Add MS 74285

Regula Ascetica: a collection of monastic rules, statutes and papal bulls relating to Franciscan poverty; circa 1320. Latin. This collection of Constitutiones, both general and provincial, bulls, statuta and letters, contains information relevant to the divisive dispute between the Spiritual and Conventual factions of the Franciscan Order concerning poverty, up to 1317. It includes Nicholas III’s decretal Exiit qui seminat of 1279, by which he attempted to reconcile the factions (f. 68v), Clement V’s Exivi in paradiso of 1312, responding to the complaints of the Spirituals (f. 81), the revision of the Statutes undertaken by Michael of Cesena, following his election as Minister General, 31 May 1316 (f. 50), and Michael’s Lettera protectoris, written at Avignon in 1317 following his visit to see five Spirituals detained by the Pope, four of whom were condemned to death (f. 100). Pope John XXII subsequently denounced elements within the Spirituals in his bull Sancta Romana, issued in December 1317. In 1321 the issue of Franciscan poverty once again became contentious, but the absence of relevant material in the present volume suggests that it was composed before this date, which is supported by the evidence of the script and decoration employed. ‘464 L.C. Gaboureau’, 19^th cent. ownership inscription, in upper margin, f. 1. ‘464’also appears in dark ink and faded ink on f. 1, top right and bottom left, as well as in pencil on f. i, top left. Small rectangular paper label, edged with two blue lines, with ‘Q.7’ penned in black, pasted in as f. ii, inside front board. Purchased at Christie’s, 2 June 1999, lot 34.

Vellum; ff. iii+136. 136 x 108mm. Collation i¹⁴, ii⁴ (? of 6, 3 and 4 cancelled blanks), iii¹², iv¹⁰ (of 12, wanting 7 and 8), v¹⁰ (wants 1 and 2), vi¹⁶ (5-8 and 9-12 two sets of bifolia sewn between the conjoint bifolium 4/13), vii-viii¹², ix¹¹ (of 12, 10 cancelled blank), x-xi¹², xii¹¹ (of 12, 9 cancelled blank), with original foliation, 1-144, inked in brown, upper right, and catchwords, set within embellished penwork frames, in the middle of the lower margin. Text block of 28 lines written in a single column, in brown-black ink, in a small round Gothic bookhand, between two verticals and 29 horizontals ruled in brown ink, measuring 104 x 62. Two-line and three-line initials in either red or blue, with extensive penwork decoration, often in both colours, rubrics in red, capitals touched in red, paraphs alternating between red and blue. 18th-cent. binding of mottled calf, spine gilt in six compartments with citron lettering-piece, bearing title ‘REGULÆ ASCETICA’.

Contents:

1. ff. 1-16v. Tabula constitutionibus generalibus et provincialibus et statutis of Alexander of Alexandria (d. 1314) and Michael of Cesena (d. 1342), Ministers General of the Order of the Friars Minor.

2. ff. 19-41v. Constitutiones Generales.

3. ff. 41v-50. Constitutiones Provinciales.

4. ff. 50-51v. Michael of Cesena, Minister General, Bologna 1316.

5. ff. 51v-52v. Constitutio of Pope Clement V, Avignon, April 1310.

6. ff. 52v-54v. Statuta of Alexander of Alexandria, Minister General, Florence, 1313.

7. ff. 55-56. Proclamation of Michael of Cesena, Minister General, Avignon, 1317.

8. ff. 59-62. Rule of the Franciscan Order.

9. ff. 62v-74v. Exiit qui seminat, bull of Nicholas III of 1279.

10. ff. 75-82. Exivi de paradiso, bull of Clement V of 1312.

11. ff. 83-93v. Rule of the Order of St Clare.

12. ff. 94-100v. Lettera protectoris of Michael of Cesena, Avignon, 1317.

13. ff. 102-126. Rule of St Benedict.

14. ff. 126v-131. Rule of St Augustine.

15. ff. 132v-133v. Added text on rules governing the Clarissians.