Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/36

 20 THE SPIRITUAL FRANCISCANS. Suddenly, in 1254, Paris was startled with the appearance of a book under the title of " The Everlasting Gospel "—a name derived from the Apocalypse—" And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" (Rev. xiv. 6). It consisted of Joachim's three un- doubted works, with explanatory glosses, preceded by a long In- troduction, in which the hardy author developed the ideas of the prophet audaciously and uncompromisingly. The daring vent- ure had an immediate and immense popular success, which shows how profoundly the conviction which prompted it was shared among- all classes. The rhvmes of Jean de Meung indicate that the demand for it came from the laity rather than the clergy, and that it was sought bv women as well as bv men — " Ung livre de par le grant diable Dit l'Evangile pardurable . . . A Paris n'eust home ne feme Au parvis devant Xostre-Dame Qui lors avoir ne le p£ust A transcrire, s'il li pleust." * Nothing more revolutionary in spirit, more subversive of the established order of the Church, can be conceived than the asser- tions which thus aroused popular sympathy and applause. Joa- chim's computations were accepted, and it was assumed absolute- ly that in six years, in 1260, the reign of Christ would end and the reign of the Holy Ghost begin. Already, in 1200, the spirit of life had abandoned the Old and Xew Testaments in order to give place to the Everlasting Gospel, consisting of the Concordia, Joachim had already used the term Everlasting Gospel to designate the spiritual interpretation of the Evangelists, which was henceforth to rule the world. His disciple naturally considered Joachim's commentaries to be this spiritual interpretation, and that they constituted the Everlasting Gospel to which he furnished a Gloss and Introduction. The Franciscans were necessarily the contemplative Order intrusted with its dissemination. (See Denifle, Archiv fur Littcratur- etc., 1885, pp. 54-59, 61.) According to Denifle (pp. 67-70) the publication of Gherardo consisted only of the Introduction and the Concordia. The xVpocalypse and the Decachordon were to follow, but the venturesome en- terprise was cut short.
 * Renan, Xouvelles Etudes, p. 296.