From the lost codex to the example of goodness and love left by Saint Francis of Assisi
From the lost codex to the example of goodness and love left by Saint Francis of Assisi
In 2014, medieval historian Jacques Dalarun, one of the foremost experts on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, came across a discovery as unprecedented as it was unexpected. It all began with an email: his colleague Sean Field, a historian at the University of Vermont, informed him that an ancient manuscript, probably produced in the first half of the 13th century, was going up for auction and might be of interest to him. Dalarun had devoted much of his career to reconstructing the saint’s biography and had suspected for some time that an intermediate, abridged version of his first biography had once existed, known until then only through scattered fragments and believed to have been lost.
The medievalist did not hesitate to investigate what the codex contained. It was a small manuscript (120 x 82 mm, with 122 folios), with pages made of goatskin parchment and a fragile, deteriorated binding, which contributed to the deterioration of its first and last folios. Despite its poor condition, it was possible to identify that the volume contained precisely the work that Dalarun and other historians had believed lost: one of the earliest biographies (the so-called Vitae, “lives” in Latin) of Saint Francis. The text had been composed by Thomas of Celano, the first official hagiographer of the Franciscan Order, at the request of Brother Elias, then minister general and a close companion of Francis, probably between 1232 and 1239.
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France. Département des Manuscrits. NAL 3245
Before this one, only the Vita Prima, written by Celano himself in 1228–1229, was regarded as the earliest record. Throughout the 13th century, other authors (such as Julian of Speyer, the so-called Three Companions and, later, Saint Bonaventure) would also recount the life of Francis. The rediscovered manuscript, which scholars named Vita Brevior (“the shorter life”), is the second-oldest known biography of the Poverello d’Assisi, and the codex itself is believed to have been copied by friars in the region of Assisi as early as the 1230s.
The text brought new details, all consistent with what was already known about Saint Francis from other historical records: the portrait of a man who lived a simple life and set an example of goodness, humility and respect extended to all creatures. It is no coincidence that he was the author of the Canticle of the Creatures, a poem composed near the end of his life in which Francis praises existence through “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon,” regarding all beings, human and animal, as brothers and sisters because they share the same origin.
One passage in the codex provides concrete details about Francis’s vow of poverty. He is said to have patched the holes in his own tunic with fibers from tree bark and herbs he found in the fields, like someone who owned nothing, not even a needle with which to sew. The manuscript also presents the beginning of his journey in more concrete terms than the established versions: not as a gradual conversion, but as an abrupt change in the face of the poverty of others, experienced by a young merchant who felt deep compassion for the destitute he encountered.
Dalarun and other researchers mobilized to prevent the manuscript from being scattered in private collections, securing its acquisition by the National Library of France (BnF). A few weeks later, still in 2014, the volume became part of the institution’s collection, cataloged under the shelfmark NAL 3245, and became an object of study for medievalists around the world.
Saint Francis, Peter Paul Rubens – Art Institute of Chicago
Beyond the rediscovered codex, the life of Saint Francis was recorded in other ancient manuscripts that, over the centuries, helped preserve his testimony of simplicity and love for others. Many of the best-known episodes come from these sources.
One of them, recounted by Celano, illustrates his sensitivity toward all creatures. The text describes Francis preaching while a flock of swallows chattered incessantly, preventing him from being heard. He is said to have asked them to remain silent until he had finished speaking. And, to the amazement of those present, the birds fell silent.
That same respect led him to an act considered daring for his time. In 1219, in the midst of the Fifth Crusade, Francis crossed enemy lines unarmed outside the besieged city of Damietta to meet the Sultan of Egypt, al-Malik al-Kamil, one of the leading authorities in the Islamic world at the time. In the midst of a holy war, Francis chose respectful dialogue over the sword. According to later accounts, he is said to have spent several days in the sultan’s company. The sultan offered him valuable gifts, which Francis declined in keeping with the simple life he had chosen. The exception is said to have been a small ivory wind instrument, which Saint Francis considered useful for gathering crowds for his preaching and which is still preserved today in the Basilica in Assisi. Despite all the risks, Francis is said to have returned from Damietta carrying a message of peace and fraternity among peoples.
Saint Francis before the Sultan of Egypt Malec-el-Kamal, de Zacarías González Velázquez (Museo del Prado)
Eight centuries later, as the 800th anniversary of his death is commemorated, perhaps this is one of the reasons Saint Francis remains so alive in the memory of humanity: he was an example of what he preached. At a time marked by conflict, poverty and so many other social problems, he made humility, fraternity and respect for others a path toward transformation, one that left its mark on his own time and endured through the centuries. Recent discoveries do not change the history of Saint Francis, but they help bring it closer to us. Among ancient pages and accounts preserved through the centuries, Francesco reemerges—not only as the revered figure, but as the man who chose simplicity, who mended his own tunic with herbs from the fields and saw, in every person and every creature, a brother.
Sources
DALARUN, Jacques; JOHNSON, Timothy J. The Rediscovered Life of St. Francis of Assisi. Saint Bonaventure: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2016.
DALARUN, Jacques. La vie retrouvée de François d’Assise. Paris: Éditions Franciscaines, 2015.
BÉRIOU, Nicole; DALARUN, Jacques; POIREL, Dominique (eds.). Le manuscrit franciscain retrouvé. Paris: CNRS Éditions, 2021. Available at: https://www.cnrseditions.fr/catalogue/histoire/le-manuscrit-franciscain-retrouve/.
TOLAN, John. Saint Francis and the Sultan: The Curious History of a Christian-Muslim Encounter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
CELANO, Thomas of. The Life of Saint Francis (Vita Prima), c. 1229. In: Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1. New York: New City Press, 1999.
GUIDI, Silvia. “St Francis Rediscovered” (interview with Jacques Dalarun). L’Osservatore Romano (English weekly ed.), Jan. 30, 2015. Available at: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/st-francis-rediscovered-5848.
“La vie retrouvée de François d’Assise.” Le Monde, Jan. 22, 2015. Available at: https://www.lemonde.fr/religions/article/2015/01/22/la-vie-retrouvee-de-francois-d-assise_4561698_1653130.html.
“Saint François : le manuscrit retrouvé.” L’Histoire. Available at: https://www.lhistoire.fr/saint-fran%C3%A7ois-le-manuscrit-retrouv%C3%A9.
“Newly found life of St. Francis published.” Medieval Histories, 2015. Available at: https://www.medieval.eu/newly-found-life-of-st-francis-published/.
BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE. “NAL 3245 — Recueil franciscain.” BnF Archives et manuscrits catalog. Available at: https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc998871.
“Un manuscrit franciscain retrouvé (NAL 3245).” BnF — institutional website. Available at: https://www.bnf.fr/fr/un-manuscrit-franciscain-retrouve-nal-3245.
