FRIARS
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FRIARS
general. Jerome later occupied the Chair of Peter as
Nicholas IV (15 February, 1288-4 April, 1292).
Bonagratia conducted a deputation from the chapter
before Nicholas III, who was then staying at Soriano,
and petitioned for a cardinal-protector. The pope,
who had himself been protector, appointed his nephew
Matteo Orsini. The general also asked for a defini-
tion of the rule, which the pope, after personal con-
sultation with cardinals and the theologians of the
order, issued in the "Exiit qui scminat" of 14 August,
1279. In this the order's complete renunciation of
property in communi was again confirmed, and all
property given to the brothers was vested in the
Holy See, unless the donor wished to retain his title.
All moneys were to be held in trust by the nuntii, or
spiritual friends, for the friars, who could however
raise no claim to them. The purchase of goods could
take place only through procurators appointed by the
pope, or by the canlinal-protector in his name.
The Bull of Martin IV "Ad fructus uberes" (13 December, 1281) defined the relations of the mendi- cants to the secular clergy. The mentlicant orders had long been exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop, and enjoyed (as distinguished from the secular clergy) unrestricted freedom to preach and hear con- fessions in the churches connected with their monas- teries. This had led to endless friction and open quarrels between the two divisions of the clergy, and, although Martin IV granted no new privileges to the mendicants, the strife now broke out with increased violence, chiefly in P'ranee ami in a particular manner at Paris. Boniface VIII adjusted their relations in the Bull "Super cathedram" of 18 February, 1300, grant- ing the mendicants freedom to preach in their own churches and in public places, but not at the time ■when the prelate of the district was preaching. For the hearing of confessions, the mendicants were to submit suitable candidates to the bishop in office, and obtain his sanction. The faithful were left free in regard to funerals, but, should they take place in the church of a cloister, the quarla juncrian was to be given to the parish priest. Benedict XI abrogated this Bull, but Clement V reintroduced it (1312). Especially conspicuous among the later contentions over the privileges of the mendicants were those caused by John of Poliaco, a master of theology of Paris (1320), and by Richard Fitzralph, Archbishop of Armagh (1349). In 1516 the Fifth Council of the Lateran dealt with this question, which was defini- tively settled by the Council of Trent.
In the Bull "Exultantes" of 18 January, 1283, Martin IV instituted tlie syndici Apostolici. This was the name given to the men appointed by the ministers and custodians to receive in the name of the Holy See the alms given to the Franciscans, and to pay it out again at their request. The syndici consequently replaced the nuntii and procurators. All these regu- lations were necessary in consequence of the rule of poverty, the literal and unconditional observance of which was rendered impossible by the great expansion of the order, by its pursuit of learning, and the accu- mulated property of the large cloisters in the towns. The appointment of these trustees, however, was neither subversive of nor an evasion of the rule, but rather the proper observance of its precepts under the altered conditions of the time. Under Bonagratia (1279-83) and his immediate successors Arlotto da Prato (1285-86), and Matthew of Acquasparta (1287- 89), a learned tlieologian and philosopher who became cardinal in 1288 and rendered notable service to the Church, the Spiritual movement broke out in the Province of Aiicona, under the leadership of Pietro (iiovanni Olivi, who, after the General Chapter of Strasburg (1282), caused the order considerable trouble. The general. Raimondo Oaufredi (GeolTroy) of Provence (1289-95), favoured the Spirituals and denounced the lax interpretations of the Community,
i. e. the majority of the order who opposed the minor-
ity, termed Spirituals or Zelanti. Raimondo even
ventured to revise the general constitutions at the
General Chapter of Paris in 1292, whereupon, having
refused the Bishopric of Padua offered him by Boni-
face VIII, he was compelled by the pope to resign his
office. Giovanni Miiiio of Muravalle, in the March of
Ancona, a master of theology, was elected general by
the Chapter of Anagni (1294), and although created
Cardinal-Bishop of Porto (Portuensis) in 1302, con-
tinued to govern the order until Gonzalvez of Valleboa
(1304-13), Provuicial of Santiago, Spain, was elected
to succeed him by the Chapter of Assisi.
In his encyclical of 1302, Giovanni Minio had incul- cated the rule of poverty, and forbidden both the accumulation of property and vested incomes. Gon- zalvez followed the same policy (12 February, 1310), and the Chapter of Padua (1310) made the precept still more rigorous by enjoining the "simple u.se" (usus pauper) and withdrawing the right of voting at the chapter from convents which did not adopt it. The usus pauper had indeed been a source of con- tention from 1290, especially in Provence, where some denied that it was binding on the order. These dis- sensions led to the Magna Dispulatio at Avignon (1310-12), to which Clement V summoned the leaders of the Spirituals and of the Community or Relaxati. Clement laid the strife by his Bull and Decretal "Exivi de Paradiso", issued at the third and last session of the Council of Vienne. 5 May, 1312. The prescriptions contained in the Franciscan Rule were divided into those which bound under pain of mortal, and those which bound under pain of venial, sin. Those enjoining the renunciation of property and the adoption of poverty were retained: the Franciscans were entitled only to the usus (use) of the goods given to them, and wherever the rule prescribed it, only to the usus /)(ra;)a- or arctus (simple use). All matters concerning the Franciscan habit, and the store- houses and cellars allowed in cases of necessity, were referred to the discretion of the superiors of the order.
The Spirituals of Provence and Tuscany, however, were not yet placated. At the General Chapter of Barcelona (1313), a Parisian master of theology, Alexander of Alessandria (Lombardy), was chosen to succeed Gonzdlvez, but died in October, 1314. The General Chapter of Naples (1316) elected Michael of Cesena, a moderate Conventual. The commission appointed by this chapter altered the general statutes on several points (called the third revision), and Michael in an encyclical insisted upon the observance of the rule of poverty. The Spirituals immediately afterwards rekindled the property strife, but John XXII interdicted and suppressed their peculiar notions by the Constitution "Quorumdam exigit" (7 October, 1317), thus completely restoring the official unity of the order. In 1321, however, the so-called theoretical discussion on poverty broke out, the inquisitor, John of Belna, a Dominican, having taken exception to the statement that Christ and the Apostles possessed property neither in communi nor in speciali (i.e. neither in common nor individually). The ensuing strife degenerated into a fierce scholastic disputation between the I'^ranciscans and the Domin- icans, and, as the pope favoured the views of the latter, a very dangerous crisis seemed to threaten the Minorites. By the Constitution "Ad conditorem canonum" (8 December, 1322) John XXII renounced the title of the Church to all the possessions of the Friars Minor, and restored the ownership to the order. This action, contrary to the practice and expressed sentiments of liis predecessors, placed the Minorites on exactly tlie same footing as the other orders, and was a harsh |iinvision for an order which had laboured so untiringly in the interests of the Church. In many other ways, however, John fostered the order. It will thus be readily understood why the members inclined
