ble, but
very soon marvellous incidents begin to gather around this
nucleus until it becomes unrecognizable. Bartholomew of Pisa has
preserved it in almost its primitive form. _Conform_., 28a 2.
Francis certainly had several brothers [3 Soc., 9. _Mater_ ...
_quae cum prae ceteris filiis diligebat_], but they have left no
trace in history except the incident related farther on. Vide p.
44. Christofani publishes several official pieces concerning
_Angelo_, St. Francis's brother, and his descendants: _Storie
d'Assisi_, vol. i., p. 78 ff. In these documents Angelo is called
_Angelus Pice_, and his son _Johannectus olim Angeli domine
Pice_, appellations which might be cited in favor of the noble
origin of Pica.

[5] Documentary History of Languedoc, iii., p. 607.

[6] The Cathedral of Assisi. To this day all the children of the
town are baptized there; the other churches are without fonts.

[7] 3 Soc., 1; 2 Cel., 1, 1. Vide also 3 Soc., edition of
Pesaro, 1831.

[8] The _langue d'oil_ was at this epoch the international
language of Europe; in Italy it was the language of games and
tourneys, and was spoken in the petty princely courts of
Northern Italy. Vide Dante, _De vulgari eloquio_, lib. I., cap.
x. Brunetto Latini wrote in French because "the speech of France
is more delectable and more common to all people." At the other
end of Europe the Abbot of Stade, in Westphalia, spoke of the
_nobility of the Gallic dialect_. _Ann._ 1224 _apud_ Pertz,
Script. xvi. We shall find St. Francis often making allusions to
the tales of the Round Table and the _Chanson de Roland_.

[9] We must not be led astray by certain remarks upon his
ignorance, from which one might at first conclude that he knew
absolutely nothing; for example, 2 Cel., 3, 45: _Quamvis homo
iste beatus nullis fuerit scientiae studiis innutritus_. This
evidently refers to science such as the Franciscans soon came to
apprehend it, and to theology in particular.

The close of the passage in Celano is itself an evident proof of
this.

[10] Bon., 219; Cf. A. SS., p. 560a. 1 Cel., 23.

[11] Ozanam, _Documents inedits pour servir a l'histoire
litteraire d'Italie du VIIIe au XIIIe siecle_. Paris, 1851, 8vo,
pp. 65, 68, 71, 73. F