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Matthew of Agrigento. The political and religious engagement of a franciscan... 497

Agrigento, who was thought by Alfonso to be a traitor . The fact,
73
however, that the Agrigentine had continued to enjoy the support of
the sovereign in the following years is a fact that does not seem to
lend much credence to this suggestion. Not only was the friar able to
continue preaching and founding convents in Sicily, but, in 1435, he
was also appointed significantly provincial in Aragon, while, seven
years later, bishop of Agrigento .
74
Returning to Sicily perhaps as early as during the same 1430,
Matthew became interested in completing the construction work on
the convents of Syracuse and Cammarata. Two years later, he ob-
tained, instead, the Franciscan dwelling in Sciacca, which passed to
the Observants without no small amount of trouble, given the oppo-
sition expressed by the captain and jurors of the city to liquidating
all the assets of this convent . In 1432, Matthew was appointed com-
75
missary general for the Observants of Sicily. This appointment, ad-
vocated by Alfonso, allowed the Franciscan to be able to more easily
found the convents of San Vito in Agrigento and St. Mary of Angels
in Palermo .
76
Scarce, however, is the information on Matthew relative to the
1430s. Apart from the passage of the convents of Taormina, Piazza
and Mazara to the Observant part of the Order, all that is known is
that, between 1432 and 1435, the Agrigentine was commissary gen-
eral for the Observants of Sicily; between 1435 and 1436, instead, pro-
vincial in Aragon; and, finally, between 1436 and 1438 vicar in Sicily .
77
His intense sermocinal activity and his ability to make a positive im-
pact within urban contexts must have restored great fame to Matthew:
a notoriety that managed to cross, even, the borders of the Trastámara
kingdoms and the Italian peninsula. Thus, in 1440, some Montpellier
observants wrote to Cosimo de’ Medici to beg Bernardine of Siena or,

73 See there, p. 20.
74 Cf. F. Rotolo, Il beato Matthew d’Agrigento cit., pp. 181-182. On the episco-
pate of Matthew, however, see F. Rotolo, L’episcopato del b. Matthew cit., pp. 249-
294.
75 A. Amore, Nuovi documenti cit., p. 21. In addition, information about the
Sciacca convent can be found in F.P. Tocco, Vita ecclesiastica e religiosa a Sciacca
nel Quattrocento: linee interpretative, in B. Saitta (a cura di), Città e vita cittadina
nei Paesi dell’area mediterranea: secoli XI-XV. Atti del convegno in onore di Salva-
tore Tramontana (Adrano, Bronte, Catania, Palermo 18-22 novembre 2003), Viella,
Roma 2006, pp. 617-636.
76 On the church and convent of St. Mary of the Angels in Palermo, known as
“La Gancia”, cf. P. Lipani, La Gancia. Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angeli a Palermo,
s.e., Palermo 1990, and A. Mursia, La Gancia dei Frati Minori. Un manoscritto ine-
dito per il convento s. Maria degli Angeli di Palermo, «Frate Francesco», 80 (2014),
pp. 125-148.
77 Aca, Real Cancilleria, Registros 2819, c. 90r (cf. A. Amore, Nuovi documenti
cit., p. 35).

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