Brother Francis Part 13

The need soon arose. Another fearful storm beat the vessel about to such an extent that the voyage was prolonged far beyond the usual limit. Provisions were exhausted and a famine threatened the unhappy crew. Then Francis, hearing of the distress, crept out from among the horses, explained his presence, and said that he had food which he would be glad to share with them. The legend tells us that the food was miraculously made to last the voyage; the real fact was probably that the basket contained large supplies of beans, and lentils, and macaroni, and such Italian foods that swell in the cooking, and go a long way.

[Sidenote: _In Spain._]

Arriving at Ancona, Francis began to preach. He had a wonderful time, and a great number of clerics and laymen joined the Order. Part of them Francis took with him to the Portiuncula, and offered them to G.o.d as the price of his failure! After watching over them for a few weeks, he left them in good hands, and turned his attention again to foreign mission work. The east had been closed to him, but that was no reason why the west should not open. The enemies of the Christians were as powerful in Spain and North Africa, as in Egypt and the Holy Land. The infidels had just been defeated in battle, and all Europe was talking about the victory gained at Las Navas Tolva. The heart of Francis mourned over these defeated ones. "Supposing they had been defeated,"

he argued, "their natures were still unchanged, their souls were still unsaved." He began to question if their need was not his call. He thought he heard them crying, "Pa.s.s over and help us!" He offered himself to G.o.d for this work, and, taking with him his well-beloved Bernardo di Quintavelle, set out for Spain. He had another rough experience of the sea, but this time he reached his goal without any mishap.

It was autumn when they landed in Spain, and without loss of time, they set off for the interior. At the outset of the journey, a little incident occurred which, though unpleasant at the time, G.o.d over-ruled for good. They were pa.s.sing a vineyard, and Bernardo, who was very thirsty, plucked a bunch of grapes to refresh himself with. This was quite an allowable action in Italy, but Spain appeared to have a different code of morals, and one of the servants of the owner seized Bernardo, called him a rogue and a thief, and insisted upon his paying for what he had taken. Bernardo explained that he had no idea of doing wrong, and that he did not possess the smallest piece of money.

The man s.n.a.t.c.hed at his mantle, and said that would have to pay for it. But Francis, without discussing the matter with the servant, insisted upon seeing the owner of the vineyard. To him he explained the state of affairs; the mantle was given back, Bernardo was apologized to, and the good Spaniard did even more, he offered his services to Francis, and threw open his house, which became a sort of hostelry for the Order, and any brother was always welcome, night or day, to the best that there was.

[Sidenote: _The Will of the Lord._]

Francis' intention was to go straight to the Mussulmans. He even talked of reaching Morocco. But G.o.d led him to stay in Spain longer than he had expected. People were converted everywhere, and branches of the work were established. Who took charge of these new ventures we are not told; doubtless friars from Italy were sent there.

Just as he began to see his way clear to go to the Mussulmans, he was seized with a violent fever. For some time he lay between life and death, and when at last he began to get well, it was perfectly evident that there could be no talk of his going to Morocco. Always submissive, Francis accepted this as the will of the Lord and returned to Italy. The reason why he was led back to the Portiuncula at that particular time seemed to him quite plain afterwards; for, when he got there, he found a number of learned and n.o.ble men waiting to offer themselves to him.

Exactly what Francis did after this is not quite clear. Probably he preached round about the North of Italy, and visited the various branches of the work, instructing novices, and establis.h.i.+ng fresh centres. At the beginning of the next year we find him attending a conference in Rome, respecting the recovery of the Holy Land. While here, he met Dominic for the first time. Dominic was the founder of another kind of Friar Order. He conceived a great admiration for Francis, and tried very hard to get him to consent to amalgamate the two. This Francis never would consent to do, and the two always remained distinct.

[Sidenote: _Ugolin's Visit._]

The decision of the conference was that the Pope himself should lead a crusade into the Holy Land. He left Rome in May, and pa.s.sed through the valley of a.s.sisi, where Francis was presiding over a general Chapter. At Perugia he was taken ill with fever. One of his near relatives, Cardinal Ugolino, accompanied him. This man had heard a great deal about Francis from Cardinal Paul, who had just died, and he thought that now would be a good chance to see for himself. Accordingly, followed by his magnificent suite, he travelled back to a.s.sisi. All he saw filled him with wonder; it bore to him the mark of true holiness. What struck him most was the poverty of it the brethren. He had no idea they carried it so far. He went through the roughly constructed cells, saw the beds made of straw, more like the lairs of wild animals, and he could not restrain his tears.

"Alas!" he cried to those who were with him, "what will become of us who need so many superfluities in our lives!"

Ugolino did not stop there. He felt impelled to offer himself to fill the place of Cardinal Paul as Protector of the Order.

"I offer myself to you," he said to Francis; "if you wish it, I will be your helper, counsellor, and support!"

Francis first of all thanked G.o.d, and then he answered, "It is with all my heart I salute you, the father and Protector of our religion. I wish all my brothers to you consider you as such!"

There are some historians who declare that this friends.h.i.+p--for a very real friends.h.i.+p sprang up between Francis and Ugolino--was no advantage to the Order, but rather harmed it. There is no evidence of this among the best authorities; they lean rather to a contrary opinion, and we are inclined to believe ourselves that the Order would never have developed as it did but for Cardinal Ugolino. He went back and told the Pope what he had seen, and the old man rejoiced greatly.

It was the last joy he had on earth, for he died a few days later.

[Sidenote: _Growth of the Order._]

Time went on, the Order spread and spread till it was impossible for one man to do justice to the whole. To meet the growing need for oversight, Italy was divided into several provinces, these provinces were to be directed by brothers who were called "Ministers" or "Provincial Servants." Francis named Peter Catani for Umbria, Elias for Tuscany, Bennet of Arezzo for the Marches of Ancona, John of Stracchai for Lombardy, Daniel for Calabria. Then it was also decided that Bernardo di Quintavelle was to take charge of Spain, and John of Penna, Germany. Francis himself was to take France, a land he had always been especially drawn to. It was through the intervention of Ugolino that he forewent this mission. Francis stopped at Florence on his way to tell him of his journey. Ugolino saw what Francis could not see, that in view of all their new ventures he could not afford to leave the country just then. Francis argued that he could not stay at home in safety and let the brothers go abroad on dangerous missions, it would raise talk. Ugolino wanted to know if Italy wasn't big enough for him. Francis replied that G.o.d had raised them up for the good of the whole world.

"Perhaps so," said Ugolino, "but in any case _you_ cannot go away yet without imprudence. Your Order is only just started, you know the opposition it met with at first; its enemies are not yet disarmed, and your presence is necessary to defend and maintain it."

Francis saw that Ugolino spoke wisely, and he gave in and stayed at home. For some time he was the guest of the Cardinal, and their mutual liking for each other was greatly increased. The more Ugolino saw of Francis the more he loved him, and though he could not see eye to eye with him in everything at first, he eventually came round to his ways.

As much as possible Francis lived his simple manner of life in the Cardinals palace. He prayed and meditated, he went out to preach and to beg, and he even brought back his alms into the palace! One day there were a great many people at the table, and Francis was eating the sc.r.a.ps he had begged. Some of the guests began to joke him about it, but Francis maintained that his food was angels' bread, and if they liked he would share it with them. All--prelates, knights and n.o.bles--accepted willingly, some ate their portion, others put it by to keep as a memento. But Ugolino was a little hurt. He took Francis aside and said--

[Sidenote: _A Quarrel._]

"Ah, my brother, wherefore all this begging; you hurt me. Do you not know that my house is yours and your brethren's?"

"My lord," answered Francis, "I have not affronted you; I think I have honored you by imitating in your house our Lord Jesus Christ who taught us to love poverty. For, indeed, I mean only to follow the footsteps of my Master!"

The Cardinal bowed his head.

"Do, my brother, what seems good to you," he said, "the Lord is with you!"

This visit of Francis' to Florence resulted in the establishment of a large convent on the borders of Tuscany and Umbria. This is how it came about. The powerful family of the lords of Baschi were divided.

The three sons were in open rebellion on account of questions of personal interest, and they were doing their best to drag into this quarrel the numerous friends of their clients and va.s.sals. It was plain to be seen that bloodshed would be the outcome. Francis was very much grieved when he heard of this dissension, and felt that he must do his best to stop it. Accordingly, he visited the three brothers, Ugolino, Buonconte and Ranicu, in turn, and entreated them in the name of Christ to desist. He succeeded in accomplis.h.i.+ng his end, they laid down their arms, amicably settled the vexed question, and a charter of reconciliation was drawn up. Then, wis.h.i.+ng to show their grat.i.tude to Francis, they presented him with a beautiful hill, and, building a monastery on it, begged of him to send friars to establish a work there.

A little later, the Cardinal presided over what was known as the "Chapter of Mats," so called because the brothers lived under little tents made of matting. He was very much surprised at all he saw, and said he never expected to find a well-disciplined army! This was a very important Chapter, and many new Provinces were formed. It was conducted very much like the preceding ones.

[Sidenote: _Failure of the German Mission._]

It was either in the middle or just before this Chapter, that the German-Hungarian expedition returned. Their mission had been an utter failure! When questioned as to the reason of this failure, they answered, unanimously--

"No one knows us; our dress, our loneliness, excite distrust. The clergy have united to drive us away, they called us heretics, and left us without defence or protection. We fell into the hands of wicked men and thieves, who ill-treated us; we had to come away!"

This sounded very badly, but the explanation of it lay in the fact that they did not understand the language of the people they went to!

How it happened that they were sent, not knowing the language, we cannot say. Perhaps Francis thought that French and Italian would be spoken, or, at least, understood in these countries, or it may be he expected them to be endowed with the gift of tongues. Those who went to Germany knew but one word of the language, "ja"--"yes." In the first town they entered they attracted a great deal of notice, and people asked them if they would like food and a lodging. They did not understand a word of what was said, but they smiled and said "ja."

Finding themselves well treated, they determined to use this expression on all occasions.

Unfortunately, the next one asked them if they were heretics, and had come to Germany to preach an evil doctrine. When they again smiled and answered "ja," to their grief and amazement, they were cast into prison, and after having been ill-treated for some time, were driven out of the country.

At the close of the "Chapter of Mats," Francis announced that he was about to proceed to Egypt to preach to the Sultan. Ugolino had decided that things were now on such a solid foundation that he could with safety leave the Order while he took this long journey.

CHAPTER XV.

FRANCIS' VISIT TO THE SULTAN. DISCOURAGEMENTS.

"I must not fail Nor be discouraged. In the work of G.o.d No man may turn or falter."

Francis and his companion Illuminato set out for Egypt with the intention of making straight for the Sultan. They travelled with one of the Crusading parties, which, by a curious coincidence, was commanded by John of Brienne, brother to that Walter of Brienne whom Francis would have enlisted under, only G.o.d sent him back to his native town! That Francis made a good impression upon the Crusaders we know, for one of their number writes of him:--

"We saw Brother Francis, Founder of the Order of Minors, arrive; he is a simple man, but very lovable, and dear to G.o.d as well as to men, and is much respected by all."

The impression the Crusaders made upon Francis was not so favorable!

There was a great deal of discord among them. The Knights looked down on the men-at-arms, and the men-at-arms called the Knights treacherous.

Francis had grave doubts as to the result of _their_ expedition from the beginning. Immediately upon landing, the Crusaders had planned to do battle with the Saracens. This line of action was totally opposed to Francis' ideas of Christianity.

"I know, by a revelation of the Lord," he said to Illuminato, "that they will be defeated in this attempt. If I tell them so, they will treat me as a madman; and, on the other hand, if I do not tell them my conscience will condemn me. What do you think I ought to do?"

"My brother," said Illuminato, who was a man of virtue and intelligence, "what does the world's judgment matter to you? If they say you are mad, it will not be the first time they have said so! Do not burden your conscience; fear G.o.d rather than man!"

So Francis was true to his conscience, and warned the Crusaders, but they laughed him to scorn! They rushed into a battle, and were utterly defeated. Six thousand Christians were killed or taken prisoners.

During the battle Francis was very anxious and unhappy, and often he wept bitterly for those whom he had tried to save!

Now that force had failed, Francis felt that his time had come. He would go to the Sultan. The Crusaders, what were left of them, in their turn, tried to dissuade him. They told him that he could not get from one camp to another without being killed, and that the Sultan had offered a golden reward to anyone who would bring the head of a Christian. He replied that he did not fear death, and would make the attempt. First though, before he set out, he went to one of the Cardinals who were with the Crusaders, and told him what he proposed doing. A contemporary writer preserves for us this interview. He writes, probably in a letter to some friend--

[Sidenote: _Two Clerks._]