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Introduction
Brother Thomas of Celano (d. 1260) was the first to write a life of Saint Francis and the first to describe the earliest days of the life of his followers. With his masterful pen he laid the foundation for the rich Franciscan literary tradition of the 13th century by composing two major works: The Life of Saint Francis, commonly referred to as The First Life [Vita Prima], in 1229 and The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul, commonly referred to as The Second Life [Vita Secunda] in 1247.1 Thomas also wrote two other works on Saint Francis, The Legend for Use in the Choir [Legenda ad Usum Chori] in 1230 and The Treatise on the Miracles [Tractatus de Miraculis B. Francisci] in 1254. Except for his presence at the Pentecost Chapter at the Portiuncula in 1221 and for his part in the subsequent mission of the friars to Germany, there is little other known evidence about Thomas’s life. No scholarly biography of his life has ever been written.2
Thomas’s birth, into the noble family of the Conti dei Marsi, occurred sometime between 1185-1190. The city of his birth, Celano, is a small city in the Abruzzi, twenty miles southeast of Aquila in the mountains southeast of Rome.3 His exceptional writing ability indicates Thomas received a solid liberal arts education in the basic curriculum of study in the Middle Ages, the trivium and quadrivium, possibly at the Benedictine monastery of Saint John the Baptist near Celano. His knowledge of the monastic literary tradition as well as his theological acumen supports the opinion that he studied theology, perhaps at Monte Cassino, Rome or Bologna.4 Thomas probably includes himself in the remark he makes in The Life of Saint Francis that, at the Portiuncula, after Saint Francis returned from Spain in 1215 “some literate men and nobles gladly joined him.”5 Thomas prefaces this comment in a rare autobiographical reference by indicating that the God who brought Francis back from Spain to Italy “was pleased to be mindful of me and many others.”6
During the Chapter of 1221 Thomas was among the brothers chosen for the mission to Germany.7 After arrival in Germany, he was elected to the office of custodian to lead the friars of Worms, Speyer, and Cologne. Later, on the recommendation of Brother Caesar of Speyer, Thomas became the vicar of all the brothers of Germany. It is not known why he returned to Italy, but by July 16, 1228, he was most likely back in Assisi for the canonization of Saint Francis. His
- The editors have chosen to use the title used by Thomas in describing his major works. Since there was no question of his writing a "second life" of Saint Francis at the time he wrote his "first life," Thomas entitled his work, simply The Life of Saint Francis. When asked to supplement that work with remembrances unknown or overlooked at the time, Thomas entitled his second work The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul. It is a title inspired by Isaiah 26: 8, "your name and your remembrance are the desire of my soul." Since the majority of this work is dedicated to Francis’s pursuit of virtues—only the first twenty-five numbers of Thomas’s work are "biographical" in nature—Thomas’s title expresses more fully its nature.
- Studies on Thomas’s life are few. The following are available: Sophronius Clasen, "Vom Franziskus der Legende zum Franziskus der Geschicthe," Wissenschaft und Weisheit, 29 (1966):15-29; Engelbert Grau, "Thomas of Celano: Life and Work," trans. Xavier John Seubert, Greyfriars Review v.8, 2 (1994): 177-200; Giovanni Odoardi, "Tommaso da Celano e S. Francesco," in Tommaso da Celano e la sua opera di biografo di S. Francesco. Atti del Convegno di studio: Celano, Novembre 29-30,1982 (Celano,1985), 105-23; N. Petrone, "Note biografiche su fra Tommaso da Celano," in Fra Tommaso da Celano storico-poeta e santo, a cura di N. Petrone, Tagliacozzo 1992, 9-15.
- Cf. Odoardi, Giovanni, Fra Tommaso da Celano, storico letterato poeta uomo di virtù (Tagliacozzo: S. Francesco)1969.
- Cf. Odoardi, Fra Tommaso, 10.
- Thomas of Celano, The Life of Saint Francis, 57 (hereafter 1C).
- 1C 56.
- In naming those who were chosen to embark on a mission to Germany, Jordan lists in fourth place "Thomas of Celano, who later wrote both the first and the second legends of Saint Francis." Cf. Jordan of Giano, Chronicle 19 (hereafter ChrJG).