The Third General: Brother Elias

42 How the Brother Elias’ governing harmed the Order 43 His behaviour before and after the death of Saint Francis 44 The opposition of some renowned Friars 45 The use of the mantle 46 Brother Elias is deposed His end 47 Other events in this period

(42) The third General was brother Elias. He was from a castle called Beviglio not far from the city of Assisi. His leadership caused great harm to the Order for as the Seraphic Father Saint Francis told him many times, “Proud Brother Elias, because of your pride you will die outside the Order. I wonder very much that my Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to me that I will leave you as Vicar of the Order. But on the other hand I know that the Lord is just and gives shepherds according to the sheep.” He said this because the Order had already begun to go into decline.

(43) Therefore since he was the Vicar of the whole Order during the sickness and death of Father Saint Francis he ordered some Visitators who visited all the Provinces with great rigour and strictness. He gave them many directives so that on his behalf the Visitators admonished the all Friars that he wanted them to live (the Rule) strictly and he even threatened transgressors. Because of this everyone thought that he was good as General, thinking that that he was truly zealous and not just feigning. So he was elected at the aforementioned Chapter in Assisi. However when he saw himself in the chair he changed style. He sought so many privileges from the Supreme Pontiff that he completely ruined the observance of the Rule, binding every to live according to those privileges. The zealous Friars at that time offered great resistance. Because of his he fixed his gaze on them and having recourse to His Holiness he told him, “Holy Father, if you do not help me I cannot fulfil my office because I have certain Friars who are used to living in their own way and do not want to obey me.” His Holiness replied, “Make them obey you because I will support you in this.” (His Holiness was unaware of problem.) Therefore when Brother Elias left His Holiness he began to visit the whole Order and where ever he arrived he gave sermons in which he proposed to the Friars that His Holiness had obliged on them to obey him and said, “If anyone opposes me, let him prepare him also.”

His fury was such that first of all he started to imprison the companions of Saint Francis and to scourge others severely. He brought such fear that many of them fled into remote places. This was the case with blessed Bernard who whom a timber cutter found on a mountain, because this servant of God staid hidden in some caves. He imprisoned some. Bound to a column they were not even allowed to attend to the necessities of nature. Rather, standing up to their knees in filth, they died there.

(44) Then there rose up the glorious confessor of Christ, Brother Anthony of Lisbon or of Padua, Brother Adam and other very venerable, zealous and holy Fathers. With great zeal they opposed Brother Elias. However because he was very powerful and highly regarded in the world, he had organises spies everywhere so that no Friar could go to His Holiness. All the letters of those poor fellows were stopped and the Friars were imprisoned. Because of this even these zealous Fathers could not have recourse to His Holiness.

(45) Brother Elias had also order the Friars not to wear the mantle. However Brother Caesar of Germany and other companions of blessed Francis opposed him and said to him, “Our Father Saint Francis told us that wearing a mantle is more in accordance with the Rule than wearing a second tunic, and when we went with him we always wore it. Because on a journey, although we wore the tunic, it was necessary also to wear the mantle because of the rain. Often the Friars were found to have three garments without necessity, which is against the Rule. Being unable to stop them because they did not want to obey him, he commanded them not to wear it outside the friary. Out of contempt he called them the sect of amantellati.

Not long after, blessed Caesar was put in prison where he stayed for a long time. The one who was looking after him opened the prison one morning to take away the muck. The holy man went to stand in a sunray that shone nearby because he wanted to warm himself a little. Because of this, when the Lay Friar responsible for him returned, he thought that Brother Caesar wanted to escape. Picking up a piece of wood he hit him on the head. At this blow the holy man fell down dead. All shining and glorious and with a palm in his hand he appeared the following night to the holy Pontiff who asked him who he was. He answered, “I am Brother Caesar of Germany, once the companion of the Seraphic Francis. With the palm of martyrdom I have flown to heaven. However you will have to account to the Lord God why under your shadow Brother Elias has scattered and imprisoned all the Friars who want to follow the footsteps of Saint Francis.

At that same time Saint Anthony, since he could not gain access, dressed in secular clothing and gained access to the Supreme Pontiff and revealed to him the behaviour of Brother Elias.

(46) The holy Pontiff wanted to provide for this disorder and had the General Chapter convoked in Rome. With his pride exposed, when Brother Elias came he deposed him from the Generalate. Angered at this Brother Elias approached the Emperor Frederick, a schismatic and the worst enemy of Holy Church. Applying himself to alchemy he gathered a great treasure for the Emperor. When later he recognised his error, he wrote many letters to the Minister General at that time who was Brother Albert of Pisa. The General put them in his pocket, got sick and died. Brother Elias also got sick at the same time and died. After the death of the General the letters were found in his pocket since he had hoped to go to Rome to supplicate His Holiness so that he would give Brother Elias his blessing again, whom he had excommunicated. However the death of the General intervened and this was regarded as justly ordained by God. For just as Brother Elias had stopped the letters to His Holiness written by those servants of God whom he persecuted, so the letters he had written for his own salvation were rightly stopped.

All this is taken from the ancient Chronicles of the Order.

(47) At the same time, that is, the year of the Lord 1230, Saint Anthony of Lisbon, a remarkable confessor of Christ and famous for miracles, passed away to the Lord. Because of the miracles that the divine Anthony did, the following year His Holiness moved with all his court, and to the joy of all, in the city of Spoleto with great pomp he wrote him into the catalogue of Saints on the day of Pentecost, during the sixth year of his Pontificate. At the beginning of Vespers the holy Pontiff himself intoned the antiphon: O great doctor.

At the same time Elizabeth, the great servant of God and queen, daughter of the king of Hungary, after her husband had already died, to the habit of Saint Francis in the Third Order. Having persevered in harsh penances and remarkable dedication to works of mercy, she passed away to the Lord, glorious and full of miracles. The holy Pontiff Gregory IX canonised her at the same time.

At the same time in the city of Valencia in the kingdom of Aragon, under possession of the Moors at the time, two Friars Minor preached their holy faith and condemned to wicked Mohammedan sect. The Moors martyred them and they flew to heaven with the palm of holy martyrdom. Their bodies rest in the friary in Teruel in the province of Aragon.