Some three months have now passed since the night the earth shook and dealt a painful blow to the people of Abruzzo: these are tragic images which all of us – selfishly – would like to forget. That sad event has, however, brought to my attention an episode from the life of Saint Francis, which although fairly well known is generally overlooked by historians, who may be embarrassed by it in the light of what has happened. Thomas of Eccleston, who died shortly after 1259, in his chronicle regarding the arrival of the Friars Minor in England, refers among other things to information given by Brother Martin of Barton, “who was fortunate enough to see a good deal of Saint Francis”. Among this information we find the following account: “A brother was absorbed in prayer at Brescia, on Christmas Day, and he was found unscathed under the ruins of the church which collapsed during the earthquake which Saint Francis had predicted and which he had asked the brothers to announce in all the schools of Bologna, when he sent them a letter in very poor Latin (in qua fuit falsum latinum)”. What credence can we attach to this account? Let us begin by saying that the very mention of Francis’s poor Latin is one point in favour of the account. In the mid 13th century, in fact, the Order of Friars Minor was scattered everywhere and Franciscan teachers held the most important university chairs: the ignorance of its founder by this time had become an indelicate issue and if it was mentioned at all it was only out of a duty to the truth. Nor is there any doubt about the fact that a tremendous earthquake shook the north of Italy at Christmas time in 1222: the event is related by too many chroniclers for there to be any question of its not having happened. But there is something else besides. Other preachers mention the event even before Thomas of Eccleston compiled his chronicle. John of La Rochelle († 1245) states that Francis “was of the same mould as the Son in terms of his foreknowledge of future things, because he forecast an earthquake to the students and predicted the papacy of Pope Gregory [IX]”. It is therefore certain that news of this forecast of the earthquake made by Francis circulated among the brothers independently of the information given by Brother Martin of Barton, just as it is true that the Saint had asked for the news to be publicly announced to the students. And it is also certain that Francis was in Bologna in 1222, in the middle of August for sure, because we have been left a highly colourful account of it by Thomas of Spalato, archdeacon and later bishop of the city of Spalato, who as a young man had completed his intellectual education in Bologna. Of course more than four months lie between the Feast of the Assumption and Christmas, and a lot can happen in that time. However, there is more evidence to support the story (at least in its essence) than there is to suggest it should be refuted. It is difficult to know what may have happened in detail, nor do we know what the reaction of those involved was. However, it is not far-fetched to believe that in his forecast of that terrible event Francis may have issued a serious warning to the people of Bologna.

“A brother [...] was found unscathed under the ruins [...], during the earthquake which Saint Francis had predicted and which he had asked the brothers to announce in all the schools of Bologna”