in. There were leopards there and other beasts from over the sea,
at which we gazed long, transfixed with delight, as one will at the
sight of the novel and beautiful. Girls were there also and boys at
their sweetest age, handsome and lovely, and ten times as alluring
for their beautiful clothes. The boys and girls held violas and
cytharas and other musical instruments in their hands, on which
they made sweet melodies, accompanied with gestures. There
was no hub-bub, nor did any one talk ; but all listened in silence.
And the song which they chanted was so new and lovely in words
and melody as to gladden the heart exceedingly. None spoke to
us, nor did we say a word to any one. They did not stop singing
and playing so long as we were there — and long indeed we lingered
and could scarcely take ourselves away. God knows, I do not, who
set this joyful entertainment ; for we had never seen anything like
it before nor could we ever find its like again."

From the witchery of this cloud-dropped entertainment
Salimbene was rudely roused as he went out upon the public
way.

"A man met me, whom I did not know, and said he was from
Parma. He seized upon me, and began to chide and revile:
'Away scamp, away,' he cried. *A crowd of servants in your
father's hoiise have bread enough and meat; and you go from
door to door begging bread from those without it, when you have
enough to give to any number of beggars ! You ought to be riding
on a war-horse through Parma, and delighting people with your
skill with the lance, so that there might be a sight for the ladies,
and comfort for the players. Now your father is worn with grief
and your mother from love of you, so she despairs of God.' "

Salimbene fended off this attack of carnal wisdom with
many texts of Scripture. Yet the other's words set him to
thinking that perhaps it would be hard to lead a beggar's life
year after year until, old age. And he lay awake that night,
until God comforted him as before with a reassuring dream.

Pretty dreamer as he was, Salimbene can often tell a
ribald tale. There was rivalry, as may be imagined,
between the Dominicans (solemnes praedicatores) and the
Minorites. The former seem occasionally to have concerted
together so as to have knowledge of what their friends in
other places were about. Then, when preaching, they would



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S20 THE MEDIAEVAL MIND book m

exhibit marvels of second sight, which on investigation
proved true! A certain Brother John of Vicenza was a
Dominican famed for preaching and miracles perhaps, and
with such overtopping sense of himself that he went at
least a little mad. Bologna was his tarrying-place. There a
certain Florentine grammarian, Boncompagnus, tired of the
foolery, made gibing rhymes about him and his admirers, and
said he would do a miracle himself, and at a certain hour
would fly with wings from the pinnacle of Sta. Maria in Monte.
All came together at that hour to see. There he stood aloft,
with his wings, ready, and the folk expectant, for a long time
— and then he bade them disperse with God's blessing, for it
was enough for them to have seen him. They then knew
that they had been fooled I

None the less the dementia of Brother John increased, so
that one day at the Dominican convent in Bologna he fell
in a rage because when his beard was cut the brothers did
not preserve the hairs as relics. There came along a
Minorite, Brother God-save-you, a Florentine like Boncom-
pagnus, and like him a great buffoon and joker. To this
convent he came, but refused all invitation to stay and eat
unless a piece of the cloak of Brother John were given him,
which was kept to hold relics. So they gave him a piece of
the cloak, and after dinner he went off and befouled it, folded
it up, and called for all to come and see the precious relics
of the sainted John, which he had lost in the latrina. So
they flocked to see, and were somewhat more than satisfied.'

No need to say that this SaUmbene had a quick eye for
beauty in both men and women; he is always speaking of
so-and-so as a handsome man, and such and such a lady as
"pulcherrima domina," of pleasing ways and moderate
stature, neither too tall not too short. But one may win a
more amusing side-light on the "eternal womanly" in his
Chronicle, from the following: "Like other popes, Nicholas
III. made cardinals of many of his relatives. He made a
cardinal of one, Lord Latinus, of the Order of Preachers
(which we note with a smile, and expect something funny).

1 Parma ed. pp. 37-41 • This coarse story is given for illustration's sake;
there are many worse than it in Salimbene. Novati prints some in his article in
the Giomak Storico that are amusing, but altogether beyond the pale of modern
decency.



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CHAP, xxn THE WORLD OF SALIMBENE 521

He appointed him legate to Lombardy and Tuscany and
Romagnola." Note the enactments of this cardinal-legate:

''He disturbed all the women with a 'Constitution' which he
promulgated, to wit, that the women should wear short dresses
reaching to the ground, and only so much more as a palm's breadth.
Formerly they wore trains, sweeping the earth for several feet {per
hrackium a dimidium). A rhymer dubs them :

'Et drappi longhi, ke la polver memia.'
('The long cloaks that gather up the dust.')

"And he had this to be proclaimed in the churches, and
imposed it on the women by command; and ordered that no
priest should absolve them unless they complied. The which was
bitterer to the women than any kind of death ! For as a woman
said to me familiarly, that train was dearer to her than all the
other clothes she wore. And further. Cardinal Latinus decreed
that aU women, girls and yoimg ladies, matrons and widows,
should wear veils. Which was again a horror for them. But
they found a remedy for that tribulation, as they could not for
their trains. For they made veils of linen and silk inwoven with
gold, with which they looked ten times as well, and drew the eyes
of men to lust all the more." ^

Thus did the cardinal-legate, the Pope's relative. And
plenty of gossip has Salimbene to tell of such creatures of
nepotism. "Flesh and blood had revealed" to the Pope
that he should make cardinals of them ; says he with a sort
of giant sneer; "for he built up Zion in sanguinibuSy^ that
is, through lus blood-relatives t "There are a thousand
brothers Minorites, more fit, on the score of knowledge and
holiness, to be cardinals than they." Had not another pope.
Urban IV., made chief among the cardinals a relation whose
only use as a student had been to fetch the other students'
meat from market?

It was a few years after this that Salimbene returned to
his native town of Parma, near the time when that city
passed from the side of the Emperor to that of the Pope.
This was a fatal defection for Frederick, which he set about to
repair, by laying siege to the turn-coat city. And the war
went on with great devastation, and the wolves and other
wild beasts increased and grew bold. Salimbene throws

^ Mon, Germ. Hist, zzzii. p. 269.



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522 THE MEDIAEVAL MIND book m

Eccelino da Romano on the scene, that regent of the enq>eror,
and monster of cruelty, "who was feared more than the
devil," and had once burned to death "eleven thousand
Paduans m Verona. The building holding them was set on
fire ; and while they burned, Eccelino and his knights held
a tournament about them {circa eos). ... I verily believe
that as the Son of God desired to have one special friend,
whom He made like to himself, to wit the blessed Francis,
so the devil fashioned Eccelino in his likeness." ^

Salimbene tells of the siege of Parma at much length,
and of the final defeat of the emperor, with the destruction
of the stronghold which he had built to menace the dty,
and of all his curious treasures, with the imperial crown itself
taken by the men of Parma and their allies. But before
this, while the turmoil of the siege was at its height, in 1247,
he received orders to leave Parma and set out for Lyons,
where Innocent IV. at that time held his papal court, having
fled from Italy, from the emperor, three years before.
Setting out, he reached Lyons on All Saints Day.

"At once the Pope sent for me, and talked with me familiarly
in his chamber. For sjnce my leaving Parma he had received
neither messenger nor letters. And he thanked me warmly and
listened to my prayers, for he was a courtly and liberal man ; . . .
and he absolved me from my sins and appointed me preacher !"

Our autobiographic chronicler was at this time twenty-
six years old; his personality bespoke a kind reception
everywhere. He soon left Lyons, and went on through the
towns of Champagne to Troyes, where he found plenty of
merchants from Lombardy and Tuscany, for there were
fairs there, lasting two months. So was it also in
Provins, the next halting-place ; from which Salimbene went
on to Paris. There he stayed eight days and saw much
which pleased him ; and then, going back upon his tracks,
he took up his journey to Sens, where he dwelt in the
Franciscan convent, "and the French brethren entertained
me gladly, because I was a friendly, cheerful youth, and
spoke them fair." From Sens he went south to Auxerre,
the place which had been named as his destination when he
left Parma. It was in the year 1248, and as he writes

^ This in fact became^the later legendjof EcceUno.



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CHAP, xxn THE WORLD OF SALIMBENE 523

Ohow many years after?) there comes back to him the
memory of the grand wines of Auxerre :

"I remember when at Cremona (in 1245) Brother Gabriel of
that place, a Minorite, a great teacher and a man of holy life, told
me that Auxerre had more vines and wine than Cremona and
Parma and Reggio and Modena together. I wouldn't believe
him. But when I came to live at Auxerre, I saw that he spoke
the truth. It is a large district, or bishopric, and the mountains,
hills, and plains are covered with vines. There they neither sow
nor reap nor gather into bams ; but they send their wine by river
to Paris, where they sell it nobly; and live and clothe themselves
from the proceeds. Three times I went all about the district with
one or another of the brothers ; once with one who was preaching
and affixing crosses for the Crusade of the French king (St. Louis) ;
then with another who preached to the Cistercians in a most
beautiful monastery ; and the third time we spent Easter with a
countess, who set before the whole company twelve courses of food,
all diflferent. And had the count been at home, there woidd have
been a still greater abundance and variety. Now in four parts of
France they drink beer, and in four, wine. And the three lands
where the wine is most abundant are La RocheUe, Beaune, and
Auxerre. In Auxerre the red wine is least regarded and is not as
good as the Italian. But Auxerre has its white or golden wines,
which are fragrant and comforting and good, and make every one
drinking them feel happy. Some of the Auxerre wine is so strong
that when put in a jug; drops appear on the outside (lacrymantur
exUrius). The French laugh and say that three b's and seven f s
go with the best wine :

'Le vin bon et bel et blanc.
Fort et fer et fin et franc,
Freit et fres et fourmijant.'

"The French delight in good wine — ^no wonder! since it
'gladdens God and men.' Both French and English are very
diligent with their drinking^ups. Indeed the French have blear
eyes from drinking overmuch ; and in the morning after a bout,
they go to the priest who has celebrated mass and ask him to drop
a little of the water in which he has washed his hands into their
eyes. But Brother B^artholomew at Provins has a way of saying
it would be better for them if they would put their water in dieir
wine instead of in their eyes. As for the English, they take a
measure of wine, drink it out, and say: 'I have drunk; now
you' — ^meaning that you shoidd drink as much. And this is their



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524 THE MEDIAEVAL MIND book m

idea of politeness; and any one wiU take it very ill if the oth^
does not foUow his precept and example." ^

While Salimbene was living at Auxerre, in the year
1248, a provincial Chapter of the Franciscan Order was held
at Sens, with the Minister-General, John of Parma, presiding.
Thither went Salimbene.

"The King of France, St. Louis, was e]q>ected. And the
brothers all went out from the house to receive him. And Brother
Rigaud,* of the Order, Archbishop of Rouen, having put on his
pontifical trappings, left the house and hurried toward the king,
asking all the time, 'Where is the king? where is the king?'
And I followed him ; for he went alone and frantically, his mitre
on his head and pastoral stafiE in hand. He had been tardy in
dressing himself, so that the other brothers had gone ahead, and
now lined the street, with faces turned from the town, straining
to see the lung coming. And I wondered, saying to myself, that
I had read that these Senonian Gauls once, imder Brennus,
captured Rome ; now their women seemed a lot of servant girls.
If the King of France had made a progress through Pisa or
Bologna, the whole ilUe of the ladies of the city would have met
him. Then I remembered the Gallic way, for the mere townsfolk
to dweU in the towns, while the knights and noble ladies live in
their castles and possessions.

"The king was slender and graceful, rather lean, of fair hei^t,
with an angelic look and gracious face. And he came to the
church of the brothers Minorites not in regal pomp, but on foot in
the habit of a pilgrim, with wallet and stafiE, which well adorned
his royal shoulder. His own brothers, who were counts, followed
in like humility and garb. Nor did the lung care as much for the
society of nobles as for the prayers and suffrages of the poor.
Indeed he was one to be held a monk, both on the score of devo-
tion and for his knightly deeds of arms.

"Thus he entered the church of the brethren, with most devout
genuflections, and prayed before the altar. And when he left the
church and paused at the threshold, I was next to him. And
there, on behalf of the chiurch at Sens, the warden presented him
with a huge live pike swimming in water in a tub made of firewood,

1 Parma ed. pp. 90-93; lion. Germ. p. 2x8. In the Mon, Germ, edition the
verse runs thus:

"El vin bons e bds et blance.
Forte e fer e fin e franble,
Fredo e fras e formigant.^'
* He whose Regesla we have read, ante, Chapter XXL



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CHAP, xxn THE WORLD OF SALIMBENE 525

such as they bathe babies in. The pike is dear and highly prized
in France. The king returned thanks to the sender as well as to
the presenter of the gift. Then he requested audibly that no one,
unless he were a knight, should enter the Chapter House, except
the brethren, with whom he wished to speak. When we were met
in Chapter, the king began to ^>eak of his actions and, devoutly
kneeling, begged the prayers and suffrages of the brethren for him-
self, his brothers, his lady mother the queen, and aU his com-
panions. And certain French brothers, next to me, from devo-
tion and piety wept as if imconsolable. After the king, Lord
Oddo, a Roman cardinal, who once was chancellor at Paris,
and now was to cross the sea with the king, arose and said a
few words. Then on behalf of the Order, John of Parma, the
Minister-General, spoke fittingly, promising the prayers of
the brethren, and ordaining masses for the king; which, there-
upon, at the king's request he confirmed by a letter imder his
seal.

"Afterwards, on that day, the king distributed alms and dined
with the brethren in the refectory. There were at table his three
brothers, a cardinal of the Roman curia, the minister-general,
and Brother Rigaud, Archbishop of Rouen, and many brethren.
The minister-g^eneral, knowing what a noble company was with
the king, had no mind to thrust himself forward, although he was
asked to sit next the king. So to set an example of courtliness and
himulity, he sat among the lowest. On that day first we had
cherries and then the very whitest bread; there was wine in
abundance and of the best, as befitted the regal magnificence.
And after the Gallic custom many reluctant ones were invited and
forced to drink. After that we had fresh beans cooked in milk,
fish and crabs, eel-pies, rice with milk of almonds and powdered
cinnamon, broiled eels with excellent sauce ; and plenty of cakes
and herbs, and fruit. Everything was well served, and the
service at table excellent.

"The following day the king resumed his journey, and I
followed him, as the Chapter was over ; for I had permission to go
and stay in Provincia. It was easy for me to find him, as he
frequently turned aside to ^o to the hermitages of the brothers
Minorites or some other religious Order, to gain their prayers.
And he kept this up continually until he reached the sea and took
ship for the Holy Land.

"I remember that one day I went to a noble castle in Bur-
gundy, where the body of the Magdalene was Aen believed to be.
The next day was Simday; and early in the morning came the
king to ask die suffrages of the brethren. He dismissed his



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526 THE MEDIAEVAL MIND book m

retinue in the castle, from which the house of the brothers was
but a little way. The king took his own three brothers, as was
his wont, and some servants to take care of the horses. And when
genuflections and reverences were duly made, the brothers sought
benches to sit on. But the king sat on the earth in the dust, as I
saw with my eyes. For that church had no pavement. And he
called us, saying: Xometo me, my sweetest brothers, and hear
my words.' And we made a circle about him, sitting with him
on the earth ; and his own brothers likewise. And he asked our
prayers, as I have been saying. And when promise had been
given him, he rose and went his way." ^

Is not this a picture of St. Louis, pilgrimaging from
convent to convent to make sure of the divine aid, and
trusting, so far as concerned the business of the Holy Land,
quite as much in the prayers of monks as in the deeds of
knights? We have hardly such a vivid sight of him in
Joinville or Geoffrey of Beaulieu.*

After this scene, the king proceeded on his way, to
make ready for his voyage, and Salimbene went to Lyons,
then down the Rhone to Aries, then around by sea to
Marseilles, and thence to Areae, the present Hyferes, which
lies near the coast. Here to his joy he met with Brother
Hugo of Montpellier whom he was seeking, the great
"Joachite," the great clerk, the mighty preacher and resist-
less disputer, whom he had not forgotten since the days,
long before, when he had been in Hugo's company and
listened to his preaching at Siena. Even then, Minorites,
Dominicans, and all men, had flocked to hear this small dark
man, who seemed another Paul, as he descanted on the
marvels of Paradise and the contempt one should feel for
this world; but especially those Franciscans delighted in
his preaching who were of the "spiritual" party, which
sought to follow strictly the injunctions of the blessed
Frands, and also cherished the prophecies of Joachim, abbot
of Fiore in Calabria, who held to an eternal goq>el of the
Holy Spirit, which should supplement and finally supplant
the letter of the New Testament.

Joachim died in 1202 a devoted adherent of the Church
and papacy ; and although thare was much loose heresy in

> Panna ed. pp. 93-97 ; ^^n. Gtrm. pp. aaa sgq.
* Post, Chapter XXm.



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CHAP, xxn THE WORLD OF SALIMBENE 527

his writings^ they were not condemned until a storm was
blown up by a certain Introduciorius ad Evangdium Aetemum
written by a ^'spirituar' Franciscan fifty years after the
prophet's death. Joachim's genuine writings, as well as
those falsely ascribed to him, contained striking prophecies
and denunciations of the pride and worldliness of ecclesi-
astics. Thus they fell in with the enthusiasms of the
"spiritual" Franciscans, who still lived in an ecstasy of love
and anticipation; — in the coming time some of them were
to be dubbed Fratricelli, and under that name be held as
heretics.^

John of Parma was, of course, a "Joachite"; and "I
was intimate with him," says Salimbene, "from love and
because I seemed to believe the writings of Abbot Joachim."
John was likewise a friend (so strong a bond was the belief
in the holy but over-prophetic Joachim) of Hugo of Mont-
pellier, of whose manner and arguments we shall now let
Salimbene speak.

"Once Hugo came from Pisa to Lucca, where the brothers had
invited him to come and preach. He arrived at the hour for
setting out for the cathedral service. And there the whole
convent was assembled to accompany him and do him honour,
and from desire to hear him too. And he wondered, seeiQg the
brothers assembled outside of the convent door, and said: 'Ah
God! what are they going to do?' The reply was, that they
were there to do him honour, and to hear him. But he said:
'I do not need such honour, for I am not pope. If they wish to
hear, let them come after we have got there. I will go ahead
with one companion, and I will not go with that band.' "

Hugo was worshipped by his admirers, and hated by
those whom he disagreed with or denounced. Aside from
his disputations in defence of Joachim, a sample of which
will be given shortly, one can see what hate must have
sprung from such invective as Salimbene rq>orts him once to
have addressed to a consistory of cardinals at Lyons, where

1 In the thirteenth century the spurious writinga ascribed to Joachim were more
in vogue than his own compositions. On this much-discussed matter, see Tocco,
V Eresia nel medio evo, pp. 449-483 (Florence, 2884) ; Denifle, "Das Evangelium
aetemum," etc, ArcfdvfQr LU. und Kirckengesck. i. p. 48 sqq.; Foumier, "Joachim
de Flore," etc.. Revue des questions kisloriques, Uvii. (iqoq), pp. 457 sqq. ; also an article
in the Ckurch Quarterly Review, voL Ixv. pp. 17-48; and the article by Alphandery
in the Encyclopaedia BriSannica.



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528 THE MEDIAEVAL MIND book m

the Pope then held court. Here is the story, quite too
harsh for the req>ectable editors of the Parma edition of the
Ckronaca:

**The cardinal iaquired of Brother Hugo for news (rumares).
So he reviled them, as asses, saying: *I have no news, but a
plentitude of peace in my conscience and before my God, who sur-
passes sense and keeps my heart and mind in Christ Jesus my
Lord. I know that ye seek after news, and wait idle the live-long
day. For ye are Athenians and not disciples of Christ. Of whom
Luke says in the Acts : For all the Athenians and the strangers
which were there had time for nothing else but to tell or hear some
new thing. The disciples of Christ were fishers and weak men
accordiog to the world, but they converted the whole earth
because the hand of the Lord was with them. They set forth
and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them. But ye
are those who build up Zion in blood (t.e. consanguinity) and
Jerusalem in iniquity. For you choose your little nephews and
relations for the benefices and dignities of the Church, and you
exalt and make rich your clan, and shut out men good and fit
who would be useful to the Church, and you prebendate children
in their cradles. As a certain moimtebank well has said: If
with an accusative you would go to the Curia, you'll take nothing
if you don't start with the dative ! And another says, the Roman
Ciiria cares not for a sheep without wool.' "

And with such like, Hugo continues a considerable space.

''Hearing these things the cardinals were cut to the heart and
gnashed their teeth at him. But they had not the hardihood to
reply ; for the fear of the Lord came over them and the hand of
the Lord was with him. Yet they wondered that he spoke to
them so boldly; and finally it seemed best to them to slip out and
leave him, nor did they question him, saying as the Athenians
to Paul : * We will hear thee again of this matter.' " ^

Hugo's invective is outdone by Salimbene's closing scorn.

And now (to return to Salimbene's journey) here at
Hy^res in the year 1248 many notaries and judges, and
physicians and other men of learning, were assembled to
hear Brother Hugo speak of the Abbot Joachim's doctrines,
and expound Holy Scripture, and predict the future. "And

1 From Novati, ox, pp. 415, 416; lion. Germ. pp. 226 sqg. Cf. pp. 97 s^q. of
tlie Panna ed.



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CHAP, xxn THE WORLD OF SALIMBENE 529

I was there to hear him ; for long before I had been instructed