15
July 1274 A.D. Bonaventura Dies in Curious Circumstances.
Graves, Dan. “Bonaventura Died Amid Rumors
of Poison.” Christianity.com. Jul
2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/bonaventura-died-amid-rumors-of-poison-11629845.html. Accessed 9 May 2014.
Afterwards, there were rumors of
poison. 53-year-old Bonaventura, general of the Franciscans, seemed well enough
when he came to the great council of Lyons. He preached twice and had a part in
the negotiations between the eastern and western churches. But on this day, July 15, 1274, he died suddenly.
But why poison? After all,
Bonaventura's holiness was recognized by everyone. Long before Bonaventure's
death, the epic-poet Dante had already written him into Paradise. As head of
the Franciscans, had not Bonaventura always been a mild leader? Still, he could
be firm. For example, unhappy with Roger Bacon's speculations, he banned him
from lecturing at Oxford.
Although Bonaventura probably
died of plague, perhaps the battle within the Franciscan order had something to
do with the suspicion of poison. The Franciscans were torn between the
Spirituals, who wanted to continue the extreme poverty advocated by their
founder, St. Francis of Assisi, and the Relaxti who wanted to relax the strict
rule. Bonaventura sided with the Spirituals. Perhaps there was a motive there.
Pope Gregory X lamented his
loss. He was pope in part because Bonaventura championed his candidacy. But
when Gregory had sent Bonaventura a cardinal's hat, it is said that the
scholarly Franciscan was found washing dishes. He had the delegates hang the
hat on a tree until he was free to take it.
Honors and promotions were not
what he sought. Rather, he meditated on Christ (as can be seen in the excerpts
known as The Privity of the Passion) and he sought Christ, as is
clear from a prayer he wrote to be recited after communion. It read in part:
"May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon You, Whom the angels desire
to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Your
savor; may it ever thirst for You, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom
and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the
fulness of the house of God; may it ever compass You, seek You, find You, run
to You, come up to You, meditate on You, speak of You, and do all for the
praise and glory of Your name..."
Bonaventura wrote many other
things--some editions of his writings run to fifteen volumes. What he wrote, we
are told, was unusually direct and clear for that era, full of spiritual
insight and avoiding the endless niggles of the scholastics. His preaching was
of the same caliber. For this reason, he was known as "The Seraphic
Doctor" during his life time and was named a saint and a doctor of the
church two centuries after his death. The people of Lyons considered him their
patron.
Huguenots (French Protestants)
burned his body during a raid on Lyons. The head escaped, but it was lost
during the French Revolution.
Bibliography:
1. "Bonaventura." Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
Editor Charles Coulston Gillispie. New York: Scribner's, 1970.
2. Bonaventure. "Prayer after Communion."
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PRAYER/BONAVENT.TXT
3. Bonaventure. The Privity of the Passion, in Richard Rolle's Minor Works.
London: John M. Watkins, 1923.
4. Cullen, Christopher M. Bonaventure. Oxford University Press,
2006.
5. Eerdman's Handbook to the History of Christianity. Editor Tim Dowley. Berkhamsted, Herts, England: Lion
Publishing, 1977.
6. Endres, Jos Ant. Thomas von Aquin. Mainz: Derlag von
Kirchheim, 1910. Source of the image.
7. Fremantle, Anne, editor. The Age of Faith. Great Ages of Man.
Time-Life Books, 1965.
8. McKeon, Richard. Selections from Medieval Philosophers.
New York: Scribners, 1930; p. 111 ff.
9. Runes, Dagobert D. A Treasury of Philosophy. New York:
Philosophical Library, 1945.
10. "St. Bonaventure." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York:
Robert Appleton, 1914.
11. Various encyclopedia and internet articles, including the Americana,
Britannica, and the New Schaff Herzog Encyclopedia.
Last updated July,
2007.
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