the side so wide open that
the heart could be seen. The people gather in crowds to see the sight,
the cardinals come also, and all together listen to Francis's strange
declarations. (_Historia major_, Watts's edition London, 1 vol. fol.,
1640, pp. 339-342.)

This list might be greatly lengthened by the addition of a passage from
Luke bishop of Tuy (Lucas Tudensis) written in 1231;[3] based
especially on the Life by Thomas of Celano, and oral witnesses.

The statement of Brother Boniface, an eye-witness, at the chapter of
Genoa (1254). (Eccl. 13.)

Finally and especially, we should study the strophes relating to the
stigmata in the proses, hymns, and sequences composed in 1228 by the
pope and several cardinals for the Office of St. Francis; but such a
work, to be done with accuracy, would carry us very far, and the
authorities already cited doubtless suffice without bringing in
others.[4]

The objections which have been opposed to these witnesses may be
reduced, I think, to the following:[5]

_a._ Francis's funeral took place with surprising precipitation. Dead on
Saturday evening, he was buried Sunday morning.

_b._ His body was enclosed in a coffin, which is contrary to Italian
habits.

_c._ At the time of the removal, the body, wrested from the multitude,
is so carefully hidden in the basilica that for centuries its precise
place has been unknown.

_d._ The bull of canonization makes no mention of the stigmata.

_e._ They were not admitted without a contest, and among those who
denied them were some bishops.

None of these arguments appears to me decisive.

_a._ In the Middle Ages funerals almost always took place immediately
after death (Innocent III. dying at Perugia July 16, 1216, is interred
the 17th; Honorius III. dies March 18, 1227, and is interred the next
day).

_b._ It is more difficult than many suppose to know what were the habits
concerning funerals in Umbria in the thirteenth century. However that
may be, it was certainly necessary to put Francis's body into a coffin.
He being already canonized by popular sentiment, his corpse was from
that moment a relic for which a reliquary was necessary; nay more, a
strong box such as the secondary scenes in Berlinghieri's picture shows
it to have been. Without such a precaution the sacred body would have
been reduced to fragments in a few moments. Call to mind the wild
enthusiasm that led the devotees to cut off the ears and even the
breasts of St.