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The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1 - Contents
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    IV. Ubertino Becomes Leader of the Spirituals

    UBERTINO OF CASALE (b. 1259) was born at Casale, in the diocese of Vercelli. At the age of fourteen he entered the Franciscan Order. Being an enthusiastic and brilliant youth, he was sent to Paris, where he studied for nine years. Returning to Italy, he became a lecturer in Tuscany, and came under the influence of John of Parma. Later he became acquainted with Olivi, accepted his positions, and became his stoutest defender. After Olivi’s death he became the recognized leader of the Spirituals.PFF1 777.1

    He was called to be a pastor in Perugia, loved and respected by many. Yet, on the other hand, he caused deep resentment in wide circles by his violent criticisms of the popes and the hierarchy. Finally, in 1304, he was no longer allowed to preach, and was banished to a little village in the mountains. There he wrote his chief work, Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Iesu Christi (Tree of the Crucified Life of Jesus Christ), which was completed in 1305. In it we sense the spirit of Joachim, and find that sometimes even his words are borrowed. 45Huck, op. cit., pp. 24, 25; Bett, op. cit., pp. 141, 142 On the other hand, this work strongly defended the ideas and principles of Olivi, without bringing in much new material.PFF1 777.2

    One thing is certain, Ubertino belongs to the great movement that was started by Joachim and carried on further by the Joachimites, and which found its full expression among the Spirituals. It was this movement of the thirteenth century which revealed the great hunger of many souls for a more spiritual conception of Christianity, and their deep yearning for a pure and holy worship. Ubertino, in turn, influenced Dante, who by his poetical genius pictured life and death in the most lucid as well as the most somber colors, but whose real aim was to bring about a renovation of Christianity from within.PFF1 777.3

    Ubertino, after having completed his book, was accepted in the service of Cardinal Napoleon Orsini, a protector of the Spirituals. Later he was summoned by the pope to Avignon, with other Spirituals, to discuss the issues between the two parties in the Franciscan Order. The result, after two years of discussion, was made public in the papal bull Exivi de Paradiso, of May 6, 1312, and in the decisions of the Council of Vienne of the same year. Here in this council the opinions of Ubertino about absolute poverty of the friars were to a large extent vindicated. 46Huck, op. cit., pp. 18, 19; Bett, op. cit., pp. 142, 143.PFF1 777.4

    However, his fortunes changed upon the accession of John XXII to the papal throne. The latter, after a long dispute, finally excommunicated him. Ubertino fled, was for a time, with the forces of Ludwig of Bavaria, and probably went with him on the campaign to Italy. However, from this time on (1328), nothing definite is known of Ubertino. 47Hieron. Golubovich, “Ubertino of Casale,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 15, pp. 116, 117.PFF1 778.1

    1. INFLUENCED BY JOACHIM

    As already mentioned, he was deeply influenced by Joachim, and often restated the latter’s prophecies, and those of pseudo-Joachim writings in the light of his day. The apparent failure of Joachim’s expectations concerning the year 1260 presented little difficulty to Ubertino. If not from the incarnation, then the period should be dated from the crucifixion—which would extend the date to 1293 48Ubertino, Arbor Vitae, book 5, chap. 8, “Iesus Falsificatus,” sig. F2v; also in the abridged reprint from book 5, Tractatus Ubertni de Casale de Septem Statibus Ecclesie, chap 4, fol. LXVII r; see also Dollinger, Prophecies, p. 114; Edmund G. Gardner, Dante and the Mystics, p. 219. for he found a significant event in the very next year.PFF1 778.2

    2. POPES IDENTIFIED AS “BEASTS” OF APOCALYPSE

    It was Boniface VIII, ascending the papal throne in 1294, who was to Ubertino the “mystical Antichrist.” 49See Gardner, Dante and the Mystics, pp. 220-222. Boniface, who is not named, may be identified by his “horrible innovation” of rejecting Pope Celestirre V, and forcing, or at least inducing, him to abdicate; Ubertino therefore regards him as a usurper. He considers that Boniface, in canceling the privileges of the Franciscans, has killed the Spirit of Christ in His “middle coming,” that is, in the evangelical life; and that the two slain Witnesses, Enoch and Elijah, preachers of the “third advent,” are already represented spiritually by Dominic and Francis, the preachers of “second” or middle advent, who lie dead in the corrupt state of their sons. 50Ubertino, Arbor Vitae, book 5, chap. 8, sigs. F2v, F3r; Tractatus, chap. 4, fol. LXVII r, v.PFF1 778.3

    He distinctly identifies this persecuting pope not only as the “mystic Antichrist” but also as the beast from the sea, having seven heads, seven Vices, and ten horns (his presumption against the Ten Commandments), the wounded head being his pride, because of the charge brought against him that he had secured his see by ousting his predecessor. 51Ubertino, Arbor Vitae, book 5, chap. 8, sig. F3v (omitted from the abridged Tractatus).PFF1 779.1

    The two-horned beast from the earth Ubertino believes to be the host of the “ambitious religious,” Who for the sake of earthly gain have proclaimed the legitimate authority of the usurper. 52Ibid., sig. F4r. And he also sees in Boniface’s successor, Benedict XI, the second beast of Revelation 13, for he connects the number 666 with the name Benedict. Because the latter’s reputation for sanctity makes him more acceptable among the people in general, he is the lamblike beast, but of the same wickedness as the first. 53Ibid., sig. F5r.PFF1 779.2

    Ubertino here has a double application; he expects a future “open Antichrist” according to the tradition, who will judge concerning Babylon, who will slay Enoch and Elijah, preachers of the advent, and who is represented by the beast of Revelation 13. But he sees also a “mystic Antichrist” preceding him, a pope who is the clerical beast from the sea, persecuting the two spiritual Witnesses, Francis and Dominic. The second beast in this sense means the false religious, who bolster the authority of this pope by the same false signs mentioned by Olivi—ecclesiastical authority, the wisdom of the doctors, and rational arguments. 54Ibid., sig. F4r. Cf. page 770. Thus we find Ubertino following Olivi, sometimes almost verbatim, and yet going beyond him. He applies the beast and the Antichrist to a pope—not a future anti-pope, rival of a legitimate pontiff, but the recognized pope of Rome.PFF1 779.3

    3. CITES “DE SEMINE” FOR 2300 YEARS

    Ubertino invokes the authority of Joachim, whom he supposes to have written De Semine, for the 2300 years. He locates the period, however, similarly to Olivi, from the time of Antiochus, and reckons 700 years yet to pass after his own time. 55Ubertino, Arbor Vitae, book 5, chap. 12, “Jesus Pauper Firmatus”; Tractatus, chap, 8, fol. LXXVIII r.PFF1 780.1

    4. FOLLOWS OLIVI ON MILLENNIUM

    On the binding of Satan, Ubertino uses almost Olivi’s exact words. Mentioning Augustine’s alternative interpretations of the thousand years—the sixth millennium or the whole Christian Era—he has varying possibilities for the millennium, beginning with the death of Christ, the time of Constantine, or the last days. 56Ibid., fols. LXXVII v, LXXVIII r. Cf. p. 775.PFF1 780.2

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