Dulcinian

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The Dulcinian movement was a religious sect of the Late Middle Ages that originated in the Apostolic Brethren. The Dulcinians (sometimes called "Dulcinites") and Apostolics were inspired by Franciscan ideals, influenced by the Joachimites, but were considered heretical by the Catholic Church. The name derives from the movement's leader, Fra Dolcino of Novara (ca. 1250-1307), who was burnt as a heretic on the orders of Pope Clement V. The Apostolic/Dulcinian sects can be viewed as a manifestation in North Italy of the older Cathar movement, that was also suppressed by a Papal crusade and was finally eliminated around the time of the assault on the Dulcinians.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

The Dulcinian sect began in 1300 when Gherardo Segarelli, founder of the Apostolic Brethren, was burned in Parma. A brutal repression of the Apostolics ensued, and his followers had to hide to save their lives. Fra Dolcino, who had joined the Apostolics between 1288 and 1292, became the leader of a breakaway group and published the first of his letters, in which he explained his ideas about the epochs of history based on the theories of Gioacchino da Fiore.

[edit] Reunification with the Apostolics

Soon Fra Dolcino was also recognised as the leader of the Apostolics, and at the beginning of 1303 he reunited the movement near Lake Garda. Here he met Margaret of Trento (real name Margherita Boninsegna, his lover or sister in spirit), and wrote the second letter to the Apostolics. At the beginning of 1304 three Dulcinians were burned by the Inquisition, so Dolcino decided to evacuate the whole community (around 3000 people in some sources, just a few dozens according to others[citation needed]) to the left side of the Sesia valley near his native Novara, by means of a forced march through the mountains.

At first they settled in the lower parts of the valley, enthusiastically welcomed by the inhabitants, and there the movement grew (again, the numbers reported vary from a few hundreds to 4000 members, or even 15000[citation needed]) as escaped serfs and scholars from various parts of Italy joined them. Then the Bishops of Novara and Vercelli attacked, and they were forced to move to higher ground, helped initially by some of the valley dwellers. They were repeatedly attacked and fled again, suffering great losses.

At the end of 1304 only 1400 (4000 in other sources) survived on the top of Mount Parete Calva (1426m), in the fortified Piano dei Gazzari. They descended from the mountain only to pillage and kill the people of the valley, responsible in their eyes for not having adequately defended them against the Episcopal troops. The people started to call them "Gazzari" (Cathars), and joined the soldiers in opposing them.

Dolcino justified everything committed by the Dulcinians in this period by affirming that they were so perfect that they could do anything without Sin, basing his assertion on Saint Paul's Epistle to Titus (1,15):

To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted.

[edit] The League and the crusade against heretics

With the Statutum Ligae contra Haereticos (Statute of the League against the Heretics), signed on the 24th August 1305 in Scopello, most cities and villages of the valley united to fight the Dulcinians. On the 3rd September of the same year representatives of the communities of the Sesia valley met in the Ecclesia Sancti Bartholomaei (St. Bartholomews Church) in the nearby town of Scopa, swearing on the Gospels to fight the Gazzari to their death. A few historians dispute the existence of the League, claiming that it was invented in 1793 to prevent a positive re-evaluation of Dolcino following the French revolution; however, there are earlier documents citing the statute[citation needed].

The winter of 1305 was exceptionally cold, and the pressure from the Episcopal troops and the local people was particularly effective, so Margaret of Trento decided to lead another march through the mountains to escape the siege. The weak and the wounded were abandoned[citation needed], and in March 1306 the Dulcinians eventually reached Mount Rubello (1410m), on the right side of the river near Vercelli, where they fortified again.

In 1306 Pope Clement V called for a crusade to finally crush the movement, and troops from various parts of northern Italy joined the siege of the mountain. The Dulcinians could no longer descend the mountain to find food, but they resisted for a year eating rats, horses, dogs, and in some cases practicing cannibalism[citation needed]. After a final assault in 1307, when many (some sources say 800) were killed, they finally surrendered; 150 were captured and later executed (most sources concur on this number).

[edit] The end

Margaret of Trento and Dolcino were captured alive and brought to the town of Biella nearby, where Margaret was burned at the stake on the 1st of June 1307. Dolcino was forced to watch Margaret being burnt, and was then taken to Vercelli on an open wagon. On the journey he was tortured with hot instruments, castrated, his fingers, nose and ears were amputated, and his tongue and eyes removed[citation needed]. When they reached Vercelli he was finally burned at the stake.

The numbers of the Dulcinians may have been exaggerated by the Catholic Church to justify their inability to defeat them for 3 years[citation needed]. The lower numbers are probably more accurate; the higher Sesia Valley had less than 500 inhabitants at that time, and the city of Novara, whose troops were the first to fight the Dulcinians, had a population of only about 5000.

[edit] Aftermath

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Three years of armed resistance in the name of Christ had ended, but some of the Dulcinians survived and dispersed, and there are traces of their presence in the north of Italy until 1374.

Dolcino, Margaret and the Apostolics became symbols of freedom and emancipation to the present day, and were never forgotten. In the year 1907, the 600th anniversary of the martyrdom, huge celebrations were held in the Sesia valley, and a 12 meter high obelisk erected in the place of their last resistance.

The obelisk was later destroyed by the Fascists in 1927, but a small monument was built there again in 1974. Since 1974, on the second Sunday of September every year, a Dulcinian meeting is held by this monument.

[edit] Theories

The main concepts of the Dulcinian heresy were:

  • Predicted the fall of the ecclesiastical hierarchy and return of the Church to its original ideals of humility and poverty
  • Predicted the fall of the feudal system which oppressed the people
  • Human liberation from any restraint and from entrenched power
  • Creation of a new egalitarian society based on mutual aid and respect, holding property in common and respecting equality between sexes

Fra Dolcino was inspired by the millenarist theories of Gioacchino da Fiore. He thought that the history of humanity was characterized by 4 epochs:

  • The period of the Old Testament when the human race multiplied
  • The period of Jesus Christ and the Apostles, characterized by chastity and poverty
  • The period that began with the Emperor Constantine I and Pope Sylvester I, characterized by the decline of the Church due to ambition and excessive wealth
  • The period of the Apostolics, led by Segalelli and Dolcino, characterized by an Apostolic way of life, poverty, chastity and the absence of government. This period would last for eternity.

In his first letter Dolcino gave his interpretation of the seven Angels and seven Churches of the Apocalypse of John:

  • the Angel of Ephesus was Saint Benedict, and his church was the monastic order.
  • the Angel of Pergamom was Pope Sylvester I, and his church was the clerical order.
  • the Angel of Sardis was Saint Francis, and his church was the Friars Minor.
  • the Angel of Laodicea was Saint Dominic, and his church was the Friars Preacher.
  • the Angel of Smyrna was Gerard of Parma, and his church was the Apostolic Brethren.
  • the Angel of Thyatira was Fra Dolcino, and his church was the Dulcinian movement.
  • the Angel of Philadelphia would be the new holy pope, and these last three churches would constitute "the new church of these new days".

Following the death of Boniface VIII this scheme had to be corrected, so Dolcino produced a schedule of 4 popes:

Thus, the advent of the "new holy pope" was postponed to the second pope after the death of Boniface VIII. Dolcino never proposed himself as this new Pope in his letters, although this was one of the accusations that the Inquisition brought against him.

Though his prophecies were never fulfilled, his followers always trusted him and believed the promise that after the advent of the last Angel/Pope the Apostolics would receive the Holy Spirit, preach, and live in peace to the end of times.

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[edit] Bibliography

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