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THE NOBLE FAMILY OF ST. CLARE OF ASSISI Little is known about the family of St. Clare of Assisi. What is known is to be found in The Legend of Holy Virgin Clare, written by Thomas of Celano, and in the Process of Canonization.1 The origin of this silence concerning Clare's famous noble lineage lies in her own will. Benvenuta of Perugia, who followed the Saint into the convent in the very year of her conversion, says the following: "Madame Clare did not wish to speak of secular affairs, nor did she wish the sisters to remember them."2 Yet basic information has reached us to help estabUsh the facts about her family. Clare was born in Assisi in 1193, and died in the same city in 1253 at the age of 60. It was written of her: "the Virgin Clare was born of a noble family"; "her father, Messer Favarone, was a great and powerful nobleman of the city, as were the others of this house"; "Clare was both on her father's and mother's side of the noblest parentage in all the City of Assisi" ; "her father was a knight, and both sides of the family were of knightly rank."3 Her father Favarone was therefore a miles, that is, a feudal knight, capable of fighting on horseback and pursuing bands of the enemy with drawn sword. It was also written: 1 Thomas of Celano, Legenda Sanctae Clarae Virginis, ed. Francesco Pennachi (Assisi: Tipografía Metastasio, 1910) trans. Ignatius Brady, The Legend and Writings of Saint Clare of Assisi (St. Bonaventure, N.Y.: The Franciscan Institute, 1953); Processo di canonizzazione di s. Chiara, ed. Zefferino Lazzeri, Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 13 (1920), 401-507, trans. Nesta de Robeck, St. Clare of Assisi (Milwaukee, 1951, rep. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1980), !79-2372 Processo, 2:10. 3 Ibid. 1:4, 19. i, 20:2 in the testimony of Pacifica de Guelfuccio, Pietro de Damiani, and Johanni de Ventura; Legenda, t. The Noble Family of St. Clare of Assisi49 "The house was very large and contained vast riches inherited through her father's family."4 From our recent discoveries, we can affirm that Clare's family was of Germanic descent, derived from the fusion of Franks and Lombards. We have deduced this from a valuable seventeenth century volume which provides data concerning many noble Italian families. We have attempted to compare the names and the historical periods cited in that text with the documents which have been found in Assisi.5 According to the Acts of Assisi, the most distant ancestor of Clare was Offredo, who lived in Assisi in 1106, with his sons Bernard and Monaldo, the latter being called "comes," i.e. "count."6 We researched farther back and found that this family was very powerful in all of central Italy, which was a part of the Duchy of Spoleto. Offredo had Suppolino, Barone and Monaldo for brothers. According to the text we consulted, these were the names of the sons of Count Rapizone II, son of Crescenzio, who was in turn the son of Rapizone I.7 The story is as follows: In 1057 Goffredo, Duke of Tuscany, stepfather of the Countess Matilda of Canossa, named Rapizone I Count of Todi, a city which is situated a few miles from Assisi. At Assisi there exists a document by which Criso, a priest, son of Rapizone I, gave two pieces of his land to the Cathedral of Assisi.8 "Rapizone" was without doubt an honorary name, which the common people applied to anyone who knew how to defend himself from the Infidels. In fact, in the Morgante by Pulci, the author says of the Paladin Orlando who was fighting the Saracens: "one after another he bowled them over ; happy were they who showed him 4 Legenda, 1. Guido Battelli in Leggenda di Tommaso da Celano (Sancasciano , 1926), 12, translates "iuxta morem patriae" with the words "secondo Ie facoltà della patria,'' a phrase which in our opinion is correctly translated ''secondo i beni paterni." 8 The seventeenth century text is Anton Francesco Zazzera, Della nobiltà dell'Italia (Napoli, 1615). 8 AU the documents were published by Arnaldo...

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