§ 68. THE MENDICANT ORDERS. 385
ful olive which Dominic, of most glorious memory, had planted in the field of the Church.1 In 1257 Alexander IV. could congratulate all parties that tranquillity had been established.2
At Paris and Oxford, Cologne, and other universities, they furnished the greatest of the Schoolmen. Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, Durandus, were Dominicans ; John of St. Giles, Alexander Hales, Adam Marsh, Bonaventura, Duns Scotus, Ockham, and Roger Bacon were of the order of St. Francis. Among other distinguished Franciscans of the Middle Ages were the exegete Nicolas of Lyra, the preachers Anthony of Padua, David of Augsburg, Bernardino of Siena, and Bertholdt of Regensburg (d. 1272) ; the mis sionaries, Rubruquis and John of Monte Corvino ; the hymn-writers, Thomas of Celano and Jacopone da Todi. Among Dominicans were the mystics, Eckhart and Tauler, Las Casas, the missionary of Mexico, and Savonarola.
The fifth notable feature was the immediate subjection of the two orders to the Apostolic see. The Franciscans and Dominicans were the first monastic bodies to vow allegiance directly to the pope. No bishop, abbot, or general chapter intervened between them and him. The two orders became his bodyguard and proved themselves to be the bulwark of the papacy. Such organized support the papacy had never had before. The legend represents Innocent III. as having seen in a vision the structure of the Lateran supported by two monks.3 These were Francis and Dominic, and the facts of history justified the invention. They helped the pope to establish his authority over the bishops.4 And wherever
1 Chartul., I. 309-313, gives Humbert's long letter.
2 Chartul., I. 381. See chapter on Universities.
8 Villani, V. 25, says, " This vision was true, for it was evident the Church of God was falling through licentiousness and many errors, not fearing God."
4 Bishop Creighton, Hist. Lectures, p. 112, says, "The friars were far more destructive to ecclesiastical jurisdiction than any Nonconformist body could be, at the present day, to the influence of any sensible clergyman." He is speaking of the Anglican Church. 2c
386 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
they went, and they were omnipresent in Europe, they made it their business to propound the principle of the supremacy of the Holy See over princes and nations and were active in strengthening this supremacy. In the struggle of the em pire with the papacy, they became the persistent enemies of Frederick II. who, as early as 1229, banished the Franciscans from Naples. When Gregory IX. excommunicated Fred erick in 1239, he confided to the Franciscans the duty of publishing the decree amidst the ringing of bells on every Sunday and festival day. And when, in 1245, Innocent IV. issued his decree against Frederick, its announcement to the public ear was confided to the Dominicans.
Favor followed favor from the Roman court. In 1222 Honorius III. granted, first to the Dominicans and then to the Franciscans, the notable privilege of conducting services in their churches in localities where the interdict was in force.1 Francis' will, exhorting his followers not to seek favors from the pope, was set aside. In 1227 Gregory IX. granted his order the right of general burial in their churches2 and a year later repeated the privilege conceded by Honorius3 granting them the right of celebrating mass in all their oratories and churches.4 They were exempted from epis copal authority and might hear confessions at any place. The powerful Gregory IX. from the very beginning of his pontificate, showed the orders great favor.5
Orthodoxy had no more zealous champions than the Fran ciscans and Dominicans. They excelled all other orders as promoters of religious persecution and hunters of heretics. In Southern France they wiped out the stain of heresy with the streams of blood which flowed from the victims of their crusading fanaticism. They were the leading instruments
1 The bulls are dated March 7 and 29. See Potthast, I. 590. The same privilege was conceded to the Carmelites, April 9, 1229.
2 Potthast, I. 697, 721. * June 10, 1228, Potthast, I. 707.
3 Potthast, I. 701, 706. * See Potthast, Nos. 6508, 6542, 6654, etc.