Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/58

 42 THE SPIRITUAL FRANCISCANS. Such men, filled with the profoundest conviction of their holy calling, were not to be controlled by either kindness or severity. It was in vain that the general, Giovanni di Murro, at the chapter of 1302, held in Genoa, issued a precept deploring the abandonment, by the Order, of holy poverty, as shown by the possession of lands and farms and vineyards, and the assumption by friars of duties which involved them in worldly cares and strife and litigation. He ordered the sale of all property, and forbade the members of the Order from appearing in any court. Yet while he was thus rigid as to the ownership of property, he was lax as to its use, and condemned as pernicious the doctrine that the vow of poverty in- volved restriction in its enjoyment. He was, moreover, resolved on extinguishing the schism in the Order, and his influence with Boni- face was one of the impelling causes of the continued persecution of the Spirituals. They stubbornly rejected all attempts at recon- ciliation, and placed a true estimate on these efforts of reform. Before the year was out Giovanni was created Cardinal Bishop of Porto, and was allowed to govern the Order through a vicar ; the reforms were partially enforced in some provinces for a short time ; then they fell into desuetude, and matters went on as before.* In France, where the influence of Joachim and the Everlasting Gospel was much more lasting and pronounced than in Italy, the career of the Spirituals revolves around one of the most remark- able personages of the period — Pierre Jean Olivi. Born in 1247, he was placed in the Franciscan Order at the age of twelve, and was trained in the University of Paris, where he obtained the baccalaureate. His grave demeanor, seasoned with a lively wit, his irreproachable morals, his fervid eloquence, and the extent of his learning won for him universal respect, while his piety, gentleness, humility, and zeal for holy poverty gained for him a reputation for sanctity which assigned to him the gift of prophecy. That such a man should attach himself to the Spirituals was a matter of course, and equally so was the enmity which he excited by un- sparing reproof of the laxity of observance into which the Order had declined. In his voluminous writings he taught that absolute Litt.- U.K. 1886, p. 385).
 * Wadding, aim. 1302, No. 1-3, 7 ; ann. 1310, No. 9— Franz Ehrle (Arcbiv fiLr