§ 71. THE FllANCISCANS. 413
the other was in the ascendant. The popes were against the Observants. The inward discord lasted throughout the thirteenth century and far into the fourteenth1 and was suppressed, rather than allayed, for the first time by Leo X., who separated the Franciscans into two orders. In the meantime Observants continued to agitate the scheme of St. Francis, and some of them laid down their lives as martyrs for their principles.
The matter in dispute among the Franciscans was the right of the order as a corporation to hold property in fee simple. The papal decisions in favor of such tenure began with the bull of Gregory IX., 1230. It 'allowed the order to collect money through " faithful men " appointed for dis tricts, these monies to be applied to the rearing of con ventual buildings, to missions, and other objects, and to be held in trust for the givers. This privilege was elaborated by Innocent IV., 1245, and was made to include the posses sion of books, tools, houses, and lands. Innocent made the clear distinction between tenure in fee simple and tenure for use and granted the right of tenure for use. By this was meant that the order might receive gifts and bequests and hold them indefinitely as for the donors. This was equiva lent to perpetual ownership, and might be compared to modern thousand-year leases. Innocent also made the tenure of all property within the order subject to the immediate supervision of the pope.
Determined resistance was offeredby the Observants to these papal decrees, and they were persecuted by Elias of Cortona, who vigorously pushed the papal policy. But they were strong and Elias was deposed from the headship of the order by the chapter of 1227. He was reinstated in 1232, but again deposed in 1239. He espoused the cause of Frederick II., and died 1253.
One of the leading men of the wing true to Francis was Brother Leo, the author of what is probably the first biog raphy of Francis, the Speculum Perfectionis, the Mirror of
1 Ubertino da Casale's interpretation of Francis' purpose is given by Knoth, pp. 99 sq.
414 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
Perfection. When the project was bruited of erecting the great church at Assisi over Francis' remains and Elias placed a marble vessel on the site to receive contributions, Leo, who regarded the project as a profanation of the memory of the saint, dashed the vessel to pieces. For this act he was banished, amidst tumult, from Assisi.1
It seemed for a while doubtful which party would gain the upper hand. The Observants were in power under John of Parma, general of the order for ten years, 1247—1257, when he was obliged to resign and retire into strict monastic seclu sion. John was followed by Bonaventura, 1257—1274, the great Schoolman, who, in the main, cast his influence on the side of the Conventuals. The Observants became identified with the dreams of Joachim of Flore and applied his proph ecy of a new religious order to themselves. These views be came a new source of discord and strife lasting for more than a century. Bonaventura pronounced against the adoption of Joachim's views by condemning Gerardo Borgo's Introduction to Joachim's writings. The Life of St. Francis, written by Bonaventura at the mandate of the General Chapter of Narbonne, 1260, and declared the authoritative biography of the saint by the Chapter of 1263, suppressed Francis' will and other materials favorable to the contention of the Observants, and emphasized the churchly and disciplinary elements of the order. The Observants, from this time on, fought a brave but hopeless battle. They could not successfully wage war against the policy pushed by the papal court.
The report that Gregory X., through the acts of the coun cil of Lyons, 1274, intended to force the order to hold prop erty, stirred opposition into a flame and a number of the Ob servants were thrown into prison, including Angelo Clareiio, an influential author. Nicholas III., in the bull Exiit qui seminat? 1279, again made a clear distinction between owning property in fee simple and its tenure for use, and confirmed the latter right. He insisted upon the principle that the pope is the ultimate owner of the property of the order.
1 Sabatier, Speculum, pp. li sq. 2 Potthast, II. 1746.