Ubertinus de Casale (Hubertinus de Casali/Ubertino da Casale/Umbertino da Casale/Ubertinus de Illia/de Monte Ferrate, 1259 - after 1328)
Ubertinus de Casale (Hubertinus de Casali/Ubertino da Casale/Umbertino da Casale/Ubertinus de Illia/de Monte Ferrate, 1259 - after 1328) OM. Italian friar. According to his principal work, the Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu , he was born in Casale Monferrato (Piemont) in 1259 and he entered the Franciscan order in 1273. Between 1285 and 1289 he was in Tuscany to pursue his studies and got involved with a circle of devout lay people (among whom the Sienese Peter Pettinagno). In Florence, he also became acquainted with Peter Olivi, who was lector at the studium of St. Croce in Florence between 1287 and 1289. According to some, Ubertino studied at Paris between 1289 and 1298. The contacts with the tertiary Angela Foligno would have put an end to this part of his life. According to the majority of scholars, however, Ubertino studied in Paris between 1274 and 1283, which means that he would have gone to Tuscany afterwards (1285-1289). After his stay in Florence, where he worked with/under Peter John Olivi, Ubertino would then have devoted himself to ca. 5 years of preaching in Central Italy, and came in contact with Angelo Foligno. He was in any case (again?) lector for ca. 4 years (from 1298 to 1302), either at Florence, or (less probable) at Siena. And he spent much of his time preaching in the neighbourhood (especially in Perugia). Apparently, Ubertino was suspended from his preaching tasks, due to his attacks on the regular clergy, his criticism of the papacy of Boniface VIII, and his overt contacts with the spirituals. He was summoned to Rome by pope Benedict XI, but he was soon released, and he was assigned a period of spiritual retreat on mount Alverna (1304-5), where he composed between 9 March and 28 September 1305 the first version of his Arbor Vitae (on the request of the friars of la Verna): a lengthy spiritual-eschatological treatise in five books. The work, which probably received its final redaction between 1326 and 1329, had a reasonable success in Latin, and received a wide range of vernacular adaptations in the late Middle Ages, especially in the Low Countries [There we find manifold direct (partial) adaptations, with titles as Der Rosengarten Jesu und Marias ; Vanden inwindigen lijden ons liefs heeren Jesu Christi , Oefening van St. Ubertinus ; Hubertynus spreect vander maghet marien , as well as many instances in which the Arbor Vitae is used as source material for other vernacular works of private devotion, such as Johannes Brugman’s Devote Oefeninge and Een trostelic Hantboucxkin , composed by the Carmelite Franciscus Amery. For more information on such matters, see esp. the article of Ruh, Verfasserlexikon ² IV, 217ff] From 1306 onwards Ubertino became a member of the household of cardinal Napoleone Orsini, pontifical legate in Toscane. He was commissioned by the cardinal in 1307 to conduct the process against the sect of the free spirit in Arezzo. He also tried to negociate - without success - a return of the black Guelfs to Florence, who had been exiled by their adversaries. In the context of these activities, he probably met Dante Alighieri. (see Paradiso XII, 124). [He might already have met Dante between 1285-1289, when Dante apparently frequented the Florentine studium of the St. Croce.] Between 1309 and 1310, Ubertino traveled to the court in Avignon (under Orsini's protection), at a time when pope Clemence V tried to resolve the tensions within the Franciscan order by instituting a committee (filled with friars of both denominations) to look into the problems that fractured the Franciscan Order. Ubertino probably was a member of this committee, and in any case produced a substantial number of polemical writings and actively worked at the papal curia alongside of Angelo Clareno in order to get recognition for the spirituals (autonomy) and to defend the works of Olivi. The new pope John XXII was more heavy-handed concerning the conflict, however. He believed in obedience and ordered the spirituals to submit themselves. At the same time, he seemed somewhat concerned with Ubertino's wellfare, and the pope had him enter the Benedictine monastery of Gembloux (1317). But it is questionable whether Ubertino ever went there. He continued to work near Avignon under the protection of cardinal Orsini. In 1319 he was accused of heresy by Bonegratia of Bergamo. In 1322, Ubertino once more intervened in a new dispute, which this time was concentrated more closely on the poverty of Christ and the apostles. This new conflict - in which Pope Joh XXII took an active part - ended with a papal condemnation of the Franciscan positions on the absolute poverty of Christ. In this period Ubertino again wrote several polemical statements, which in good Olivian vein stressed usus pauper (without necessarily needing to uphold the fiction of lack of possessions). Several of his arguments probably were used by the pope himself for during his altercations the order about the absolute poverty of Christ and hence the lack of possessions of the order, whichhad made the pope the official owner of Franciscan goods, something the pope wanted to get rid of. In 1325 a new process of heresy against Ubertino was launched at the curia. But Ubertino escaped arrest by secretly stealing away, again with support of the Orsini's. On 18 april of 1328, Ubertino was in Rome, where he delivered a strong statement against the pope in the presence of the emperor Louis of Bavaria. Thereafter Ubertino's trace is lost. He might have been assassinated, like the spirituals claimed. Or he might have kept out of sight in a Benedictine or even a Carthusian house under the protection of the emperor. works Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu : In all there are 34 or more mss that contain (parts of) the Arbor Vitae (10 mss contain all the 5 books). For a more or less complete listing, see P.B. Guyot, `L'Arbor vitae crucifixae Iesu' d'Ubertin de Casale et ses emprunts au `De articulis fidei' de s. Thomas d'Aquin', in: Studies Honoring Ignatius Brady, Friar Minor (new York, 1976), 300-304 & Daniele Solvi, 'Nuove evidenze sull'apocrifo francescano «Absorbeat» (con un censimento della tradizione manoscritta dell'«Arbor vite» di Ubertino da Casale)', Filologia mediolatina. Rivista della Fondazione Ezio Franceschini 27 (2020), 257-282: a.o. MSS BAV. Vat.Lat. 4319 and 7732 (see Etzkorn, IVF); Assisi, Bibl. Comunale 338; Toulouse Bibl. Municipale 224. For a very nice early fifteenth-century manuscript that can be read on-line (and downpoaded as pdf), see: http://weblioteca.uv.es/cgi/view7.pl?sesion=201603191458525384&source=uv_ms_0289÷=1&mini=1&mend=60 [the Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu consists of five books: presenting Christ as the actor et materia, finis et forma of this work and life in general. The first deals with the eternal birth of the Son from the father up to the birth of Mary. The second runs from Jesus’ circumcision to the teachings of John the Baptist. The third deals with the preaching of Jesus until the Last Supper. The fourth book exlores the Passion and the Resurrection, until the Ascension of Christ and the ascencion of Mary. The fifth deals with the renovation of faith throughout church history and contains a lengthy Apocalypse commentary, heavily dependent on the Apocalypse commentary of Olivi. The five books together form a tree of life, centered on the incarnation (a simile obtained from Bonaventure’s Lignum Vitae . Book One is the root, Book Two the stemm, Book Three and Four the branches and the twigs, Book Five the fruits.). The work presents the possibility to imitate Christ via meditation on the deeds of Christ during his lifetime (notably the crucifixion). The work therefore offers a method/road of perfection by which the self can be fully transformed into the likeness of Christ. Overall, the Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu is heavily dependent on Bonaventure (esp. Breviloquium , Apologia Pauperum , Ligum Vitae , De Triplici Via ), and the writings of Olivi. He also makes abundant use of Thomas Aquinas ( Summa Theologiae, De Articulis Fidei et Ecclesiae Sacramentis ), Bernard of Clairveaux (esp. Sermones super Cantica and the Sermones per Annum ). Especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, the work had a great influence on European Passion devotion, and parts taken from its first four books (whether prose sections or its lamentations and hymns on the Virgin) can be found in many Latin and vernacular prayer books and meditation manuals. The work also had a definite impact in the Observant and Capuchin milieu] For editions, see: Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu , ed. Andrea de Bonetis (Venice, 1485; reproduced with introduction of C.T. Davies (Turin: Bottega d’Erasmo, 1961); a translation of Book IV was printed in 1564 in Foligno by Lorenzo da Foiana OP; A new edition of book four is being prepared by Carlos Martínez Ruiz. A poem on the lamentation of the Virgin at the foot of the cross ( Arbor Vitae Book 4, chapter 25), has been edited in D.L. Jeffrey, The Early English Lyric and Franciscan Spirituality (London, 1975), 269-271. See also the studies of C.M. Martínez Ruíz and Daniele Solvi. Book Five of the Arbor Vitae received a partial English translation as: ‘The Tree of the Crucified Life of Christ. Book Five (Excerpts)’, in: Francis of Assisi. Early Documents, Vol. III: The Prophet , ed. Regis J. Armstrong, J.A. Wayne Hellmann & William J. Short (Hyde Park NY-London-Manila: New City Press, 1999), 139-203. A new, Spanish version has appeared as: Arbol de la vida crucificada. Fr. Ubertino de Casale , ed. Luis Pérez Simón, Publicaciones Instituto Teológico Franciscano, Serie Mayor, 46 (Murcia: Publicaciones Instituto Teológico Franciscano, 2007) [see review in AFH 103 (2010), 517f. The 1485 Venice version can now be accessed in digital fashion, for instance on http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/2022701/oai_bibliotecavirtualandalucia_juntadeandalucia_es_8192.html, on http://fondosdigitales.us.es/fondos/libros/395/502/arbor-vitae-crucifixae-jesu-christi/, or on http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k607511 Tractatus de Septem Statibus Ecclesiae (attributed): Paris, BN Lat. 3455 ff. 46-149 (16th cent.) Tractatus Ubertini de Altissima Paupertate Christi et Virorum Apostolicorum (March-December 1322): MS Vienna Staatsbibl. 809 ff. 128r-159v . Inc: Ego sum via… [Not yet edited? Probably composed between 26 March and 8 December 1322. Largely dependent on the Quaestio VIIIa de Perfectione Evangelica of Peter John Olivi]. Rotulus Iste , ed. F. Ehrle , ALKGM (=Archiv für Literatur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters ) 3 (1887), 93-137 [A defense of usus pauper as central element of Franciscan poverty according to the Regula Bullata and Exiit qui Seminat (1279)]. Sanctitati Apostolicae (apology for Olivi, written March-July 1311), ed. F. Ehrle, Archiv für Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters , 3 (1887), 377-416 [Presented at the Council of Vienne, and refutes allegations against the Spirituals and especially the theological, philosophical, and ecclesiological views of Olivi]. Sanctitas Vestra (response to four questions of Clement V, written in 1309), ed. F. Ehrle, Archiv für Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters 3 (1887), 51-89 [Answer to four questions asked by Clement V (1309) on the relationship between the Spirituals and the Free Spirit movement, the existing decadence within the Franciscan order, the abuse of power within the order, and the orthodoxy of Peter John Olivi]. Super Tribus Sceleribus (= Tractatus de Usu Paupere ), ed. Albanus Heysse, AFH 10 (1917), 103-174 [Composed between July and August 1311 in answer to the Circa Materiam de Usu Paupere (1309/1310). Ubertino argues again that not solely the renunciation of property but first and foremost usus pauper defines the essence of Franciscan poverty]. Contra Quasdam Responsiones , ed. Ferdinand Delorme, in: Idem, ‘Notice et extraits d’un manuscrit franciscain’, Collectanea franciscana 15 (1945), 72-82. Declaratio Fratris Ubertini de Casali , ed. F. Ehrle, Archiv für Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters 3 (1887), 162-196 [August 1311. Ubertino’s final response to the poverty arguments of his Franciscan opponents Responsio ad Quaestionem de Paupertate Christi et Apostolorum Iussu Ioannis XXII , ed. several times, for instance in the Tractatus fr. Andreae Richi de Florentia OFM contra Fraticellos , ed. L. Oliger, AFH , 3 (1910), 274-75, AF , 2 (1887), 150-51, Wadding , Annales Minorum , 6 (Quaracchi, 1931), 409-10; BF , ed. C. Eubel Vol. V, 233-234 [Advise written in March 1322 for pope John XXII on the issue of evangelical poverty (esp. the question whether it was heretical to affirm that Christ and the apostles did not possess anything). It was one of the many advisory works written on request of the pope when he was planning to solve the poverty issue with a binding statement. See also Ubertino’s unedited Tractatus Ubertini de Altissima Paupertate Christi et Virorum Apostolicorum . Eventually, (with the bull Ad Conditorem Canonum (8 December 1322) and the bull Cum inter Nonnullos (12 November 1323), pope John XXII decided that evangelical poverty did not mean lack of possession (which in effect was not so far removed from Ubertino’s viewpoint: for Ubertino the issue of usus pauper was far more important than the question of dominium ). Pope John XXII not only dismissed the construct on the basis of which the Franciscan order could have the use of its convents, churches etc without officially having ownership over it, but also ruled that the doctrine of the absolute poverty of Christ and his apostles was heretical, therewith cutting at the root of the main-stream Franciscan defense of evangelical poverty. This lead to a veritable crisis within the order and caused the dissent of formerly obedient Franciscan spokesmen (such as Bonegratia of Bergamo, Michael of Cesena, and William of Ockham), who themselves were not sympathizing with the spiritual cause]. Reducendo Igitur ad Brevitam (March-December 1322), ed. C.T. Davies, in Studi Medievali , 3rd series, 22 (1981), 41-56 [Writen between 26 March and 8 December 1322. In essence an abbreviation of the Tractatus Ubertini de Altissima Paupertate Christi et Virorum Apostolicorum . Beatus Vir (doubtful, 1311-1312), ed. A. Heysse, AFH , 42 (1949), 218-235 [polemical work, written by Ubertino or another spiritual spokesman in the context of the council of Vienne. Cf. Ehrle, ALKGM 3 (1887), 45]. Several other works apparently are lost, such as: Nova Bella Elegit Dominus ; Quoniam Constitutionem ; Diligenter Attende ; Ostendam Vos Fabricatores Mendacii ; Ad Evidentiam ; Ultimo Ponunt Magistri ; Contra Quosdam ; Ne in Posterum [in defense of Olivi]; Sermones [although the Arbor Vitae apparently contains some sermon material. See on this the studies of C. Cenci, C.M. Martínez Ruíz, and A. Martini] Litterae . For a short presentation of these lost works, see also the article of Gian Luca Potestà, in DSpir XVI, 13. literature Juan de San Antonio, Bibliotheca Universa Franciscana III, 134-135; Sbaralea, Supplementum (ed. 1806), 684-685; F. Callaey, L'idéalisme franciscain spirituel au xive siècle, Etude sur Ubertino de Casale (Louvain, 1911); A. Chiappini, ‘Communitatis responsio ‘Religiosi viri’ ad Rotulum fr. Ubertini de Casali’, AFH 7 (1914), 654-675 & 8 (1915), 56-80; L. Oliger, ‘De Relatione inter Observantium Querimonias Constantienses (1415) et Ubertini Casalensis Quoddam Scriptum’, AFH 9 (1916), 3-41; F. Callaey, `L'influence et la diffusion de l' Arbor vitae de Ubertin de Casale', Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique , 17 (1921), 533-546; P.E. Blondeel d’Isegem, ‘L’influence d’Ubertin de Casale sur les écrits de S. Bernardin de Sienne’, Collectanea Franciscana 5 (1935), 5-44 & 6 (1936), 57-76; M. Zugai, ‘Assumptio B.M. Virginis in Arbor vitae (…)’, Miscellanea Franciscana 46 (11946), 124-156; O. v. Asseldonck, `De invloed van Casale op het geestelijk leven in de Nederlanden', Franciskaans Leven , 30 (1947), 112-114; A. Folgado, `La controversia sobre la pobreza franciscana bajo el pontificado de Juan XXII...', La Ciudad de Dios , 172 (1959), 73-133; R. Manselli, ‘Pietro di Giovanni Olivi ed Ubertino da Casale’, Studi Medievali III, 6 (1965), 95-122; P.B. Guyot, `L'Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Iesu' d'Ubertin de Casale et ses emprunts au `De Articulis Fidei' de S. Thomas d'Aquin', Studies Honoring Ignatius Brady, Friar Minor (New York, 1976), 300-304; M. Thomas, ‘Der Gedanke des Lebensbaumes (Lignum Vitae) in der Generation nach Bonaventura’, in: Bonaventura. Studien zu seiner Wirkungsgeschichte , ed. I. Vanderheyden, Franziskanische Forschungen 28 (Werl, 1976), 157-165; G.L. Potestà, `Un secolo di studi sull' `Arbor Vitae'. Chiesa ed escatologica in Ubertino da Casale', Coll. Franc ., 47 (1977), 217-267; K. Ruh, ‘Hubertinus von Casale’, Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon IV 2 , 211-219 [especially on the vernacular traditions in the German lands and especially in the Low Countries]; Charles Davis, Ubertino da Casale and His Conception of ‘Altissima Paupertas’ (Spoleto: Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 1984); G.L. Potesta, Storia ed escatologia in Ubertino da Casale (Rome, 1980); C. Cenci, AFH 79 (1986), 516 n. 1; M. Damiate , Pietà e storia nell'Arbor vitae di Ubertino da Casale (Florence, 1988); G.L. Potestà, `Ideali di santità secondo Ubertino da Casale ed Angelo Clareno', in: Santi e santità nel secolo XIV . Atti del XV Convegno Internazionale Assisi 15-17 ottobre 1987 (Assisi, 1989), 103-137; B. de Margerie, Histoire doctrinale du culte au coeur de Jésus, I: Premières lumières sur l'amour (Paris, 1992); G.L. Potestà, Ubertin de Casale' , DSpir , XVI (1994), 3-15 [with detailed info on works and studies]; J. Adriano de Freitas Carvalho, `Achegas ao estudio da influência da `Arbor vitae' e da `Apocalypsis nova' no século XVI em Portugal', Via Spiritus , 1 (1994), 55-109; Burr, Capitani etc.; Carlos Martínez Ruiz, `Ubertino de Casale autor de dos versiones del `Arbor vitae'', AFH 89 (1996), 447-468; Carlos matteo Martínez Ruíz, ‘Il processo redazionale dell’Arbor vitae crucifixae Iesu’ di Ubertino da Casale’, in: Editori di Quaracchi , 275-278; Mistici Francescani Secolo XIV , 589-673 (includes Italian translations of several parts of the Arbor Vitae); Guido Baldassarri, `Letteratura devota, edificante e morale', in: Storia della letteratura italiana , 211-326; M. Damiata, Aspettando l’Apocalisse in fervore e furore con Ubertino da Casale (Rome, 2000); Carlos Mateo Martínez Ruíz, De la dramatizacíon de los acontecimientos de la Pascua a la Cristología. El cuarto libro del Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Iesu de Ubertino de Casale , Studia Antoniana 41 (Rome, 2000) [a.o. reviews in Collectanea Francescana 70 (2000), 580-584; Analecta T.O.R. 32 (2001), 398-400; Antonianum 75 (2000), 605-607; Carthaginensia 17 (2001), 215-218; Selecc. Franc. 30 (2001), 316-318; Stud. Patav. 48 (2001), 539-541]; Peter Segel, ‘Ubertino da Casale’, LThK 3 X, 338f; Gregory S. Beireich, ‘Franciscan Poverty as a Basis for the Reform of the Church in Ubertino da Casale’s Arbor vitae crucifixae Jesu’, in: Reform and Renewal in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Studies in Honor of Louis Pascoe, S.J. , ed. Thomas M. Izbicki & Christopher M. Bellitto, Studies in the History of Christian Thought, 96 (Leiden-Boston-Köln: Brill, 2000), 50-74; Johannes Schlageter, ‘Ubertino von Casale’, Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart , 4 th Ed VIII (2005), 683; Repertorium fontium historiae medii aevi primum ab Augusto Potthast digestum, nunc cura collegii historicum e pluribus nationibus emendatum et auctum , XI Vols (Rome: Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo, 1962-2007) XI/3-4,251-254; Ubertino da Casale nel VII centenario dell'`Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Iesu' (1305-2005). Atti del Convegno di Studi, La Verna 15 settembre 2005 , ed. Gabriele Zaccagnini = Studi Francescani 104 (Florence, 2007), 3-183 [With the following essays: Daniele Solvi, ‘La figura storica di Ubertino da Casale. Temi e problemi della storiografia recente’, 13-36; Gabriele Zaccagnini, ‘La spiritualità dell‘Arbor vitae crucifixae Iesu’’, 37-97; Marina Soriani Innocenti, ‘Ubertino da Casale predicatore’, 99-146; Nicoletta Baldini, ‘Riflessi dell‘Arbor vitae’ di Ubertino da Casale nella pittura del Trecento', 147-165 (with 15 additional illustrations)]; Paul Vian, ‘Angelo Clareno e Ubertino da Casale: due itinerari a confronto’, in: Angelo Clareno Francescano. Atti del XXXIV Convegno internazionale. Assisi, 5-7 ottobre 2006 , Atti dei Convegni della SISF e del Centro Interuniversitario di Studi Francescani XXIII, n.s. 16 (Spoleto: Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo, 2007), 167-225; Riccardo Quadri, ‘Un prezioso incunabolo della nostra biblioteca: l‘Arbor vitae’ di Ubertino da Casale’, Fogli 29 (Lugano, 2008), 31-37; Stephen Mossman, ‘Ubertino da Casale and the Devotio moderna’, Ons geestelijk erf 80:3 (2009), 199-280; Stefano Brufani, ‘Ubertino da Casale e le mistiche umbre magistri practici’, in: Santa Chiara da Montefalco monaca agostiniana (1268 - 1308) nel contesto socio-religioso femminile , ed. Enrico Menestò (Spoleto: Centro di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo, 2009), 143-162; Barbara Piraccini, ‘Sequela, imitatio e conformitas nell’Arbor vitae di Ubertino da Casale’, Franciscana 11 (2009), 95-123; Luis Pérez Simón, ‘Presencia de Ubertino de Casale (1259-1329) en el Primer Abacedario Espiritual de Francisco de Osuna (1492-1541/2)’, Verdad y Vida 67 (2009), 275-308, 549-574; Ana Paula Tavares Magalhães, ‘O Alter Christus: Cristocentrismo e construção da imagem de Francisco na Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Iesu, de Ubertino de Casale (1305)’, Scintilla. Revista de Filosofia e Mística Medieval 7:2 (2010), 87-126; Alberto Cadili, ‘Ubertino da Casale dopo il 1325: un possibile itinerario’, Franciscan Studies 69 (2011), 257-284; Gian Luca Potestà, ‘Ubertino da Casale e la altissima paupertas, tra Giovanni XXII e Ludovico il Bavaro’, Oliviana 4 (2012) [http://oliviana.revues.org/471]; Valerio Gigliotti, La tiara deposta. La rinuncia al papato nella storia del diritto e della chiesa , Biblioteca della Rivista di Storia e Letteratura Religiosa. Studi, 29 (Florence: Leo S. Olschki Editore, 2013). Review in Collectanea Franciscana 85:1-2 (2015), 285-287; Ubertino da Casale: atti del XLI Convegno internazionale: Assisi, 18-20 ottobre 2013 , ed. Enrico Menestò, Atti dei Convegni della Società internazionale di studi francescani e del Centro interuniversitario di studi francescani. Nuova Serie, 24 (Spoleto: CISAM, 2014) [This contains the following essays: Marco Bartoli, ‘Ubertino nella storiografia, e oltre’, pp. 3-26; Antonio Montefusco, ‘Autoritratto del dissidente da giovane. Gli anni della formazione di Ubertino nel primo Prologo dell'"Arbor vitae"’, pp. 27-82; Marina Soriani Innocenti, ‘Ubertino da Casale, "fervens praedicator evangelicae veritatis"’, pp. 83-112; Carlos Mateo Martínez Ruiz, ‘Historia y proceso redaccional del "Arbor vitae"’, pp. 113-148; Riccardo Parmeggiano, ‘Ubertino e lo "Spiritus libertatis"’, pp. 149-188; Francesco Verderosa, ‘Ubertino e le fonti francescane’, pp. 189-216; Paolo Vian, ‘"Noster familiaris solicitus et discretus": Napoleone Orsini e Ubertino da Casale’, pp. 217-298; Roberto Lambertini, ‘Ubertino contro la Comunità: argomenti e posta in gioco’, pp. 299-324; Alberto Cadili, ‘L'"enigma" degli ultimi anni di Ubertino da Casale’, pp. 325-402; Sylvain Piron, ‘La réception de l'oeuvre et de la figure d'Ubertin de Casale’, pp. 403-442]; Felice Accrocca, ‘Il punto su Ubertino da Casale. Nota di lettura’, Il Santo. Rivista francescana di storia, dottrina e arte 55 (2015), 317-334; Carlos M. Martínez Ruiz, ‘La figura de María en el ‘Arbor Vite Crucifixe Iesu‘ de Ubertino de Casale ’, Collectanea Franciscana 85:3-4 (2015), 487-522; Alberto Forni & Paolo Vian, ‘Ubertino da Casala, Tedaldo della Casa e Ambrogio Massari da Cori. A proposito di un brano omesso e tagliato nel prologo della ‘Lectura super Apocalipsim’ di Pietro di Giovanni Olivi’, in: La lettera e lo spirito. Studi di cultura e vita religiosa (secc. XII-XV) per Edith Pasztor , ed. Marco Bartoli, Letizia Pellegrini & Daniele Solvi, Biblioteca di frate Francesco, 17 (Milan, 2016), 129-156; Felice Accrocca, 'Pietro di Giovanni Olivi, Ubertino da Casale, Angelo Clareno. Tre leader del movimento degli spirituali', in: Storia della spiritualità francescana, I: secoli XIII-XVI , ed. M. Bartoli, W. Block & A. Mastromatteo (Bologna: Edizione Dehoniane, 2017), 325-346 [see also Felice Accrocca, 'Peter John Olivi, Ubertino da Casale, Angelo Clareno. Three Leaders of the Spiritual Movement', Spirit + Life. Journal of Franciscan Culture 123 (2018), 16-24]; Andrea Tabarroni, 'Per la regola (francescana), contro il diritto. L'altissima povertà secondo Ubertino da Casale', in: Uscire dalle regole: scritti per Umberto Sereni , ed. Paolo Ferrari & Bruno Figliuoli (Udine, 2018), 57-70; Melanie Brunner, ‘Good and Bad Friars: Polemical patterns and strategies between Franciscans in the early fourteenth century’, Medieval Worlds 7 (2018), 80-97 [DOI 10.1553/medievalworlds_no7_2018s80]; Hans-Josef Klauck, 'Der Lanzenstich in Mt 27,49b bei Petrus Johannis Olivi und Ubertino da Casale', Wissenschaft und Weisheit 82 (2019), 5-17; Patrizia Stoppacci, 'Hubertinus de Casali', in: C.A.L.M.A. Compendium Auctorum Latinorum Medii Aevi (500-1500), VI, 4: Hugo Pictavinus - Iacobus de Aesculo , ed. Michael Lapidge, Silvia Nocentini & Francesco Santi (Florence: SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2019), 289-293; Paula Castillo, 'Las formas de la violencia entre frailes. El testimonio de Fray Ubertino de Casale', Espacio, Tiempo y Forma , Serie III, Historia medieval 33 (2020), 135-156; Daniele Solvi, 'Nuove evidenze sull'apocrifo francescano «Absorbeat» (con un censimento della tradizione manoscritta dell'«Arbor vite» di Ubertino da Casale)', Filologia mediolatina. Rivista della Fondazione Ezio Franceschini 27 (2020), 257-282; Michele Lodone, 'Ubertino da Casale', in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 97 (Trivulzio-Valeri) (2020), 349-353; Maria Paula Castillo, '¿Cómo se narra la violencia? Las representaciones en torno a la confrontación en la Orden de los Menores', Signum. Revista da ABREM 22:2 (2021), 430-453 [also about Ubertino da Casale]; Sylvain Piron, Pietro di Giovanni Olivi e i francescani spirituali , introd. Gian Luca Podestà, Fonti e ricerche, 32 (Milano: Edizioni Biblioteca Francescana, 2021) [Also on Ubertino da Casae. Cf. review in: Archivum Franciscanum Historicum 115:1-4 (2022), 557-561]; Michael F. Cusato, 'The Legacy of the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi in Franciscan Texts, c. 1305. Three Contrasting Assessments', in: L'épaisseur du temps. Mélanges offerts à Jacques Dalarun , ed. Sean L. Field, Marco Guida & Dominique Poirel (Turnhout: Brepols, 2021), 323-336; Roberto Paciocco, ‘Angioini e ‘Spirituali’. I differenti piani cronologici e tematici di un problema’, in: Discrasie cultuali e storico-giuridiche: Francesco d’Assisi, i frati e altro ancora (s. XIII-XIV) , ed. Roberto Paciocco (Morrisville: Lulu.com, 2022), 74-116 [a version of this essay was earlier published in L’État Angevin. Pouvoir, Culture et Société entre XIII et XIV Siècles (Rome, 1998), 253-286]; Silvia Negri, 'Revisiting Gendered Representations of Humility: An Examination of Sources from Late Medieval Italy', Gender & History 35:3 (2022), 881-897; Daniele Solvi, 'Verso un’edizione critica dell’Arbor vite crucifixe Iesu di Ubertino da Casale', Specula. Revista de Humanidades y Espiritualidad 4 (2022), 59-85; Francesco Carta, '«Preceptum est». La Brevis Expositio Regule e la disputa tra “Spirituali” e “Comunità” (1310-1312)', Franciscana. Bollettino della Società Internazionale di Studi Francescani 24 (2022), 101-140.
Works
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Reducendo Igitur ad Brevitam (March-December 1322), ed. C.T. Davies, in Studi Medievali , 3rd series, 22 (1981), 41-56 [Writen between 26 March and 8 December 1322. In essence an abbreviation of the Tractatus Ubertini de Altissima Paupertate Christi et Virorum Apostolicorum .
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Beatus Vir (doubtful, 1311-1312), ed. A. Heysse, AFH , 42 (1949), 218-235 [polemical work, written by Ubertino or another spiritual spokesman in the context of the council of Vienne. Cf. Ehrle, ALKGM 3 (1887), 45].
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Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu : In all there are 34 or more mss that contain (parts of) the Arbor Vitae (10 mss contain all the 5 books). For a more or less complete listing, see P.B. Guyot, `L'Arbor vitae crucifixae Iesu' d'Ubertin de Casale et ses emprunts au `De articulis fidei' de s. Thomas d'Aquin', in: Studies Honoring Ignatius Brady, Friar Minor (new York, 1976), 300-304 & Daniele Solvi, 'Nuove evidenze sull'apocrifo francescano «Absorbeat» (con un censimento della tradizione manoscritta dell'«Arbor vite» di Ubertino da Casale)', Filologia mediolatina. Rivista della Fondazione Ezio Franceschini 27 (2020), 257-282: a.o. MSS BAV. Vat.Lat. 4319 and 7732 (see Etzkorn, IVF)
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Assisi, Bibl. Comunale 338
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Several other works apparently are lost, such as: Nova Bella Elegit Dominus
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Quoniam Constitutionem
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Diligenter Attende
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Ostendam Vos Fabricatores Mendacii
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Ad Evidentiam
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Ultimo Ponunt Magistri
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Contra Quosdam
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Ne in Posterum [in defense of Olivi]
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Sermones [although the Arbor Vitae apparently contains some sermon material. See on this the studies of C. Cenci, C.M. Martínez Ruíz, and A. Martini] Litterae . For a short presentation of these lost works, see also the article of Gian Luca Potestà, in DSpir XVI, 13.
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Toulouse Bibl. Municipale 224. For a very nice early fifteenth-century manuscript that can be read on-line (and downpoaded as pdf), see: http://weblioteca.uv.es/cgi/view7.pl?sesion=201603191458525384&source=uv_ms_0289÷=1&mini=1&mend=60 [the Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu consists of five books: presenting Christ as the actor et materia, finis et forma of this work and life in general. The first deals with the eternal birth of the Son from the father up to the birth of Mary. The second runs from Jesus’ circumcision to the teachings of John the Baptist. The third deals with the preaching of Jesus until the Last Supper. The fourth book exlores the Passion and the Resurrection, until the Ascension of Christ and the ascencion of Mary. The fifth deals with the renovation of faith throughout church history and contains a lengthy Apocalypse commentary, heavily dependent on the Apocalypse commentary of Olivi. The five books together form a tree of life, centered on the incarnation (a simile obtained from Bonaventure’s Lignum Vitae . Book One is the root, Book Two the stemm, Book Three and Four the branches and the twigs, Book Five the fruits.). The work presents the possibility to imitate Christ via meditation on the deeds of Christ during his lifetime (notably the crucifixion). The work therefore offers a method/road of perfection by which the self can be fully transformed into the likeness of Christ. Overall, the Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu is heavily dependent on Bonaventure (esp. Breviloquium , Apologia Pauperum , Ligum Vitae , De Triplici Via ), and the writings of Olivi. He also makes abundant use of Thomas Aquinas ( Summa Theologiae, De Articulis Fidei et Ecclesiae Sacramentis ), Bernard of Clairveaux (esp. Sermones super Cantica and the Sermones per Annum ). Especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, the work had a great influence on European Passion devotion, and parts taken from its first four books (whether prose sections or its lamentations and hymns on the Virgin) can be found in many Latin and vernacular prayer books and meditation manuals. The work also had a definite impact in the Observant and Capuchin milieu] For editions, see: Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu , ed. Andrea de Bonetis (Venice, 1485
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reproduced with introduction of C.T. Davies (Turin: Bottega d’Erasmo, 1961)
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a translation of Book IV was printed in 1564 in Foligno by Lorenzo da Foiana OP
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A new edition of book four is being prepared by Carlos Martínez Ruiz. A poem on the lamentation of the Virgin at the foot of the cross ( Arbor Vitae Book 4, chapter 25), has been edited in D.L. Jeffrey, The Early English Lyric and Franciscan Spirituality (London, 1975), 269-271. See also the studies of C.M. Martínez Ruíz and Daniele Solvi. Book Five of the Arbor Vitae received a partial English translation as: ‘The Tree of the Crucified Life of Christ. Book Five (Excerpts)’, in: Francis of Assisi. Early Documents, Vol. III: The Prophet , ed. Regis J. Armstrong, J.A. Wayne Hellmann & William J. Short (Hyde Park NY-London-Manila: New City Press, 1999), 139-203. A new, Spanish version has appeared as: Arbol de la vida crucificada. Fr. Ubertino de Casale , ed. Luis Pérez Simón, Publicaciones Instituto Teológico Franciscano, Serie Mayor, 46 (Murcia: Publicaciones Instituto Teológico Franciscano, 2007) [see review in AFH 103 (2010), 517f. The 1485 Venice version can now be accessed in digital fashion, for instance on http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/2022701/oai_bibliotecavirtualandalucia_juntadeandalucia_es_8192.html, on http://fondosdigitales.us.es/fondos/libros/395/502/arbor-vitae-crucifixae-jesu-christi/, or on http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k607511
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Tractatus de Septem Statibus Ecclesiae (attributed): Paris, BN Lat. 3455 ff. 46-149 (16th cent.)
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Tractatus Ubertini de Altissima Paupertate Christi et Virorum Apostolicorum (March-December 1322): MS Vienna Staatsbibl. 809 ff. 128r-159v . Inc: Ego sum via… [Not yet edited? Probably composed between 26 March and 8 December 1322. Largely dependent on the Quaestio VIIIa de Perfectione Evangelica of Peter John Olivi].
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Rotulus Iste , ed. F. Ehrle , ALKGM (=Archiv für Literatur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters ) 3 (1887), 93-137 [A defense of usus pauper as central element of Franciscan poverty according to the Regula Bullata and Exiit qui Seminat (1279)].
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Sanctitati Apostolicae (apology for Olivi, written March-July 1311), ed. F. Ehrle, Archiv für Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters , 3 (1887), 377-416 [Presented at the Council of Vienne, and refutes allegations against the Spirituals and especially the theological, philosophical, and ecclesiological views of Olivi].
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Sanctitas Vestra (response to four questions of Clement V, written in 1309), ed. F. Ehrle, Archiv für Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters 3 (1887), 51-89 [Answer to four questions asked by Clement V (1309) on the relationship between the Spirituals and the Free Spirit movement, the existing decadence within the Franciscan order, the abuse of power within the order, and the orthodoxy of Peter John Olivi].
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Super Tribus Sceleribus (= Tractatus de Usu Paupere ), ed. Albanus Heysse, AFH 10 (1917), 103-174 [Composed between July and August 1311 in answer to the Circa Materiam de Usu Paupere (1309/1310). Ubertino argues again that not solely the renunciation of property but first and foremost usus pauper defines the essence of Franciscan poverty].
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Contra Quasdam Responsiones , ed. Ferdinand Delorme, in: Idem, ‘Notice et extraits d’un manuscrit franciscain’, Collectanea franciscana 15 (1945), 72-82.
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Declaratio Fratris Ubertini de Casali , ed. F. Ehrle, Archiv für Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters 3 (1887), 162-196 [August 1311. Ubertino’s final response to the poverty arguments of his Franciscan opponents
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Responsio ad Quaestionem de Paupertate Christi et Apostolorum Iussu Ioannis XXII , ed. several times, for instance in the Tractatus fr. Andreae Richi de Florentia OFM contra Fraticellos , ed. L. Oliger, AFH , 3 (1910), 274-75, AF , 2 (1887), 150-51, Wadding , Annales Minorum , 6 (Quaracchi, 1931), 409-10
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BF , ed. C. Eubel Vol. V, 233-234 [Advise written in March 1322 for pope John XXII on the issue of evangelical poverty (esp. the question whether it was heretical to affirm that Christ and the apostles did not possess anything). It was one of the many advisory works written on request of the pope when he was planning to solve the poverty issue with a binding statement. See also Ubertino’s unedited Tractatus Ubertini de Altissima Paupertate Christi et Virorum Apostolicorum . Eventually, (with the bull Ad Conditorem Canonum (8 December 1322) and the bull Cum inter Nonnullos (12 November 1323), pope John XXII decided that evangelical poverty did not mean lack of possession (which in effect was not so far removed from Ubertino’s viewpoint: for Ubertino the issue of usus pauper was far more important than the question of dominium ). Pope John XXII not only dismissed the construct on the basis of which the Franciscan order could have the use of its convents, churches etc without officially having ownership over it, but also ruled that the doctrine of the absolute poverty of Christ and his apostles was heretical, therewith cutting at the root of the main-stream Franciscan defense of evangelical poverty. This lead to a veritable crisis within the order and caused the dissent of formerly obedient Franciscan spokesmen (such as Bonegratia of Bergamo, Michael of Cesena, and William of Ockham), who themselves were not sympathizing with the spiritual cause].
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