Gerard of Borgo San Donnino () was an
Italian friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...
of the
Order of Friars Minor.
Biography
Gerardo was born at an unknown date in
Borgo San Donnino
Fidenza (Parmigiano: ; locally ) is a town and ''comune ''in the province of Parma, Emilia-Romagna region, Italy. It has around 27,000 inhabitants. The town was renamed Fidenza in 1927, recalling its Roman name of ''Fidentia''; before, it was cal ...
(now
Fidenza), then an independent
commune, now part of the
Province of Parma
The Province of Parma ( it, Provincia di Parma) is a province in the Emilia–Romagna region of Italy. Its largest town and capital is the city of Parma.
It is made up of 47 ''comuni''. It has an area of and a total population of around 450,000 ...
. He went to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to complete his studies. There, in 1248, according to
Salimbene di Adam
Salimbene di Adam, O.F.M., (or Salimbene of Parma) (9 October 1221 – 1290) was an Italian Franciscan friar, theologian, and chronicler who is a source for Italian history of the 13th century.
Life
He was born in Parma, the son of Guido di A ...
, he attempted to convince King
Louis IX of France
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
not to organize the
Sixth Crusade
The Sixth Crusade (1228–1229), also known as the Crusade of Frederick II, was a military expedition to recapture Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade and involved very little actua ...
.
He was a
Joachimite
The Joachimites, also known as Joachites, a millenarian group, arose from the Franciscans in the thirteenth century. They based their ideas on the prior works of Joachim of Fiore (c. 1135 – 1202), though rejecting the Church of their day more st ...
, a follower of the
millenarian ideas of
Abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
Joachim of Fiore (''Gioacchino da Fiore''). Around 1250 Gerardo published in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
a book entitled ''Introductorium in Evangelium Aeternum'' (''An Introduction to the Eternal Gospel''), where he identified the "Order of the Just," supposed to rule the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
after the advent of the Age of the Holy Spirit, in the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
Order.
This text was examined by a commission of
cardinals set up by
Pope Alexander IV, who was worried about the diffusion of Joachimite theories among the Friars Minor. In 1255, the council ordered the destruction of the book and in 1263 Gerardo was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. He remained in prison until his death in 1276, still refusing to recant his beliefs.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnino, Gerardo Of Borgo San
1276 deaths
People from Fidenza
Italian Friars Minor
Franciscan scholars
Year of birth unknown