Order of Saint James of Altopascio

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The Order of Saint James of Altopascio (Italian: Ordine di San Giacomo d'Altopascio or Ordine dei Frati Ospitalieri di San Jacopo), also called the Knights of the Tau (Cavalieri del Tau) or Hospitallers of Saint James, was a military order, perhaps the earliest Christian institution to combine the protection and assistance of pilgrims, the staffing of hospitals, and a military wing. According to American historian Ephraim Emerton, who produced the first systematic study of the Order, "the fame of the house drew visitors, both well and sick, including women in childbirth and infants" from around Italy.[1]

History

Foundation

The Order was founded by Matilda of Canossa between 1070 and 1080 at Altopascio, a town on the Via Francigena in what is now Tuscany.[2] The earliest datable reference to a hospital edificatus in locus et finibus ubi dicitur Teupascio ("built in the place called Teupascio") is from 1084.[3] Ludovico Muratori thought Teupascio to be an eighth-century corruption of the Latin Altopassus.[4] The variants Taupascio and Topascio have led some to suppose a relationship between the (alternative) name of the town and the Order sometimes known as "of the Tau", after their symbol, which would once have been a common sight in the town. This derivation is highly unlikely, however, and the name appears to be Germanic in origin.[5]

According to the Order's own tradition it was founded between the Palude di Fucecchio, the Lago di Sesto, and the forest of Cerbaie towards 1050 by twelve citizens of nearby Lucca, a tradition which is preserved in a couple of lines of poetry appended to the Italian version of its rule:

Probably the "choir of twelve" refers to the founding twelve members (brethren, friars, fratres), not to twelve founders.[6] In his Memorie di Pescia, Francesco Galeotti wrote that the Order was founded by a rich and pious personaggio (individual). The Order was dedicated to James the Greater and Egidius. Its head was initially a rector, later a grand master (magister generalis), custos (custodian), warden, and eventually even bore the title Signore d'Altopascio (Lord of Altopascio).[7]

Originally the Order was composed of a few canons charged with caring for pilgrims on their way to Rome or the Holy Land, via Italy, but later it extended its concern to the Way of Saint James.[2] Their headquarters were in the church of the same name, San Giacomo dell' Alto Passo. Their Great Hospital dedicated to Saint James at Altopascio (Domus Hospitalis Sancti Iacobi de Altopassu[8]) is first mentioned in a bull of Innocent III from 1198, though he refers to earlier grants to the hospice by the Bishops of Lucca, whose names indicate that it existed as early as the third quarter of the century.[9] In 1244 the hospice of Altopassus received a confirmation of its properties in Italy from the Emperor Frederick II as part of a program of support for institutions looking after the miserabiles (unfortunate). The emperor forbade the imposition of any tax on the Order or any interference lay or ecclesiastical with its property.[10] The movement of goods as part of the Order's regular business was to go unhindered.[11]

Expansion

In time the Order came to be charged with safeguarding the roads and the bridges from brigands. The Order also had a bell named "La Smarrita" that was rung each night from a half hour before sunset to a half hour past to help guide any pilgrim wandering in the woods to safety. This custom was still reported in the time of Lami.[7] They maintained a ferry service on the Arno River:

in the territory of Florence and on the high road to Rome, where formerly a heavy tribute was exacted. This road has now been made free by members of the aforesaid Great Hospital and of other hospitals affiliated with it. So that at present all pilgrims and others freely pass there without payment.[12]

The lands from which the Order drew its income were found throughout Tuscany: in the Valdarno (bull of Anastasius IV of 1154), Valdinievole (bull of Alexander III of 1169), and Pistoia and Prato (aforementioned bull of Innocent III of 1198). Eventually the Order spread throughout Tuscany and Italy, reaching first Naples, Sardinia, and Sicily. The Order was eventually internationalised and had reached as far as the Rhône in Provence by the end of the twelfth century. It received endowments in Bavaria, Burgundy, the Dauphiné, England, Flanders, France, Germany, Lorraine, Navarre, Portugal, and Savoy. Each separate body was called a mansio (plural mansiones) on analogy with the Roman relay stations and hospitals abiding by the Order's rule were called obedientiae. Grants to the mansiones of money and land and, in the later Middle Ages, tithes were supervised by the grand master. The heart of the Order was always in Tuscany, however, as its close relationship with the great families of the Republic of Florence shows.[13] There is evidence that in the sixteenth century the Order was exchanging lands in such a way as to build up a compact territory of holdings nearer Altopascio.[14]

The church and hospital of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas in Paris, subject to the Great Hospital, was founded by Philip IV of France.[15]

Suppression

The Order was suppressed by the bull Execrabilis issued by Pius II on 18 January 1459 along with five other religiones (religious orders). Their property was transferred to the fledgling Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem founded by that same bull:

Further, we suppress and annul their former ordinances (ordines), the names of their associations, their titles of priority (priorales) and other dignities, and we decree that henceforth they shall be called, held, and named as of that military order of Saint Mary of Bethlehem. Moreover, in this order there shall be brethren and knights and priests as also in the aforesaid Order of Rhodes [Knights of Saint John], and the head of the aforesaid Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem shall be the Master, elected by the brethren in the same way (pariformiter) [as in the Order of Rhodes].[16]

The suppression, however, was imperfectly carried out, or perhaps was never carried out at all.[17] The Order certainly retained some Italian property until, on 14 March 1587, Sixtus V, at the request of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, merged the Order of Altopascio with the Order of Saint Stephen. In France it was finally absorbed into the Order of Saint Lazarus in 1672.[2]

Organisation

Rule

The Order's rule, the Regola dei Frati di San Jacopo d'Altopascio, was promulgated in ninety-six chapters by Gregory IX in 1239, and was based on the rule of the Knights of Saint John and, more generally, the rule of Saint Augustine.[18] The rule was requested by the brethren. It is unknown if they abided by a different rule before 1239.[19] The Latin rule is preserved in the Archives nationales on twenty-one 8½"x6" pages.[20] It was first published (in part) by the antiquarian Giovanni Lami between 1741 and 1754 and edited (entirely) by Pietro Farfani in 1864 in Italian.[21] A Pescian document of 1358 still referred to the order as "living under the Rule of Saint Augustine".[22]

By a comparison with the Hospitaller rule it is clear that the first twenty-five chapters of the Altopascian rule correspond to the first nineteen chapters from the Hospitaller rule of Raymond du Puy (from 1125–53).[23] Chapters 30–37, which deal with the proper burial of deceased brethren, are probably adapted from the additions made by Jobert of Syria to the Hospitaller rule between 1177 and 1181. Chapters 39–45 are concerned with the care for the sick and were added to the Hospitaller rule by Roger de Moulins in 1181 or 1182. Chapters 47–52 and 76 are derived from the later usances (customs) of the order of Saint John, with chapters 49–52 prescribing the ceremonies for the initiation of brethren and confrati (affiliated persons). Chapters 53–75 are a selection of later Hospitaller esgards (judgements), probably chosen for their relevance to the Altopascian situation. They deal primarily with crime. Chapters 26–29, 38, 46, and 77–96 are not based on the Hospitaller rule.

Composition

The Order's members appear to have been mostly laymen. References in the Order's rule to fees paid to priests for their services imply that these priests were not members, since the Order's rule elsewhere prohibits private property.[24] In 1324 Marsilius of Padua, in his Defensor pacis, criticised the Papacy for trying to classify as many persons as possible as clerici (clergy), and appears to say that the Order of Altopascio was lay, but the Pope wished to classify it as clerical.[25] Chapter 64 of the Order's rule, however, does refer to brothers who are "priest or deacon or of any other clerical order".[26] If the trend reported by Marsiglio continued, the ratio of clerical to lay brethren may have increased in the late Middle Ages. Pierre Hélyot, having seen certain tomb effigies of some brethren bearing the insignia of ordination, calls the Order the Chanoines Hospitaliers de S. Jacques du Haut-Pas ou de Lucques (canons hospitaller of Saint James of Altopascio or of Lucca).[27]

The knights (cavalieri) of the Order were established by chapter 93 of its Rule, which is an almost verbatim copy of a paragraph of a set of Hospitaller regulations drawn up at Margat in 1204–06.[28] The knights are only mentioned once else in the Rule, in chapter 78, where the process of electing a grand master is described. The prior of the Order is to select from the brethren a priest (frate preite), a knight, and a servitor (also sergent, servente), who will form the electorate and choose a master.[29] Emerton casts doubt on the military nature of these knights, suggesting instead that they were lay noble religious. He points out that the Rule omits all of the Hospitallers' references to horses, arms, and armour.

Besides the priest and knight there is another special position in the order, singled out for its involvement in the election of the master: the servitor, who was subordinate to the regular brother. The servitors were not allowed to fighting among themselves, to refuse work, or to spend the night in town without permission. Strict penalties were prescribed, but their pay was never withheld and they appear to have been hired workers.[30] They were under the direction of the brethren, but performed the majority of menial tasks.

Symbols

The symbol of the order was the letter tau, usually white on a black field, the vertical arm of the tau being always pointed at the bottom and the crossbar either square at the ends or else concave or notched like a Maltese cross, the result being called a croce taumata.[11] These peculiarities have suggested to some historians that it represents an auger and an axe or hammer and thus carpentry, probably to be associated with bridge-building and road maintenance.[31] The aforementioned edict of Frederick II contains one obligation placed on the order:

It is our will and command that the hospice and its brethren build and maintain upon the public pilgrim's highway near Ficeclum on the White Arno, at the most convenient point, a bridge for the service of travellers, and this without let or hindrance from any person whomsoever. But if, in case of flood or other accident, they shall be without a bridge, it is our will that they provide a ferry-boat for the free transportation of pilgrims, and it shall be unlawful for any other person to keep any boat there for passengers, whether for hire or not.[32]

The Order's rule, however, does not mention the maintenance of bridges or roads. A similar tau-like symbol or cross was venerated at the same time by the Franciscans. It may have symbolised perfection, since taf was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.[33]

Activities

The care of the sick was the primary mission of the Order. The Rule required four physicians and two surgeons attached to the hospital.[34] The Rule exhibits "an enlightened conception of the needs of the sick that would do credit to any modern institution".[35] It laid down the principle of primum non nocere and even advised a "hearty diet" during Lent for the ill.[36] For "our lords (domini, signori) the sick", as the Order's patients are called in the Rule, beds must be large with separate sheets and coverlets, each patient was to have fur cloak and woolen cap for use in the commons area (per andare ad luogo commune). Cribs and cradles were to be provided for newborns.

The Order was not an order of fratres pontifices ("pontifical, i.e. bridge-building, brethren") and was not heavily involved in bridge-building.[37] Hélyot, in examining the origins of certain bridges associated with hospitallers in the Rhône valley, ascribed their construction to the Order of Altopascio, whose members he calls religieux hospitaliers pontifes ("bridge-building hospitaller religious"). Hélyot went so far as to associated the famous Saint Bénézet with the Altopascians. Henri Grégoire, writing in 1818, cast doubt on the thesis and Emerton rejected it as groundless while admitting that the Provençal hospitals may well have been associated with Altopascia.[38] Besides the bridge at Fucechhio which is known from the imperial edict of 1244 to have been charged to the Order's care, other bridges may have been maintained in Italy where the Via Francigena crosses the Arda, the Elsa, the Taro, and the Usciana.

Primary texts

Text of the Papal bull of 1239

Ephraim Emerton provides an English translation of the Papal bull granting the Order a rule:[39]

Selection of chapters from the Rule, 1239

Emerton provides an English translation of chapter 20 of the Altopascian rule, concerning punishment for the holding of private property:[40]

He also provides a translation those chapters (30–37) concerning the death and burial of members:[23]

He also provides a translation of chapter 45, about the care of the sick:[41]

He also provides a translation of chapter 64, based on Hospitaller esgard 10, which concerns crimes by members:[40]

He also provides a translation of chapters 67–70 and 72 on the relationship between friars (fratres) and servitors:[42]

He also provides a translation of chapter 93, the only one concerned with knighthoods:[35]

An incident at Pescia in 1358

Emerton also provides an English translation of Giovanni Lami's retelling of an incident involving the Order and the city of Pescia in 1358:[43]

Secondary sources

Further reading

  • Archivio Storico Italiano, ser. IV, vol. XVI (1885), I26.
  • Léon LeGrand, "Les Maisons-Dieu, leur Statuts au XIIIe Siècle", Revue des Questions Historiques (July 1896).
  • Pietro Fanfani, Regola dei frati di S. Jacopo d'Altopascio (Bologna: Press Gaetano Romagnoli, 1864).
  • Nikolaus Paulus, Indulgences as a Social Factor in the Middle Ages, trans. J. Elliot Ross (The Minerva Group, 2001 [1923]).
  • Duane J. Osheim (1983), "Conversion, Conversi, and the Christian Life in Late Medieval Tuscany," Speculum, 58:2, 368–90.

References

References

  1. 1.Ephraim Emerton (1923), "Altopascio—A Forgotten Order", American Historical Review, 29(1), 6.
  2. 2.[2.2][2.3]Michael Walsh (2003), Warriors of the Lord: The Military Orders of Christendom (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, ISBN 0-8028-2109-X.), 197.
  3. 3.A location called Teupascio is first mentioned in a document reporting a land transfer in Teutpascu, qui vocatur Tersuarius ("in Teupascio, which is called Tersuarius") from the nobleman Causulus of Lucca to the presbyter Tanuald of Saint Regulus "in the third year of the Lombard king Ratchis", that is, 746.
  4. 4.Emerton, 4, citing Muratori (1739), Antiquitates Italicae Medii Aevi, IIL, 1041. Giovanni Lami believed it to be of Etruscan origin, but related it to the Latin totus pascuus (all pasture), denoting its verdant meadows, fed by a river of the same name which Lami believed to read in a grant of 1056.
  5. 5.Emerton, 4–5, believes it meant "German pasture" or "German pass". He adduces evidence in support of this from the Germanic names prevalent in charters referring to Teupascio. The document of 746 is witnessed by Ratpert, Tuirepert, Eliprandus, and a scribe named Aldipertus. The 1056 document is a title deed relating to one Teutio and referring to a priest Theupert. Also, near where the rivers Arno and Elsa meet, sits the town and castle named San Miniato al Tedesco, that is, "to the German".
  6. 6.Its foundation is probably wrapped up in the spiritual movements of the mid-eleventh century, such as the Pataria, the Peace and Truce of God, and the Gregorian reform. The movement is attested in the area by the foundation in 1039 and spiritualisation in 1059 of the Badia di San Pietro in nearby Badia Pozzeveri.
  7. 7.[7.2]Emerton, 6.
  8. 8.Translation: House of the Hospital of Saint James of Altopascio, Italian: Spedale di Altopascio.
  9. 9.Emerton, 5.
  10. 10.Emerton, 7, says: "all persons are forbidden to obstruct in any way the free passage of goods destined for the service of the hospice or to hinder the brethren in their coming and going about their business—pro quacumque necessitate vel negotio suo—anywhere in Italy by the imposition of any form of exaction."
  11. 11.[11.2]Emerton, 7.
  12. 12.Emerton, 2, quoting Pierre Hélyot, in his turn quoting Jacques du Breul, Le Théâtre des Antiquitez de Paris (Paris: Pierre Chevalier, 1612), 576.
  13. 13.Emerton, 6, citing Lami's documents.
  14. 14.In 1481 the grand master, a member of the Capponi family of Florence, exchanged lands in Florence itself for lands near Fucecchio contiguous with properties already held by the order, with the permission of the papal legate. (The document is affirmed by "Antonio, son of Anastasio, son of Amerigo de' Vespucci, notary" and a brother of another Amerigo Vespucci.) The same grand master also exchanged lands in Volterra and Pisa with "Giovanni, notary of the Apostolic See, canon of Florence, and son of Lorenzo the Magnificent" for lands nearer Florence.
  15. 15.Emerton, 2. Other sources place its foundation in 1180. It was still active in 1567.
  16. 16.Emerton, 22–23.
  17. 17.C. H. M. (1924), "The Fratres Pontifices and the Community at Altopasio," Catholic Historical Review, 9:4, 565–66.
  18. 18.Emerton, 9.
  19. 19.If they were always Augustinians, as Walsh, 197, believes, they probably requested the more specific Hospitaller rule to more efficiently organise their Order, cf. Emerton, 9. The new rule also instituted a previously unknown hierarchy of members, leading the brethren to eventually refer to themselves all as knights, cf. Emerton, 18.
  20. 20.Emerton, 12, who reviewed only photographic reproductions of the Latin manuscript, notes that the paragraphs "correspond in general with those in the Italian version".
  21. 21.Emerton, 1–4. He disparages Farfani's Italian edition (in Curiosità Letterarie, LIV) on page 11, though Fanfani was aware that his Italian version was not contemporary but was a later translation, since the original Latin had been quoted at an earlier date by the Sieur du Cange.
  22. 22.Emerton, 11.
  23. 23.[23.2]Emerton, 13.
  24. 24.Emerton, 13–14.
  25. 25.This depends on alto passu in the following quotation meaning Altopascio: Sic quoque fratres templariorum, hospitaliorum et reliquos plures hujusmodi ordines, similiter et eos qui de alto passu (Emerton, 1).
  26. 26.Emerton, 14, concludes that the priests associated with the order performed regular functions, but when outside priests were unavailable for special services, house priests could be paid the honorarium and perform the services.
  27. 27.Emerton, 2, 14–15, quoting Hélyot (1792), Histoire des Ordres Religieux et Militaires, 2nd ed., II, 282. Hélyot implies that the brethren were not canons regular.
  28. 28.Emerton, 16. The Hospitaller regulations survive in parallel Latin and Old French texts.
  29. 29.This provision is derived from the Margat rule, and is the only paragraph of that text to survive in French but not Latin, cf. Emerton, 16.
  30. 30.Emerton, 17.
  31. 31.Lami, in his Novelle Letterarie di Firenze (1747), first makes this identification, based on a representation of the Order's symbol that he saw "on the campanile of the conventual church of the Knights (Cavalieri) at Altopascio". He adds that he "had the famous Cristofano Martini make a drawing from the original and engrave it on copper". Lami's final description of the symbol as he observed it in the campanile (which he dated to 1056) goes: "the true symbol (vera segna) of the brethren of that hospice, that is, as it were a Tau with a pointed upright shaft and two transverse arms like the two arms of a Maltese cross", quoted in Emerton, 8.
  32. 32.Quoted in Emerton, 7.
  33. 33.The letter tau symbolised thaumaturgy at Santiago de Compostela.
  34. 34.Emerton, 15, notes that they had to be acquainted with uroscopy, medical diagnosis, and pharmacology, the production of syrups and other drugs.
  35. 35.[35.2]Emerton, 15.
  36. 36.Eels, cheese, peas, beans, and cabbage were forbidden as unwholesome.
  37. 37.Emerton, 19.
  38. 38.Emerton, 20–21. See also Marjorie Nice Boyer (1964), "The Bridgebuilding Brotherhoods," Speculum, 39:4, 637.
  39. 39.His translation (pp 9–10) is based on Joseph Delaville le Roulx (1894), Cartulaire générale de l'ordre des Hospitaliers, II, 566.
  40. 40.[40.2]Emerton, 14.
  41. 41.Emerton, 18.
  42. 42.Emerton, 16–17.
  43. 43.Derived from Lami, Deliciae eruditorum, XVI.