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Ubertino da Casale (ca. 1259–ca. 1329/30)mystic,
theologian
Probably from near GENOA, Ubertino entered the FRAN-
CISCAN ORDERin 1273 and was at the studiumof Santa
Croce at FLORENCEbetween 1285 and 1289 as a pupil of
Peter John OLIVI. He then studied in PARISbetween 1289
and 1298. Returning to ITA LY, he joined circles around
ANGELA OFFOLIGNOand began to preach widely in cen-
tral Italy. Although protected for a while by important
cardinals such as Giacomo Colonna (d. 1318), he was
exiled to Alverna for criticism of the pope and the overly
worldly concerns of the church in 1304. It was then that
he wrote his famous work TheTree of the Crucified life
of Jesuswhich dealt with the life of the Christ or the
Word, from before the Incarnation, the infancy of Jesus,
his public life, and his Passion, DEATH, Resurrection, and
ascent into HEAVEN, including his meeting with his
mother. His ideas were based on orthodox and traditional
writings by BONAVENTURE, Thomas AQUINAS, and BERNARD
OFCLAIRVAUX. However, the Arbor vitaealso offers an
apocalyptic reading of the history of the church, mimick-
ing Olivi’s writing on the APOCALYPSE. He followed Olivi’s
ideas about the seven ages of the world, the role of Saint
FRANCIS, and an imminent age of peace. Ubertino identi-
fied the figure of the ANTICHRISTwith Popes BONIFACE
VIII and Benedict XI (r. 1303–04) and linked the church
with the Babylon of the Apocalypse. With invective
against the hierarchy of the church, he railed against the
leadership of the Franciscan order, claiming the order
had departed from its original vows of complete poverty
espoused by its founder.
From 1309 to 1310 Ubertino lived at the papal court
in AVIGNON, representing the spiritual faction of the
Franciscans but failed to acquire recognition or sanction
for their ideas. He wrote several short treatises at this
time about POVERTY, the reform of the order, and the cor-
rectness of Olivi’s ideas. He then joined a Benedictine
monastery. Pope JOHNXXII officially consulted him in his
efforts to deal with the poverty question. Eventually he
was persecuted for his ideas and had to flee Avignon in- It is unclear where he spent his last years in hiding.
Living a vagabond existence because he was wanted by
the PAPACY, he last appeared preaching against Pope John
XXII in Como in northern Italy in 1329. He had appar-
ently died and possibly met a violent end by 1330.
See also CELESTINE V, POPE AND THE CELESTINE
ORDER; POVERTY,VOLUNTARY; SPIRITUALFRANCISCANS.
Further reading:David Burr, The Spiritual Francis-
cans: From Protest to Persecution in the Century after Saint
Francis(University Park: Pennsylvania State University
Press, 2001); Decima L. Douie, The Nature and the Effect
of the Heresy of the Fraticelli(Manchester: Manchester
University Press, 1932); Malcolm D. Lambert, Franciscan
Poverty: The Doctrine of the Absolute Poverty of Christ and
the Apostles in the Franciscan Order, 1210–1323(London:
S.P.C.K., 1961).
Uccello, Paolo(Paolo di Dono) (1397–1475)Floren-
tine painter
Born about 1397, Paolo studied between 1407 and 1414
in the studio of Lorenzo GHIBERTI, working on the bronze
doors for the baptistery at FLORENCE. He received train-
ing as a goldsmith at the same time. Between 1425 and
1430, he lived in VENICE, working perhaps on a MOSAIC
in Saint Mark’s cathedral, and became familiar with the
styles of other artists such as GENTILE DAFABRIANO,
Antonio PISANELLO, and Jacopo BELLINI. He began to