa Chiara, 281.

CARCERI, Hermitage of the, 27; 81; given to St. Francis by the Benedictines, 84; road to, 84, 85; story of, 86-93.

CARMICHAEL, W. Montgomery, 211.

CASTLE, The, of Assisi (ROCCA D'ASSISI), building of, 11, 326; Frederick II, stays at, 13, 326; destruction of, 14, 326; rebuilt by Albornoz, 24, 326; story of, 325-334.

CELANO, quoted, 42, 43, 44; _note [41]_ 69; his description of St. Francis, 212; 229.

---- Knight of, 246.

CHARLEMAGNE, Emperor, besieges Assisi, 11; rebuilds Assisi, 11, 326.

CHIAGGIO, River, 103; _note [101]_ 259; St. Rufino martyred in the, 291.

CIMABUE, Giovanni, 153; legends about, 154; Madonna by, in San Francesco (Lower Church), 155; frescoes in San Francesco (Upper Church), 156-160; Giotto adopted by, 169; Giotto completes works of, at Assisi, 170; 228; 284.

CHURCH OF SANTA CHIARA, sacked by Niccolò Piccinino, 28, 29; building of, 281, 282; frescoes in, 283; portrait of St. Clare in, 284; church of San Giorgio in, 285, 286; tomb of St. Clare found in, 287; body of St. Clare in, 288.

---- SAN DAMIANO, Niccolò Piccinino stays at, 26; body of St. Francis brought to, 119, 253, 267; St. Clare and her nuns live at, 264, _et seq._; attacked by army of Frederick II, 267, 268; Innocent IV, at, 274, 278; relics at, 274, 275; crucifix of, 276, 277; choir of St. Clare at, 277; bought by the Marquess of Ripon, 278; frescoes in, 278, 279; funeral service of St. Clare held at, 279, 280; miraculous crucifix of, 274, 285.

---- SAN FRANCESCO, building of, 123, _et seq._; architect of, 124, 125; convent of, 124; 133; 139; 221; 223; 227; resemblance to cathedral of Albi, 129; St. Francis buried in, 133, 135; legend about, 136; 144; 146; in the first years, 215, 216; campanile of, 216; _note [92]_ 219; bells of, 219; feast of the "Perdono" in, 351, 352, 357-359.

---- ---- LOWER CHURCH, The, 149, 150; pre-Giottesque frescoes in, 151, 152, 153; Madonna by Cimabue in, 155; Giotto's frescoes of the early life of Christ in, 171, _et seq._; Giotto's frescoes of the miracles of St. Francis in, 174; Giotto's allegories in 177, _et seq._; Chapel del Sacramento or of St. Nicholas in,185, _et seq._; stained glass windows in, 189; 192; 193; 205; 206; 209; frescoes by Giotto in chapel of St. Maria Maddalena in, 190, _et seq._; chapel of St. Antonio da Padova in, 192; chapel of San Stefano in, 192; chapel of St. Catherine or del Crocifisso in, 193; chapel of St. Antonio in, 193; cemetery of, 195; tomb of Ecuba in, 195; tomb of St. Francis in, 196, 197; chapel of St. Martin in, 198; legend of St. Martin, frescoes by Simone Martini in, 199, _et seq._; frescoes by Simone Martini in, 212, 215; frescoes above the papal throne in, 206, 207; frescoes by Pietro Lorenzetti in, 207, 208; chapel of St. Giovanno Battista in, 208; sacristies in, 209, _et seq._; portrait of St Francis in, 211; porch of, 220.

---- ---- UPPER CHURCH, The, _note [69]_ 152; 156; frescoes by Cimabue in, 158-160; frescoes by contemporaries of Cimabue in, 160, _et seq._; stained glass windows in, 164, _et seq._; papal throne, pulpit and altar in, 166, 167; door of, 219; Giotto's frescoes of the legend of St. Francis in, 229-250; frescoes by a follower of Giotto in, 254-256; intarsia stalls in, 256.

---- SAN GIORGIO, St. Francis canonized in, 121; 273; body of St. Clare brought to, 279, 280; church of Santa Chiara built over, 281; frescoes in, 285.

---- SANTA MARIA degli ANGELI, building of, 335; rebuilt after earthquake, 336; works of Andrea della Robbia in, 336, 338; works of Giunta Pisano in, 337, 338; the Portiuncula in, 337 (_see_ Portiuncula); fresco by Perugino in, 337; garden and chapel of the Roses in, 339, 340; frescoes by Lo Spagna in, 338, 341; frescoes by Tiberio d'Assisi at, 341; feast of the "Perdono" at, 353-355, 359-361.

---- SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE, franciscan legend connected with, 235, 308, 309, 310.

---- CHIESA NUOVA, 307; 308.

---- SAN PAOLO, 303; fresco by Matteo da Gualdo in, 304.

CHURCH OF SAN PIETRO, 312; triptych by Matteo da Gualdo in, 313; fresco in, 313.

---- PELLEGRINI, _see_ Confraternity.

---- SAN RUFINO (Cathedral), Frederick II, baptised in, 13; 289; church beneath, 292; building of, 294; bell-tower of, 290, 294, 301; doors of, 294, 295; interior of, 296; triptych by Niccolò da Foligno in, 296, 297; connection with St. Francis, 238, 299.

CLARE, St., parentage of, 258; description of, 259; founds order of Poor Clares, 104, 262; delivers her sister Agnes from her persecutors, 263; goes to live at San Damiano, 264; friendship with St. Francis, 62, 77, 265; last farewell to St. Francis, 119, 267; saves her convent and Assisi from the Saracens, 267, 268; her struggle with the Papacy, 270, 271; death of, 272; miracle of the bread by, 274, 275; canonization and funeral of, 280; church of, 281; early picture of, 284; body of, 288.

CLEMENT VII, Pope, 331.

CLITUMNUS, river, 5; Propertius lived near, 8; 350.

COMACINE builders, Guild of, 321; house of, in Assisi, 322.

CONFRATERNITY of SAN CRISPINO, 316.

---- SAN FRANCESCUCCIO, 315; frescoes at, 316.

---- SAN LORENZO, fresco at, 323.

---- DEI PELLEGRINI, 316; frescoes by Matteo da Gualdo in, 317, 318; frescoes by Mezzastris in, 318-320; fresco by Fiorenzo di Lorenzo in, 320.

---- SAN RUFINUCCIO, frescoes in, 185, 323.

CONRAD of SUABIA, 13; 326.

CONVENT of SANTA CHIARA, 281; 282.

---- of SAN FRANCESCO, 124; 133; 139; 221; Guido of Montefeltro lives in, 223; 227.

CORROYER, E., quoted, 129.

CORTONA, 117; 144.

CORYTHUS, King of Cortona, 2.

COSTANO, 291; 297.

CHRISTINE, Queen of Sweden, 222.

CROWE & CAVALCASELLE, Messrs, quoted, 162, 174, 176, 187; 171; 251.

D

DAMIANO, San, _see_ Church.

DANTE, quoted, 14, 71, 168, 182, 184, 186, 224, 236, 250; portrait of, by Giotto, 176, 182.

DANTI, GIULIO, _note [80]_ 193; designs cupola of the Angeli, 335.

DARDANUS, 2; 3; 4.

DOMENICO da SAN SEVERINO, designs stalls for San Francesco, 256.

DOMINIC, St., 17; _note [95]_ 229; _note [113]_ 345.

DONI ADONE, 192; 307.

E

ECUBA, Queen of Cyprus, tomb of, 195.

EGIDIO, Brother, 48; 50; 94; 111; quoted, 117; _note [59]_ 118; 132.

ELIAS, Brother, 51; influence of, on the franciscan order, 122, 130, 132; superintends building of San Francesco, 124, _et seq._; character of, 137; hides body of St. Francis, 135; _note [81]_ 196; account of, 137-146; _note [69]_ 152; 306.

ELISEI, Canon, 292.

ETRUSCANS, The, found Perugia, 4; 5.

EUSEBIO di SAN GIORGIO, fresco by, 278.

F

FIORENZO di LORENZO, 165; frescoes by, in Assisi, 306, 307, 320.

FIORETTI, The, quoted, 49, 50, 59, 68, 88, 111, 137, 138, 266, 345; charm of, 66.

FIUMI, Jacopo, murders the Nepis, 32; 33; robs sacristy of San Francesco, 210; despot of Assisi, 331.

FIUMI, The, their rivalry with the Nepis, 31, 32; mother of St. Clare belongs to family of, 259.

FLAGELLANTS, The, _note [35]_ 60; 178; 314.

FORTEBRACCIO, Braccio, 25.

FRANCIS, St., birth of, 15; teaching of, 16, 18; childhood of, 41; description of, by Celano, 42, 212; imprisoned at Perugia, 43; conversion of, 44; dream of, at Spoleto, 45, 232; his symbol of the Lady Poverty, 46, 53; succours the lepers, 46, 95; first foundation of the Order, 48, 49; interview of, with Innocent III, 52, 53; rule sanctioned by Innocent III, 54, 237; eloquent preaching of, 55, 56, 57, 59; gives St. Clare the veil, 56, 105, 262; founds Third Order, 60; preaches before the Sultan of Egypt, 61, 240; sermon of, to the birds at Bevagna, 62, 244; love of nature, 63, 64, 65; converts the wolf of Gubbio, 65; friendship with Gregory IX (Bishop Ugolino), 69; preaches before Honorius III, 71, 249; stays at La Vernia, 71, 72; receives the Stigmata at La Vernia, 73, 74; farewell to La Vernia, 75; blindness of, 76, 116; composes the Canticle to the Sun, 78; elects the Carceri as his hermitage, 81-83; cell of, at the Carceri, 86; challenges the nightingale to sing the praises of God at the Carceri, 87; dries up the torrent, 88; causes a miraculous fountain to appear at the Carceri, 91; prophecy of, to Otto IV, 96; goes to the Portiuncula with his brethren, 97; visits the Portiuncula as a child, 102; obtains the Portiuncula as a gift, 103, 104; hut of, _note [57]_ 106, 340; blesses Assisi, 113; dictates his will, 114; death of, 115, 116; funeral of, 119, 120; canonisation of, 121, 153; church built in honour of, 123, _et seq._; secret burial of, 134-136; influence of, on Elias, 138, 139; miracles of, 176, 239, 243, 254, 255, 256; fresco of marriage with the Lady Poverty, 181; tomb of, 196, 197; autograph of, 210, 211; portrait of, by Giunta Pisano, 211; legends of, illustrated by Giotto and a follower, 229-256; obtains San Damiano as a gift, 264; friendship of, with St Clare, 265, 266; statue of, by Andrea della Robbia, 338; garden of, 339, 340; roses flower in the snow for, 340; obtains the indulgence of the Portiuncula, 342, 343; proclaims the indulgence, 344.

FREDERICK I., Emperor, at Assisi, 13.

---- II, Emperor, at Assisi, 13; 61; befriends Elias, 142; 143; 144; 217; army of, besieges Assisi, 267-269; 326.

FRY, Roger, quoted, 156, 228, 243.

FOLIGNO, 222; 278.

---- Niccolò da, _see_ Niccolò.

G

GENTILE de MONTEFLORI, Cardinal, founds chapel in San Francesco, 192, _note [82]_ 198; 205.

GIACOMA da SETTESOLI, friendship of, with St. Francis, 114; tomb of, 207.

GIOTTINO, _note [78]_ 186; 283.

GIOTTO, birth of, 108; adopted by Cimabue, 169; character of, 170, 178; first early frescoes of, at Assisi, 171-177; poem of, on poverty, 178; Allegories by, 181-184; frescoes by, in chapel of Sta. Maria Maddalena, 188; genius of, 228; illustrates legend of St. Francis, 229-250; characteristics of, 229, 232, 255; architecture of, 231; contemporary opinion on, 244; follower of, at Assisi, 185, 251.

GIOVANNI da GUBBIO, builds San Rufino, 294; 309.

GIUNTA PISANO, crucifix by, _note [69]_ 152; portraits by, of St. Francis, 211, 284; 337; 338.

GOETHE, Wolfgang von, description of the Temple of Minerva, 302, 303.

GOZZOLI, Benozzo, 245.

GREGORY IX., Pope, friendship with St. Francis, 69; dream of, 121, 254; canonises St. Francis, 121, 253; founds San Francesco, 123, _note [69]_ 152; portrait of, 159; 219; wishes to give St. Clare the Benedictine rule, 270.

GUALDO, 12; 118; 329.

---- Matteo da, _see_ Matteo.

GUALTIERI, Duke of Athens, portrait of, 208.

GUELFUCCI, Bianca, 261; aids St. Clare in her flight, 262; enters convent of San Damiano, 264.

GUBBIO, wolf of, 65, 221; 291; 329.

GUIDANTONIO da MONTEFELTRO, owns Assisi, 25, 317.

GUIDO da MONTEFELTRO, a monk in San Francesco, 223; treacherous counsel of, to Boniface VIII, 224.

GRECCIO, feast of, 242.

H

HONORIUS III., Pope, St. Francis preaches before, 70, 249; rule of St. Francis sanctioned by, 114, 210; grants St. Francis the indulgence of the Portiuncula, 342.

I

IBALD, Rev. Father Bernardine, _note [56]_ 103.

ILLUMINATUS, Brother, 141; 240.

INGEGNO, L', 306; fresco by, 307.

INNOCENT III., Pope, 13; power of, 14; court of, 15; 45; meeting of, with St. Francis, 52, 53; dream of, 53, 236; confirms rule of St. Francis, 54, 70; 237; 342.

---- IV., Pope, sanctions rule of St. Clare, 271; at funeral of St. Clare, 279, 280.

J

JACOPO TEDESCO, architect of San Francesco, 124; 125; 129; 156; 216.

JASIUS, 2; 3.

JUNIPER, Brother, 111; 112; 271.

L

LEO X., Pope, mitigates franciscan rule, 224.

---- XIII., Pope, 287.

---- Brother, 51; 72; quoted, 103, 104, 114, 131, 310; quarrel with Elias, 132; receives autograph benediction from St. Francis, 210.

LIBERIUS, Pope, 98.

LORENZETTI, Pietro, frescoes by, in San Francesco, 207, 208.

LOUIS, St., of France, _note [30]_ 51; 210.

M

MARGARITONE, 158; 284.

MARTIN, St., chapel and legend of, in San Francesco, 198, _et seq._

MARTINI, Simone, 198; friendship with Petrarch, 199; characteristics of, 199; legend by, of St. Martin, 200, _et seq._; other frescoes by, 212, 215.

MARY MAGDALEN, St., legend and chapel of, 190, 191.

MARZARIO, Professor, _note [62]_ 125.

MASSEO, Brother, 59; 72; letter of, 74; 111.

MATARAZZO, _note [12]_ 31; quoted, 33, 35; _note [101]_ 259.

MATTEO da GUALDO, frescoes by, in Assisi, 304, 306, 311, 313, 317, 318.

METASTASIO, house of, at Assisi, 322.

MICHELOTTI, Biordo, 25; 329.

MILTON, John, 14; 241.

MINERVA, The Temple of, its legend, 3; 301; description of, by Goethe, 302, 303.

MONTEFELTRO, _see_ Guido.

MONTEFALCO, 221; 245.

MONTE FRUMENTARIO, 321.

N

NARNI, 13; 221.

NEPIS, the family of, rivalry with the Fiumi, 31, 32, 330, 331.

NICCOLÒ da FOLIGNO, triptych by, in San Rufino, 296, 297; 341.

---- da GUBBIO, carves doors for San Francesco, 220.

NICHOLAS, St., chapel and legend of, 185, _et seq._

NOCERA, 12; 118; 329.

O

ORSINI, Giovanni Gaetano, portrait of, 185; tomb of, 189.

---- Napoleone, 185.

---- The family of, _note [87]_ 208.

ORTOLANA, Madonna, 259; 264.

OTTO IV., Emperor, at Rivo-Torto, 96.

OXFORD, 110.

P

PACIFICO, Brother, vision of, 239.

PALAZZO PUBBLICO, 32; 305; frescoes in, 306.

---- SBARAGLINI, 308.

---- SCIFI, 258; 260; 262; 281.

PARENTI, Giovanni, 132; 133; 139; 140.

PAUL III, Pope, 36; 331; 332.

PERUGIA, 4; 9; wars with Assisi, 5, 19, 20, 21, 43; governs Assisi, 22, 23; 29; 36; tries to steal body of St. Francis, 21; _note [81]_ 196; St. Francis mocked in, 57; 221; 342.

PERUGINO, Pietro, fresco by, 337.

PIAZZA, di Sta. Maria Maggiore, encounter of St. Francis with his father in, 235, 309; 310.

---- di San Francesco, 220.

---- della Minerva, 13; 31; 302; 330; 348.

---- Nuova, 300; 349.

---- di San Rufino, 289.

PICA, Madonna, 41; 102; 119; 307.

PICCININO, Niccolò, besieges Assisi, 25, 26; 27; 30; 126.

---- Jacopo, 329.

PIETRO _Cataneo_, Brother, 48; 138; 342.

PINTELLI, Baccio, 220.

PINTURICCHIO, 337.

PIUS II, Pope, 329.

---- V, Pope, 335.

PORTIUNCULA, The, early connection with St. Francis, 47, 102; repaired by St. Benedict, 99; given to St. Francis, 103; cradle of franciscan order, 104; St. Clare comes to, 104, 273; St. Francis dies at, 114, 115, 337; 338; indulgence of, 344; chapter of the lattices at, 345; 353; 355; 359.

PUZZARELLI, Simone, 123.

PONTANO, Teobaldo, 191.

PROPERTIUS, born at Assisi, 6; describes Assisi, 7, 8.

R

RENAN, E., quoted, 149.

RENI, Guido, 339.

RIVO-TORTO, 93; leper hospitals at, 95; description of, 96 vision of friars at, 238, 299.

ROBBIA, Andrea della, his work in the Angeli, 336-338.

ROCCA D'ASSISI, _see_ Castle.

RUFINO D'ARCE, San, 94; St. Francis ministers to lepers at, 95.

RUFINO, Brother, 68; _note [102]_ 260.

---- St., legend of, 291, 292, 293, 297; 299.

RUMOHR, von, B., 251.

RUSKIN, John, quoted, 155, 170, 232; 236.

S

SABATIER, Paul, quoted, _note [26]_ 44, 63, 238, 258, 266, 271, 274; _note [67]_ 138.

SANSONE, Francesco, 219; 256.

SCIFI, Chiara, _see_ St. Clare.

---- Count Favorino, 258; 259; 261; 263; 264.

SCOTT, Leader, _note [62]_ 125.

SEVERINO, _see_ Domenico.

SFORZA, Alessandro, 27; 28.

---- Francesco, Duke of Milan, 25; 26; 328.

SIXTUS IV, Pope, 219; statue of, 221; 257.

SPAGNA, Lo, 207; 338; 341.

SPOLETO, 44; 45.

STANISLAUS, St., 207.

SUBASIO, Mount, 84; 258; ways to 363.

SYLVESTER, Brother, 239.

T

TAINE, H., quoted, 1, 198.

TESCIO River, 85; _note [52]_ 86; 124; 214.

THODE, Henry, _note [62]_ 125; 158; 164; 165; _note [73]_ 171; 206.

THREE COMPANIONS, legend of, 96; 229; 242.

TIBERIO D'ASSISI, frescoes at Assisi, 279, 306, 341.

TOTILA, 9; 325.

TREVELYAN, R. C., 7; 8.

U

UGOLINO, Bishop of Ostia, _see_ Gregory IX.

V

VASARI, Giorgio, quoted, 124, 153, 164, 170, 195, 244; 155, 156, 306.

VERNIA, LA, 71; _note [45]_ 75; St. Francis receives the Stigmata at, 72; 210; 211; 243; 250.

VESPIGNANO, Giotto, born at, 168; 169.

VITRY, Jacques de, 15; quoted, 17, 240.

TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS. EDINBURGH