[111] This work has been admirably done by Signor Alfonso Brizi. In his Rocca d'Assisi, published in 1898, he has given a very interesting account of its many rulers and vicissitudes, and a full description of the building, together with all the documents relating to it.
[112] St. Francis called the Portiuncula Santa Maria degli Angeli, but now the name is more connected with the large church. See p. [97].
[113] St. Dominic was present at this famous gathering, and the Fioretti gives a curious account of the way in which he watched the doings of a brother saint, at first a little inclined to criticise his methods, so different to his own, but finally being won over by the franciscan doctrine of absolute poverty.
[114] Those who know the teaching of St. Francis (see Fioretti, chap. xiii.) will feel how the saint would have fought against this device for the expiation of sins, invented by the priests of Southern Italy. No Umbrian has ever sunk to such depths of self-abasement, and during all the first days of the "Perdono" festival they keep aloof, waiting till the pilgrims' departure before obtaining their indulgences.