Thomas of Celano

Thomas of Celano ( ital: Tommaso da Celano, * 1190 in Celano in Abruzzo, † 1260 in Tagliacozzo ) was a Franciscan and chronicler.

Life

Thomas was born around 1190 in the village of Celano in Abruzzo. Of his youth nothing is known. After the return of Francis of Assisi from Spain in 1215 to Thomas have joined him, and entered into the religious one, although it is not clear whether Thomas was at that time already a priest.

Around 1220 he participates under the leadership of Caesarius of Speyer on the expansion of the Order to Germany. In 1223 he is employed as a custodian for the Franciscan offices in the cities of Mainz, Worms, Speyer, and Cologne and appointed vicar.

On July 16, 1228 he was present for the canonization of St. Francis in Assisi, from which he reported in great detail. At this time he was called by Pope Gregory IX. entrusted with the drafting of the Legend of St Francis of Assisi ( Vita prima S. Francici ). This work contains the entire life story of Francis of Assisi, in which Thomas of Celano expands the facts by numerous theological interpretations.

In 1244 he was awarded by the General Chapter of the Order in Genoa commissioned a supplement of life of Francis of Assisi to make ( Vita secunda S. Francisci ). This second biography was completed in 1246/1247 and contains the same events as the first Vita, but from a later perspective and using new sources, such as the Legend of Three Companions, and other reports of the brothers, Francis had known. Between 1247 and 1257 Thomas finally wrote a third book, the Tractatus de miraculis S. Francisci, in which he reported systematically about the miracles of Francis.

After the canonization of St. Clare of Assisi in 1255, written by Thomas of Celano also a legend about their lives ( Legenda S. Clarae Virginis ).

Thomas of Celano is also considered the author of the liturgical sequences Sanctitatis nova signa and Fregit victor, his authorship is disputed. The sequence Dies irae is usually attributed to him, but the existence of a code with the text of the sequence from the end of the 12th century makes this assignment very doubtful.

End of his life spent Thomas of Celano as chaplain of the Poor Clares of the Monastery of S. Giovanni di Val dei Varri near his birthplace, in Tagliacozzo, where he died in 1260.

Works

• Legenda ad Usum chori ( 1230 )
• S. Francisci Assisensis vita et miracula Vita prima S. Francisci (1228/1229)
• Vita secunda S. Francisci (1246/1247)
• Tractatus de miraculis S. Francisci ( 1247-1257 )