A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages; volume ILea, Henry Charles
History
A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages; volume I
Lea, Henry Charles
Inquisition -- History
It is not worth while to follow further in detail the marvellous growth
of the Order in all the lands of Europe. Already in 1221, when Dominic
as General Master held the second General Chapter in Bologna, four years
after the sixteen disciples had parted in Toulouse, the Order already
had sixty convents, and was organized into eight provinces--Spain,
Provence, France, England, Germany, Hungary, Lombardy, and Romagnuola.
The same year witnessed the death of Dominic, but his work was done and
his removal from the scene made no change in the mighty machine which he
had built and set in motion. Everywhere the strongest intellects of the
age were donning the Dominican scapular, and everywhere they were
earning the respect and veneration of the people. Their services to the
papacy were fully recognized, and they are speedily found filling
important offices in the curia. In 1243 the learned Hugh of Vienne
became the first Dominican cardinal, and in 1276 the Dominicans rejoiced
to see Brother Peter of Tarentaise raised to the chair of St. Peter as
Innocent V. Yet the delay in Dominic's canonization would seem to show
that personally he made less impression on his contemporaries than his
followers would have us believe. Dying in 1221, the bull enrolling him
in the calendar of saints only bears date July 3, 1234. His great
colleague, or rival, Francis, who died in 1226, was canonized within two
years, in 1228; the young Franciscan, Antony of Padua, who died in 1231,
was recognized as a saint in 1233; and when the great Dominican martyr,
St. Peter Martyr, was slain, April 12, 1252, proceedings for his
canonization were commenced August 31 of the same year and were
completed by March 25, 1253, less than a twelvemonth after his death.
That thirteen years should have elapsed in the case of Dominic shows
that his merits were recognized but slowly.[226]
* * * * *
If the Franciscans were in the end closely assimilated to the
Dominicans, it was through the overmastering demands of the work to be
accomplished by both, for in their origin the Orders were destined to
objects as diverse as the characters of their founders. If St. Dominic
was the type of the active practical missionary, St. Francis was the
ideal of the contemplative ascetic, modified by boundless love and
charity for his fellows.
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