Elias of Cortona

Who was Elias of Cortona?

Elias of Cortona was born, it is said, at Bevilia near Assisi, ca. 1180; he died at Cortona, 22 April 1253. He was among the first to join St. Francis of Assisi in his newly founded Order of Friars Minor.

Chosen by St. Francis of Assisi to administer the Order in his name, he was elected Vicar General of the Order at the Chapter of Pentecost in 1221. He was chosen by Francis despite the fact that he was a lay member of the Order. It fell to him to announce the death of St. Francis in 1226 to the worldwide Order. Elias served in this position until the Chapter of 1227, the first after the founder's death, when he was replaced by Friar John Parenti, Minister Provincial of Spain, who was elected the first Minister General. A great patron of the Franciscans and their official Protector, Cardinal Ugolino had shortly before been elected as Pope, and taken the name of Gregory IX. The new Pope immediately declared his intention to build a splendid church to house the body of the Little Poor Man he had known and venerated. The task for this was entrusted to Brother Elias.

Though Elias had tried for the office of Minister General at the General Chapter of 1230, it was only at the Chapter of 1232 that he was elected. Thus he became, after the founder, the second Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor. Almost immediately, his succession was a point of controversy and created a split within the Order. Among his supporters was St. Clare of Assisi, considered the cofounder of the Order. Some of his fiercest critics were the first companions of Saint Francis, such as the simple Brother Giles and Brother Leo, St. Francis' secretary and companion, who both opposed what they saw as an abandonment of St. Francis' beloved commitment to corporate poverty under Elias' initiative. An example of this was the magnificence of the new Basilica of St. Francis and Sacro Convento Elias was designing as the holy founder's resting place.