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Matthew of Agrigento. The political and religious engagement of a franciscan... 493

words had to make inroads first and foremost among the women of
the wealthier classes and even among the ladies of the royal court it-
self, as revealed in the letters of Queen Mary . Here, too, the Francis-
51
can had dealt with themes already widely developed in the city con-
texts of northern Italy and Sicily, through which he aimed to provide
the faithful with a new ethical-economic code. In Barcelona, too, a few
months later, Matthew uttered harsh words against luxury, usury and
gambling. The Franciscan, in fact, who had come to the capital of Cat-
alonia to bring relief to the earthquake-stricken city, believed that it
was the Barcelonians with their sins who had unleashed God’s
wrath . It was necessary, therefore, for them to atone for their sins
52
through a solemn penitential procession, which was approved by the
cathedral chapter on June 2, 1427. The ceremony took place four days
later and must have been truly grand: in fact, one documentary source
reports that more than thirty thousand people took part, of whom
about three thousand disciplined themselves along the entire route .
53
Probably exaggerated numbers these, but they certainly reveal the up-
roar aroused throughout Catalonia by the procession organized by
Matthew. It is presumable, thus, that underlying the charges of heresy
brought against him by the Augustinian friar Anthony in 1427 were
not only problems concerning the worship of the most holy name of
Jesus, but also the envies and jealousies that were mounting against
the Franciscan from Agrigento and the Friars Minor of the ob-
servance . The support given by the rulers to Matthew had, in any
54
case, to scale down the terms of the issue opened by Brother Anthony,
so much so that the bishop of Barcelona allowed the Franciscan to
continue to exercise his sermocinal activity . Indeed, in July 1427,
55
the city council pledged to establish a convent for Observants . This
56
abode assumed a high strategic value in political terms for Alfonso,

51 Aca, Real Cancilleria, Registros 3170, c. 38v (cf. A. Amore, La predicazione
del B. Matthew cit., p. 285).
52 On the earthquake that occurred in Barcelona, see Dietari del Antich Consell
Barceloni, imprenta de’n Henrich y Companyia, Barcelona 1892, pp. 249-252, and
J. Rubió i Balaguer, El beat Mateu d’Agrigento cit., pp. 114-115.
53 Barcelona, Chapter Archive of the Holy Church of the Cathedral of Barcelona,
Liber Camissae ab a. 1343-1497, c. 106r. Cf. more Dietari del Antich Consell cit.,
p. 251, and J. Rubió i Balaguer, El beat Mateu d’Agrigento cit., p. 114.
54 On the accusations made by Brother Anthony, see A. Amore, La predicazione
del B. Matthew cit., pp. 264-265. In this sense, interesting news about the contro-
versy over the preaching of the most holy name of Jesus comes from B. de Gaiffier,
Le mémoire d’André Biglia sur la prédication de saint Bernardin de Sienne, «Ana-
lecta Bollandiana», 53 (1935), pp. 308-365.
55 See J. Rubió i Balaguer, El beat Mateu d’Agrigento cit., p. 119.
56 Cf. Dietari del Antich Consell cit., p. 251, and Bullarium Franciscanum cit., 7,
p. 632. Also, see A. Amore, La predicazione del B. Matthew cit., pp. 267-269.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XX - Dicembre 2023
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)