Assisi and St. Francis

Cue (NZERS), Issue 10, 31 October 1944, Page 6

Assisi and St. Francis

By

A SSISI, spared by the present war, has been more fortunate than many Italian cities and its narrow streets of houses built in the pleasantly-toned stone of Monte Subasio give a welcome sense of repose. Even without the associations of St. Francis, Assisi would be one

of those quiet back-waters to which visitors and citizens alike could return with enjoyment. Situated above the plain, to the east of Perugia, Assisi is some two kms. from the main road out of that town, to Foligno. Pleasantly situated on the hillside, and crowned by the ruins of its Suabian Fortress, the walled city has

slept since the middle 1500’s and very little modern building obtrudes in its main thoroughfares.

Assisi has not only a Roman origin but retains, scattered about the town, many well-preserved relics of its imperial days when it was known as Assisium. One of its temples has been incorporated in a Christian church now known as S. Maria Sopra Minerva. Just below the campanile of this church can be seen some remains of a forum. The Amphitheatre also survives and some traces of the theatre can be seen between this and the cathedral of S. Rufino.

Assisi has far too great a charm to be described in terms of a mere chronology. Nevertheless, a few outstanding dates must be given. The town became a Ghibelline Commune in Xlth Century and fought, both among its own citizens and against the more powerful Perugia. Frederick Barbarossa lived there and after his death ; Assisi revolted against its new protectors.

In the XlHth Century it submitted to the Church but in the succeeding century fell in turn to such nobles as the Micheletti, the Visconti, and Bracchio Fortebracchio, who did so much to keep

order in Perugia, and finally returned to the Church, only to find that the internal struggles between the Fiume and Nepis families gave her no peace.

In 1497 the Baglioni of Perugia sacked the city and a few years later Cesare Borgia s forces twice renewed the pillage. From then on Assisi appears to have had a peaceful rule under the Papal States, against which its quieter inhabitants did not carry on the resistance which characterised Perugia’s grudging submission.

.At the present day Assisi has a population of under 5,000 in the city proper, and the whole surrounding Commune has fewer than 20,000. Nevertheless, it has so many places of interest that at least half a day should be spent there. It is impossible to commence a description of Assisi without at the same time giving due mention to St. Francis whose gentle spirit still seems to linger in the quiet and sleepy back-waters of the town. St. Francis was of noble birth, of the family of the Counts of Bourlemont, and it appears he was christened Giovanni in the year 1182. His later name of Francesco arose from the French connections of his father. ■?. ... St. Francis’s early life was that of the richer citizens of the town. In 1202 he took, part in a battle at Ponte S. Giovanni against Perugia and suffered the indignity of becoming a prisoner. He spent a year in the prison of the Campo di Battaglia and later managed to get away to fight in Apulia. At Spoleto he became ill and suddenly decided to renounce all thought of military glory.

When on a short pilgrimage to Rome, in the Church of S. Damiano, he heard a voice calling from the wide-eyed Christ in the Fresco exhorting him in the words ’’Francesco, go and rebuild my crumbling house.,” It was probably here, late inFebruary 1208, that he heard even more clearly the call to go out into the world leading a life of absolute poverty and dependence and to preach the Word. It is said that he threw away his rich clothing and with the simple habit and the threeknotted cord, so much like that of the peasants of Umbria, he set out on . his long travels. . In April, .1209, he obtained Innocent Ill’s approval for. the rule of his order with its three basic principles of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. He returned to Assisi where he commenced preaching universal brotherhood, peace, the abolition of feudal rights and the recall from exile of the citizens of Assisi. •-.”/• \ In the towns which he visited in 1210 —Perugia, Florence, Cortona, Arezzo and • Pisahe must have found ample material on which to base his pleas, for the very Bishops of Arezzo and Siena at that time were conducting a personal war over the jurisdiction of their boundary parishes. And the Bishop of Arezzo had permission to lay the Episcopal helmet and sword, oh the High Altar of his Cathedral! St. Francis was an untiring traveller, and in 1212 he set out for the Near 'East, but was driven back by a storm and' preached in the marches between Ancona and Fabriano. Then he passed to Spain, where sickness once again sent him back to Italy. His ambition led him to attempt the conversion of The Sultan of Egypt (in 1219), but failing to overcome the teachings of Mahomet, he turned his steps towards Damietta, then besieged by the Christians, and finally passed through’ Acre and on to'Antioch. He did not return to Italy until after a . sojourn in the Holy Land; but it appears that by 1221 he was again in Rome conferring with St. Dominic. In 1224 fie went to Arezzo where on Monte Laver na,» in one of his newlyfounded convents, he received the Stigmata and chased the demons from the town, as the frescoes show. In 1225 he

wandered through Umbria, being healed • on . the way of glaucoma (probably acquired in his earlier travels) and visited the little towns of Gubbio and Nocera, returning very ill to Assisi where he died on October 4, 1226. By his life, character and teaching, he acquired an immense popularity even in his lifetime. Then commenced one of those remarkable movements by which the memory of the humblest and most gentle of the mediaeval saints was to be commemorated by one of the most •magnificent and imposing churches of the day. . It appears that the successor of St. Francis to the rule of the Franciscansßrother Elias—was a man of great determination and ambition. Elias overcame the objections of the brotherhood and with complete disregard for , the Saint’s teachings, succeeded in his. projects. He even averted a war which neighbouring cities were planning, in the hope of obtaining the Tody of the Saint. The work proceeded very fast and by 1253 the great Basilica was so far advanced that Papal Consecration of the principal altars was possible. But other earlier events need record. The body of St. Francis was originally buried in the Church of S. Giorgio and on May 25, 1230, a procession was arranged* fo<r its removal to the lower portion of the new Basilica.' Brother Elias, organising a disturbance among the citizens, succeeded in - carrying off the body and burying it in a previously prepared tomb where it remained hidden until modern times. Thus did mediaeval towns guard thew saints. . : . The Basilica of St. Francis is a double one, .having an upper and a. lower church, behind which have since been built the seminary and other offices of the Order. It is only the lower church which remains to-day essentially, as it was planned by Brother Elias in 1228. The upper church was to have continued the same severe- style, but by Papal intervention . the plan was changed and the newer Gothic influence prevailed. The chief interest in the Basilica < for the average visitor is the frescoes, showing the life of St. Francis. ■> .The frescoes are in many " respects the most reliable contemporary - documents of the life of

the Saint. • Of all 'the- frescoes, perhaps the -series in the' chapel of St. Martin by Simone Martini;' of Siena, done ' between 1322 and 1-326, are the most pleasing for their delicacy "and* sense of mysticism. In the lower church, the four frescoes of Poverty, Chastity, Obedience and the Apotheosis are attributed - by tradition to Giotto. In the upper church the ' famous 'series of 28 frescoes of the life of St. Francis appear to : have been completed before 1310 and again Giotto and his followers, among them especially Capanna, are supposedly the : authors. Assisi has two other churches of considerable interest, widely differing in style and source of'appeal. LFirst, the Cathedral of S. Rufino (who converted the Assisians), a severe Romanesque church, built from' local - stone and still retaining a ’ dull rose tinge. S. Rufino was completed before the Basilica of St. Francis was started. Its-facade has three doorways flanked . by lions and griffons. The figures , above the 'central doorway are of Christ between - the Sun and the Moon, the Madonna and a deacon. They have a severe charm.-• The massive Campanile, with ' double Bifore openings, is entirely in keeping : with the facade. The interior is disappointing and stucco-covered. • Santa Chiara, whose three massive flying buttresses attract the attention of the visitor on his way to the: only car park in the Piazza alongside, is more interesting within than without..-: It is a. XITIth Century building, similar in

form to San Francesco. The rose window at the western end shows very fine stone work. Inside some excellent frescoes are well preserved, and cover a wide range of religious interest. Some attempt is made to explain them to visitors. In this church, the acoustics favour the choral services which are wellconducted. Assisi has a museum and picture gallery whose opening hours at present seem a little uncertain. Among its exhibits are a collection of Roman and Etruscan sculpture and bronzes and a well-known sarcophagus with a figure of Bacchus asleep—or perhaps under his own influence. In the Piazza Vittore. Emmanuele 111 is an open loggia whose vaulted ceiling has . some- interesting non-religious paintings, dating from about 1530. They are a little reminiscent of those in certain houses at Pompeii. The climb to the Rocco Maggiore, the old Suabian Castle above the town,, is not recommended on hot days, though- it is said that the view of the city well repays the effort. < Beyond the city the panorama is said to offer fine contrasts between plains, hill and valley. - Assisi has a number of minor places of interest in its vicinity. Among them is the large Santa Maria Degli Angeli and the Torre d’Andrea. Interesting though these may be, time is probably better spent in the neighbouring town of Spello which is slightly to the left of the road toward Foligno.