"¶ Hoe dat S. F. woude reysen in verre lāden om dat vole te bekeren en̄ te vermaenen en̄ vā die grote tribulacie die hi leet int soldaēs lant en̄ hoe hi gerne martelaer hadde geworden en̄ hoe die broeders te Antiochien sÿn oordē aēnaemen."
On which Jewish-converting martyrdom-seeking journey Dr. Geddes (in his curious little work on the Romish Orders of Monks and Friars, Lond. 1714) quaintly remarks:
"A Quaker's having gone from England to Rome to convert the pope to his religion, is a mighty jest with some people, who are very much edified with this story of Francis's going from Italy to Egypt to convert the sultan, but these two adventures do to me appear to be so much alike that I shall leave it to anatomists to tell whether good wits that prompt others, have not their brains either made of the same size, or much in the same posture."
The Oude Legende ends folio 44. Next follows:
"¶ Die historie van dē aflaet van Sinte Maria van dē enghelen diemē portiūkel heet,"
as the preface hath it. Some of your readers may have seen an advertisement respecting a series of Franciscan works (to be published, I think, by Richardson of Derby), entitled the Portioncule Library; and seeing in the above table of contents "Die aflaet van Portiunkel," or the Indulgence of the Portiunkel, they may be at a loss to know its meaning, so I shall quote a note from Mrs. Jameson's highly interesting and valuable work on the Monastic Orders, which is to the purpose:
"The term Porzioncula means literally 'a small portion, share, or allotment.' The name was given to a slip of land, of a few acres in extent, at the foot of the hill of Assisi, and on which stood a little chapel; both belonged to a community of Benedictines, who afterwards bestowed the land and the chapel on the brotherhood of S. Francis. This chapel was then familiarly known as the 'Capella della Porzioncula.' Whether the title by which it has since become famous as the S. Maria-degli-Angeli belonged to it originally, or because the angels were heard singing around and above it at the time of the birth of St. Francis, does not seem clear. At all events this chapel became early sanctified as the scene of the ecstasies and visions of the saint; here also S. Clara made her profession. Particular indulgences were granted to those who visited it for confession and repentance on the fifth of August and it became a celebrated place of pilgrimage in the fourteenth century. Mr. Ford tells us, that in Spain the term Porzioncula is applied generally to distinguish the chapel or sanctuary dedicated to St. Francis within the Franciscan churches. The original chapel of the Porzioncula now stands in the centre of the magnificent church which has been erected over it."
In the "Legende" of St. Anthony of Padua, chap. vii. fol. ccxx., we have that saint's "sermo ad pisces" in the city of Rimini, die vol ketters was, and the conversion therefrom of the said ketters or heretics.
The "Prologhe" to the narrative "van die vÿf Martelaren," fol. clxxviii., commences, "Ego quasi Vitis fructificavi suavitatem odoris alo cenē wÿngaert," &c.: here we learn why the work is called Den Wÿngaert, or The Vine.
In the "tractat vā S. F. orden en̄ reghele," at fol. cccxxix., we have an account of Brother Agnellus of Pisa his mission to England in 1224.