sed in their lives the simple,
religious, fundamental emotion of love in a way which the people could
clearly understand. "God's minstrels" was the name given to his
followers, because they spoke and sang of the love of God without
ecclesiastical ceremony. Jacopone da Todi (1236-1306), probably next to
Dante and Guinicelli the greatest poet which Italy has produced, praised
the transcendent love of God in ecstatic verses. He was the religious
counterpart of the troubadours; his passionate devotion to the child
Jesus, the Madonna and the Crucified, eclipses their most ardent lyrics.
These southerners could not forgo the visible emblems of their religion;
the infinitely simple principle that only he who calls nothing his own,
and desires no earthly goods, is perfectly free, and can never fall foul
of his neighbour, was, if not lived up to, at any rate understood and
respected. The grateful hearts of the people surrounded the name of St.
Francis with legends; the study of his life inspired Giotto, the father
of the new art, to the study of plant and animal life. The story of St.
Francis is written on the walls of the cathedral at Assisi, the first
monumental work of Italian art.

St. Francis re-lived the terrestrial life of Jesus; in one direction he
excelled his model, for though the love of Christ embraced all mankind,
the heart of St. Francis went out to all things, beasts and plants and
stars. He applied the words, "Whatsoever ye do to the least of my
brethren, ye have done unto me," to _Brother Bear_ and _his sisters the
little birds_. He was one of the first men, since the Greek era, who saw
nature in its true aspect and not as a hieroglyphic of the divine word.
Men had realised with a feeling of helplessness the dangers of the
elements, without perceiving their magnificence; they had speculated on
and attempted to decipher the secret language of the terrestrial and
celestial phenomena. The discovery of the beauty of nature, and with it
the revival of aesthetics, was an essential part of the new-born
civilisation. This fact was accomplished--in an almost sentimental
way--by the troubadours and minnesingers. But the relationship of St.
Francis to nature was something very different. The co-ordination of man
and beast--in his sermon to the birds, for instance--cannot be called
anything but frankly pagan. St. Francis said to his disciples: "Tarry a
little while in the road while I go and preach to my little sisters, the