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P ROTOSPIRITUALS

completed his first work. In 1230, the body of Saint Francis had been trans-

ferred to its new resting place in the basilica under conditions that caused

scandal. Precisely what occurred remains unclear, although apparently the

body was moved to the basilica before the prearranged day, thus robbing

the minister general and others, who were to assemble in Assisi for a general

chapter meeting, of their opportunity to participate. Many historians, fol-

lowing Thomas of Eccleston’s lead, 10 have assumed that Elias must have been

at the heart of it; the papal letter that followed, however, ordered the citizens

of Assisi to come and explain their behavior but did not mention Elias. 11

Shortly after the 1230 general chapter ended, a delegation of friars set

another important event in motion by going to the pope and asking for

his guidance on the meaning of their rule. The result was Quo elongati, the

first official attempt to exposit the rule. It dealt with some important ques-

tions, such as how the friars could maintain their lack of possessions and still

manage to survive. The 1223 rule had provided for recourse to “spiritual

friends” who could use money to buy clothes and care for ailing broth-

ers. 12 Quo elongati developed this idea, allowing the friars to have a nuntius

who would represent the giver and be subject to his rather than the friars’

control. 13 Historians sometimes see this arrangement as a major step toward

the corruption of Francis’s ideal. 14 If it was actually such, though, then the

ideal had been corrupted one hundred times over by that point, including

in the rule itself.

Quo elongati might seem to compromise Francis’s express order in his Testament,

“I firmly forbid my brothers, both clerics and laymen, to place glosses on

the rule or say, ‘This is what it means.’ ” That too was taken into account, as

we have seen. Gregory’s announcement that the Testament was not binding was

a significant one, although future ministers would discover that the Testament

was not that easy to neutralize. For the moment, however, the relevant ques-

tion is whether there is any compelling evidence that in 1230 the pope was

asked to rule on the Testament because a zealot group in the order was bran-

dishing it. The answer is “no.”

Another memorable choice was made when, in 1238, another group of

Franciscans sought recourse to Rome—this time seeking aid against Elias, who

had been elected minister general in 1232. The pope called for a general chap-

ter to be held at Rome in 1239, and when it occurred, the brothers voted Elias

out of office, accusing him of carnality and cruelty. A few months later Elias

was in the court of Emperor Frederick II, a major adversary of the pope. He

remained an excommunicated renegade almost until his death in 1253, thus

causing substantial embarrassment to his order.