98 LaCitadeSancta
joined her as a companion. A priest, Fra Michele, guided her in spiritual
matters.^188 This was sufficient ‘‘community’’ for Umiliana.
Ad hoc groups of pious women were more numerous—and probably
more autonomous—than written sources suggest, and they have parallels
elsewhere in Europe, such as the twelfth-century Beguines of the low coun-
tries.^189 Jacques of Vitry already mentions female penitent communities in
Italy about 1217 , almost certainly the later Poor Clares, still living like auton-
omous associations of individual penitents.^190 From the 1240 s, small commu-
nities of pious laywomen left written records. They termed themselves in the
vernacularbizoche—a term first found in Constantino of Orvieto’s 1246 life
of Saint Dominic.^191 In 1243 , Dominican capitular legislation regulated the
hearing of confessions from women called ‘‘Beguines.’’ Within three years,
Dominican chapter acts treated that word as synonymous withbizoche.^192
Calledbizoche,Beguines,mantellate,andpinzochere,female penitents multiplied
in the 1270 s and after.^193 Their support networks can be traced through
thirteenth-century wills.^194 Umiliana dei Cerchi was typical in her preference
for an informal network of friends and supporters in her neighborhood.
Entrance into a cloister seemed the best option for a small percentage of
female penitents. The widow Umilta`of Faenza, at first a freelance urban
hermitess, finally found a more congenial home among the nuns at Vallom-
brosa. Some women penitents asked ecclesiastics for a rule and received
public recognition. This effectively turned them into cloistered nuns. In 1284 ,
Bishop Guidaloste of Pistoia gave a rule to a group of pious women in Prato.
For all intents and purposes, the bishop made them conventual nuns, modi-
fying the monastic rule only for their lesser literacy and lay status. They
prayed small parts of the Divine Office in common but, like laywomen,
mostly recited Paters and Aves. The sisters elected anabbatissaas moderator.
Bishop Guidaloste put the convent under the patronage of Saint Francis of
Assisi and subordinated the women to Franciscan control. The friars im-
posed on them a gray habit, white veil, and Franciscan cord.^195 Such a trans-
formation was exceptional; mostbizochepreserved their independence and
autonomy—at least until the 1300 s.
In 1260 , at Perugia, the rise of the flagellants gave male penitents a new
- Vito of Cortona,Vita [B. Humilianae].
- See Ernest W. McDonnell,The Beguines and Beghards in Medieval Culture, with Special Emphasis on the
Belgian Scene(New York: Octagon Books, 1969 ). - See the text of Jacques of Vitry in Meersseman,Dossier, 21 n. 3 ; on which, see Maria Pia
Alberzoni, ‘‘Nequaquam a Christi Sequela in Perpetuum Absolvi Desiderio: Clare Between Charism and
Institution,’’Grayfriars Review 12 ( 1998 ): 81 – 122 , and Werner Maleczek, ‘‘Questions About the Authenticity
of the Privilege of Poverty of Innocent III and the Testament of Clare of Assisi,’’Grayfriars Review 12
( 1998 ): 1 – 80. - ‘‘Vitae Sancti Dominici,’’ MOPH, 16 : 350 ,§ 120.
192 .Capitula Provinciae Romanae( 1243 ), MOPH 20 : 1 ; ibid. ( 1246 ), MOPH 20 : 5. - Meersseman,Dossier, 20 – 21 ; id.,Ordo, 1 : 374 – 77.
- E.g., Benvenuti Papi, ‘‘Donne religiose,’’ 603 , 619 – 20.
- ‘‘Re`gle pour les Vestitae de Prato’’ ( 1284 ), Meersseman,Dossier, 138 – 42.