medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Wednesday, March 23, 2011, at 7:52 pm, Jim Biugslag wrote:
> I hope the listmommies won't be too distraught at a slightly
> post-medieval query, since I believe it is one for which the expertise
> on this list may just be ideal. I have just solved the identity of a
> Capuchin depicted on a mid-17th-century panel of stained glass now in
> Montreal. It was a tough research project and under normal
> circumstances, I would feel a sense of closure, but the choice of
> subject of this Netherlandish roundel leaves me perplexed. His name
> is Nicolas a Quinque-Frondibus, and he was a Capuchin lay brother from
> Calabria who died in 1570. He was included in both Zacharias
> Boverius, R.P., _Annalium seu sacrarum historiarum ordinis minorum_
> (Lyons, 1632) and Charles d'Aremberg, Flores Seraphici (Cologne,
> 1640), but other than the meagre biographical details concerning his
> obedience and piety contained therein, I have managed to find nothing
> about him, nor do I have a clue as to why he might have been chosen as
> the subject of a small panel of stained glass in the Netherlands in
> the mid-17th century. Any information, opinions or leads would be
> much appreciated.
> Cheers,
> Jim
Dear Jim,
As you have perhaps surmised, Latin "a Quinque-Frondibus" is a latinization of Italian "da Cinquefrondi", i.e. from the town of that name in today's province of Reggio di Calabria. Given both the ease with which one could formulate and then test the hypothesis that this Calabrian will have come from a place called Cinquefrondi and the presence of readily identifiable websites dealing with Cinquefrondi, you probably will have found in the Italian Wikipedia article at <http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinquefrondi> a mention of "Fra Nicoḷ da Cinquefrondi, laico morto nel 1570 in odore di santità".
The most commonly used name form for this Capuchin lay brother is indeed "Nicoḷ da Cinquefrondi". Searching the Web for him under that form ought to give you further information, e.g. on the existence of Giovanni Russo's sixteen-page _Brevi note su Fra Nicoḷ da Cinquefrondi_ (Comune di Cinquefrondi, 2000) noted here <http://www.polistenaonline.it/franicolo.htm>. Getting ahold of a copy could be problematic, though.
There's a little on N.'s C17 iconography here:
http://tinyurl.com/4bcbrgb
Another common South Italian vernacular equivalent of Latin "Nicolaus" is of course "Nicola". Web-searching "Nicola da Cinquefrondi" furnishes a brief reference here, noting that N. belonged to the Capuchin house in Mileto:
http://tinyurl.com/473ezht
You could see whether there's anything helpful in Imperio Assisi, _Storia religiosa della Calabria : le confraternite laicali nella Diocesi di Mileto_ (Cosenza: L. Pellegrini, 1992). Also Vito Capialbi, _ Memorie per servire alla storia della santa Chiesa miletese_ (Napoli: Porcelli, 1835). Perhaps too Arturus a Monasterio [Arthur Du Moustier], _Martyrologium Franciscanum_ (Lyon, 1638; rev. ed. by Ignazio Beschin and Giulio Palazzolo: Roma, 1939).
Best,
John Dillon
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