The fourteenth collatio dwelt on the first three occupants of the office of minister provincial from 1224 to 1240. In contrast, this concluding collatio draws together different strands of the chronicle and supplies sketches of friars who contributed to the life of the Church and the order in England in myriad ways. Sometimes remarkable and admirable deeds were attributed to unnamed friars, probably because they were alive at the time of writing and would be embarrassed to read such praise. When Eccleston’s chronicle was coming to a close in 1257/58, he reported that men entered the order with such fervour and conducted themselves with some distinction as preachers, lectors or administrators. A series of sketches of eminent friars is provided with a focus on their death, which was deemed to be just as important as their lives.

Shapshots of memorable friars

One of the earliest friars from another province to study in England was Niccolò da Calvi, a native of Umbria from the territory of Narni. The duration of his stay in the country, probably at Oxford, remains unknown, but it probably belongs to the later 1230s. On his return to Italy, he joined the household of Sinibaldo Fieschi, cardinal priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina, as chaplain and confessor. When Fieschi was elected as Innocent IV on 25 June 1243, Niccolò remained in his service and later became his biographer. His biography shines a welcome light on the friars’ interaction with the papal curia, which spent the spring and summer of 1253 at the Sacro Convento in Assisi, where Innocent IV dedicated the upper basilica, approved the Rule of St Clare on 9 August and visited the dying saint.

An unnamed friar was admitted to the order as a lay brother (laicus). St Mary appeared and put her finger in his mouth to denote that he would become an exceptional preacher and lector (praedicator et lector egregius), but also an out-standing official of the order (regimine ordinis). Eustace of Merc, who has featured in earlier parts of this chronicle, was the guardian of Oxford for a long time and later became the custos of York. While he observed his customary abstinence, vigils and bodily penances, he maintained the sweetness of angelic affection.