The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

V. Odd Figures Among the Joachimites

Having given this brief account of the literature of the, Joachimite period, we shall now consider some of the leading actors. PFF1 735.2

1. SALIMBENE OF PARMA (1221-c.1288)

Salimbene, whose chronicle has just been mentioned, entered the Franciscan order early in life. Coming into touch with Joachim’; ideas, he became an enthusiastic Joachimite. Like many others of his time, he considered the pseudo-Joachim commentary on Jeremiah as genuine, and therefore based his eschatological expectations largely upon statements found therein. He believed, for example, that in A.D. 1260 the emperor Frederick II would appear openly as the Antichrist. When, therefore, he heard of the death of the emperor many years before the, expected date, it shook his faith so severely that he turned away from Joachimism, embracing again the orthodox views of the church. From then on he began to deride his former convictions. PFF1 735.3

However, Salimbene had drunk so deeply from that source that the underlying philosophy of Joachim’s teaching never left him. It is clearly discernible in his writings. He retained the basic idea of Joachim-that the prophetic books, especially, the revelation, constitute the key to the understanding of the outworking of the plan of salvation in history. He did not, however, adopt Joachim’s idea of definitely fixed epochs, and consequently his explanation became vague and quite unsound. ⁶⁰ PFF1 735.4

Moreover, having returned to the fold of the church, he tried to parry the attack that was launched against her through the followers of Joachim.’ To illustrate: Whereas the pseudo Joachim writings understood the symbol of the “whore” of Babylon to refer to the hierarchical church, which had drunk deeply from the chalice of worldliness, Salimbene explained the great “harlot” in the following manner: “It is possible to understand under the whore of Babylon every soul who commits a deadly sin.” ⁶¹ Accordingly, the Antichrist was not in the church, as such, but rather the satanic power that wrought evil among Christians’, causing them to fall. PFF1 736.1

On the other hand, Salimbene uses exceedingly strong words against the prelates, which is illustrated by this episode which he relates. At a-certain church council of his time a letter from hell was supposed to have been tossed into the midst of the participants, having the following heading and—content: “The princes of darkness to the prelates of the Church: Many thanks to you, because as many as have been committed to your care, just so many have been transferred to us.” ⁶² That means that the clerics are the bankers of Satan, who transfer the believing souls to him. PFF1 736.2

2. GERARD’S “INTRODUCTION” BRINGS ON CRISIS

The second man to be mentioned in this connection is GERARD (Gerardino) Or BORGO SAN DONNING, of the group of Franciscans at Pisa. He accepted Joachim’s teaching enthusiastically, and threw the emphasis on the year 1260; but, unlike Salimbene, he never lost his faith in the soundness of this new doctrine, even when events contrary to the expectation and hopes of these early Spirituals occurred. PFF1 736.3

In his deep veneration for Joachim, Gerard decided to publish the three main works of his master—the Concord o f the Old and New Testaments, the Psaltery of Ten Strings, and the Commentary on the Apocalypse—to which he added an Introduction. This was apparently a very harmless and quite legitimate act, but actually it had most revolutionary consequences. He called his work Liber Introductorius in Evangelium Aeternum (Introductory Book on the Eternal Gospel). The title was based on Revelation 14:6, but was construed to refer to the writings of Joachim. In it we find the most radical ideas of Joachim treated as if their fulfillment were already in process. PFF1 737.1

This Evangelium Aeternum abolishes the Evangelism of Christ. The message of the Spirit, in the age of the Spirit, supersedes the message of words. Christ’s words remain fully significant. only until 1260. From then onward, he asserts, those who continue to live are no longer required to accept the New Testament. According to Gerard, the prophecies of Joachim become the “everlasting gospel,” and his writings will become the canon of the new spiritual church. ⁶³ The Roman, or papal, church will be abolished, and will be superseded by the spiritual church, whose representatives are the Franciscans, through whom the complete turnabout will be made possible. That, of course, was more than the official church could tolerate. PFF1 737.2

By the publication of this Introduction he became the mouthpiece of a large group of Franciscan Spirituals. He became their hero, and that at the very moment the church began to consider them as dangerous innovators, if not indeed here tics. Moreover, Joachim himself, although resting in his grave for more than half a century, also came under suspicion. PFF1 737.3

Gerard’s work was published either in 1254 or 1255. And in the very year 1255 a commission of cardinals were called together in Anagni to investigate the matter. They left exact protocols through which we come to know the content of his teachings, as his original work is no longer available. The five points condemned are: (1) Joachim’s idea of three periods of salvation; (2) the change from a clerical church to a spiritual church; (3) passages which refer to Peter and John as types of systems; (4) eschatological teachings which do not, conform to the teachings of the church; (5) the superseding of the gospel of Christ by the gospel of the Spirit. PFF1 737.4

Gerard himself suffered a terrible fates He vas deprived of his office as lector, forbidden to preach, and afterward sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. There, in prison, his life ended after eighteen years of misery. ⁶⁴ PFF1 738.1

3. WILLIAM OF ST. AMOUR INJECTS RADICAL NOTIONS

Still another strong figure, although not a Joachimite, in that tense thirteenth-century controversy was WILLIAM k 61 ST. AMOUR. Around 1250 he was a professor of the University of Paris, becoming the most eminent of the secular doctors., He wrote with bitter satire against the mendicant ` friars. But finally both his and the university’s case was lost; the pope decided in favor of the friars. So “William was banned frond Paris. In spite of his hostility against the Franciscans, he nevertheless shared the apocalyptic notions that were afloat. And, like the Joachimites, he, believed that the year 1260, would be of extreme significance—a belief which he based on Revelation 11:3 and 12:6. ¹⁷¹65 In 1266 he issued another little book, Called Liber de Antichristo et Ejusdem Ministris (The Book of Anti-christ and His Ministers). In this book he vigorously condemns the teaching of Joachim, although his own treatise is itself fill of dark prophetic speculations, and even imaginations! When he died he was buried in his home village outside the church; in the spot where excommunicated persons and suicides were interred. ⁶⁶ PFF1 738.2

4. JOACHIMISM PRODUCES FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALS

In this short survey we have sought to cover men and events up to the fateful year 1260. We have seen how the teachings of Joachim began to influence wider and ever wider circles. At first his teachings were confined to his own rather small order, and these followers we can truly call Joachimites, or as they are sometimes referred to, Joachites. PFF1 738.3

As is always the case with a new doctrine, it does not long remain in its pure or original form. The epigoni, or followers, of a genius either subtract or add to his thought—perhaps because of not understanding the full meaning of his ideals, or because of their inability to conform to them. We have found therefore, among the circles of the Joachimites, persons unknown to us by name who took up the pen and wrote additional works under his name, still in the spirit of Joachim, but diluting some of his essential ideas. These may properly be called pseudo-Joachim writings. Furthermore, it is well to remember that, at no two periods of its existence, does Joachimism stand for precisely the same definite ideas. It was a spiritual movement, always in flux, and affording considerable latitude for divergencies of opinion. PFF1 739.1

When the teaching of Joachim entered into the ranks of the Franciscans, they acted as a ferment. Among these Franciscan friars there was already considerable agitation between those who persisted in following the very strict rules concerning absolute poverty laid down by Francis, and those who sought to relax these rules in order to bring them into conformity with those of other monkish orders. Now, when Joachim’s ideas of a third age became known—a new age of the Spirit, brought about and ushered in by a new order—these concepts were eagerly accepted by the more rigorous segment among the Franciscans. PFF1 739.2

This group assimilated them and began to place full emphasis upon the need of realizing these spiritual aims. They became generally known as Spirituals. The Spirituals are consequently a direct product of the impact of Joachimism upon deepest Franciscan piety. They were at first just a group of Franciscans, but by the very nature of these new teachings they soon came into such strong opposition to the dominant church that they were branded as heretics, and in time became a separate group or sect. PFF1 739.3

Other small groups sprang up, more or less loosely connected with the Spirituals, or claiming adherence to the ideals of the Spirituals, but often running to extremes and bringing the whole movement into disrepute. PFF1 740.1