Fra Dolcino (c. 1250 – 1307) was the second leader of the

Dulcinian {{no footnotes, date=July 2018 The Dulcinians were a religious sect of the Late Middle Ages, originating within the Apostolic Brethren. The Dulcinians, or Dulcinites, and Apostolics were inspired by Franciscan ideals and influenced by the Joachi ...

reformist movement who was burned at the stake in Northern Italy in 1307. He had taken over the movement after its founder,

Gerard Segarelli Gerard'' or ''Gherardo'' or ''Gherardino'' ''Segarelli'' or ''Segalelli (around 1240 – July 18, 1300) was the founder of the Apostolic Brethren (in Latin ''Apostolici''). He was burned at the stake in 1300. Sources In the 1280s, Salimben ...

, had also been executed in 1300 on the orders of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Although the beliefs and spirituality of the Dulcinian sect were inspired by the teachings of Francis of Assisi, who had founded the Franciscan Order in 1210, their beliefs were condemned as

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

by the Catholic Church. The Papacy condemned their practices of poverty, liberty and opposition to the

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

Real name

The origins of Fra Dolcino and his real name are a subject of constant debate among historians. One view is that he belonged to the wealthy Tornielli family of Novara, while another view is that he was the illegitimate son of a priest who fled from Vercelli to escape punishment for some small burglaries. Recent researches of Raniero Orioli presents a plausible theory: the paper of the Anonymous Synchronous (an "anonymous contemporary") written shortly after the facts, identifies him as ''nomine Dulcinus, filius presbyteri Iulii de Tarecontano Vallis Ossole diocesis Novariensis'' (by name Dulcinus, son of

presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning a ...

Julius from Tarecontano of the Ossola Valley in the

diocese of Novara The Diocese of Novara ( la, Dioecesis Novariensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vercelli.Bernardo Gui in his work on heretical sects reports the same information changing the word ''presbyteri'' to ''sacerdotis'' (priest) thus concluding that he was the illegitimate son of a priest. The research of Orioli shows that ''De Julio Presbitero'' was actually the name of a wealthy family of Vercelli belonging to the Ghibellines, who often married with members of the Tornielli family of nearby Novara ( Romagnano Sesia), also Ghibellines, so he proposes that Dolcino could be the son of a couple that united members of both families.

History

Benvenuto da Imola in his commentaries written less than a century after the facts tells us that Dolcino was born in Romagnano Sesia, went in his childhood to

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

and there lived in the church of St. Agnes where he studied grammar. He was very intelligent and proficient in the studies, of short stature, always smiling and of gentle temperament. One day a priest lamented that some money had been stolen and accused one of his familiars, Patras, of the theft; he in turn accused Dolcino and wanted him tortured to make him confess. The priests refused and did not accuse him of anything but Dolcino was terrorized and fled far away to the city of

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ce ...

where he met and joined the sect of the Apostolics. Dolcino left

between 1280 and 1290 and the researches of Orioli show that in the same period the fights between Guelphs and Ghibellines caused many victims on both sides in the city; the fear of being involved in these fights could better explain his decision to leave and join the initially pacifist movement of Segarelli. The inquisitor Bernardo Gui cites the same episode, concluding that he fled to Trento to escape the just punishment for his burglaries. Fra Dolcino, a former member, became in 1300 the leader of the movement of Apostolics, and influenced by the millenarist theories of Gioacchino da Fiore gave birth to the

movement, which existed between the years 1300 and 1307. It ended in the mountains in

Sesia The Sesia (Latin ''Sesites'' or ''Sessites'') is a river in Piedmont, north-western Italy, tributary to the Po. Geography Its sources are the glaciers of Monte Rosa at the border with Switzerland. It flows through the Alpine valley Valsesia a ...

Valley and in the

Biella Biella (; pms, Biela; la, Bugella) is a city and ''comune'' in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of 44,324 as of 31 December 2017. It is located about northeast of Turin a ...

area, in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, on 23 March 1307 when many crusaders (''multi crucesignati'') finally conquered the fortification built on the mount Rubello by the Dulcinians. Cippo dolcino

According to the

and most historians of the period, Dolcino and his followers, in reaction to attacks by Catholic troops, became criminals (today they would probably be called guerrilla fighters), who would not hesitate, for their own survival, to plunder and devastate villages, killing any who opposed them, and burning their houses. He justified the actions committed by his followers in this period citing

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

( Epistle to Titus 1:15): "To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted", as reported by the Anonymous Synchronous Dolcino maintained: " ..that it was legitimate for him and his followers to hang, behead, ..people who obey to the Roman church and burn down, destroy, ..because they were acting to redeem them and thus without sin". Despite this, he was considered by some to be one of the reformers of the Church and one of the founders of the ideals of the

French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

and

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

. In particular he was positively reevaluated toward the end of the 19th century and was dubbed the ''Apostle of the Socialist Jesus'' and thus in 1907 left wing workers of Biella and the Sesia Valley erected a monument on mount Rubello, the place of its last resistance. The monument was later (1927) symbolically gunned down by the Fascists and rebuilt in a smaller size and different shape in 1974.

Execution

Fra Dolcino and his co-preacher or concubine Margaret of Trent were never tried by the Church. Manly Hall claims (as do many other modern writers) that Dolcino was castrated and torn to pieces, limb by limb, the pieces afterward burned by the public executioner. This is apparently not based on any contemporary or near contemporary account of Fra Dolcino's execution. Fifteen years later (in 1322), approximately thirty of Dolcino's disciples were burned alive in the marketplace at Padua. After his capture the Bishop of Vercelli consulted with the Inquisition and other eminent people to decide an immediate execution (in fact the acts of the trial were never found, despite some suggestions that they could be hidden somewhere in the secret archives of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

) so the paper of the Anonymous Synchronous, probably written by a follower or a local sympathizer of the Dulcinian, the one of Bernardo Gui and another anonymous paper(probably also written by Bernardo Gui) are the only documents we have that were written in the same period the events took place.

Ideas

He was considered to be an intelligent, erudite and charismatic speaker. He expressed his ideas in a series of letters he wrote to the Apostolics from 1300 to 1307; his letters were found by the Inquisition and are deeply analyzed (and confuted) in the paper "Additamentum ad Historiam fratris Dulcini, haeretici", written by an Inquisitor.

Cultural references

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature ...

'', actually written ''after'' Fra Dolcino's death but ''as if'' it were before it, Mohammed talks about Dolcino (Inferno XXVIII): Fra Dolcino and his former followers are mentioned often in

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...

's novel ''

The Name of the Rose ''The Name of the Rose'' ( it, Il nome della rosa ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in ficti ...

''. The dialogue between the narrator Adso and the old priest Ubertino recounts the story of Fra Dolcino in outline, leaving much to the imagination of the reader. Bernardo Gui also figures in the novel, as do Dolcino's papers.''Third Day: After Compline''
– study guide for ''The Name of the Rose'' discussing Fra Dolcino. In

On Liberty ''On Liberty'' is a philosophical essay by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill. Published in 1859, it applies Mill's ethical system of utilitarianism to society and state. Mill suggests standards for the relationship between authority a ...

, John Stuart Mill uses Fra Dolcino as an example of the inability of truth to triumph over persecution.

References

Bibliography

Anonymous Synchronous, "Historia Fratris Dulcini Heresiarche Novariensis ab A.C. 1304 usque ad A. 1307"
https://www.scribd.com/doc/83110355/Historia-Fratris-Dulcini-Heresiarche] * Bernardo Gui, "De secta illorum qui se dicunt esse de ordine apostolorum" * "Additamentum ad Historiam fratris Dulcini, haeretici" ab auctore coevo scriptum * Muratori L., "Raccolta degli Storici Italiani dal 500 al 1500", collects the previous 3 documents, book IX, part V, Città di Castello, C.E.S. Lapi, 1907. * Benvenuto da Imola, Comentum super Dantis Aldigherij comoediam, Inferno 28,55–60, 3. Edition (1375) (searchable online a
dante.dartmouth.edu
* Johann Lorenz von Mosheim "Geschichte des Apostel-Ordens in dreien Büchern" in "Versuch eines unparteischen und gründlichen Ketzergeschichte", Helmstaedt 1748.
Mariotti L. (Antonio Gallenga), "Historical memoir of Fra Dolcino and his times", Brown, London 1853, pp.XII-376
*Orioli Raniero, "Venit perfidus heresiarca. Il movimento apostolico-dolciniano dal 1260 al 1307", Roma 1988. *Berkhout, Carl T. and Jeffrey B. Russell. "Medieval heresies: a bibliography, 1960–1979." in Subsidia mediaevalia, 11. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1981 (entries Apostolici, Dolcino, Margaret, Segarelli) *Jerry B. Pierce
"Apocalyptic Poverty: Gerard Segarelli, Fra Dolcino and the Legitimization of Deviance among the Order of Apostles, 1260–1307"
*

Antonio Labriola Antonio Labriola (; 2 July 1843 – 12 February 1904) was an Italian Marxist theoretician and philosopher. Although an academic philosopher and never an active member of any Marxist political party, his thought exerted influence on many pol ...

"Socialism and Philosophy"
(HTML at marxists.org), Chapter IX, 1897 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolciono, Fra 1250 births 1307 deaths 13th-century Italian people 14th-century executions 14th-century Italian people Executed Italian people People executed by dismemberment People executed by the Holy See People executed for heresy Persecution of Christian heretics People from Vercelli