Jacopone, da Todi

Jacopone, da Todi
Short Name: Jacopone, da Todi
Full Name: Jacopone, da Todi, 1230-1306
Birth Year: 1230
Death Year: 1306

Jacobus de Benedictis, commonly known as Jacopone, was born at Todi in Umbria, early in the 13th century, his proper name being Jacopone di Benedetti. He was descended from a noble family, and for some time led a secular life. Some remarkable circumstances which attended the violent death of his wife, led him to withdraw himself from the world, and to enter the Order of St. Francis, in which he remained as a lay brother till his death, at an advanced age, in 1306. His zeal led him to attack the religious abuses of the day. This brought him into conflict with Pope Boniface VIII., the result being imprisonment for long periods. His poetical pieces were written, some in Italian, and some in Latin, the most famous of the latter being "Cur mundus militat sub vana gloria" (possibly by Walter Mapes), and the "Stabat Mater dolorosa." Archbishop Trench says of him:—

“An earnest humourist, he carried the being a fool for Christ into every-day life. The things which with this intent he did, some morally striking enough, others mere extravagances and pieces of gross spiritual buffoonery—wisdom and folly, such as we often find, side by side, in the saints of the Roman Calendar—are largely reported by Wadding, the historian of the Franciscan Order, and by Lisco, in a separate monograph on the Stabat Mater, Berlin, 1843, p. 23. These often leave one in doubt whether he was indeed perfectly sound in his mind, or only a Christian Brutus, feigning folly, that he might impress his wisdom the more deeply, and utter it with more freedom." Sacred Latin Poetry, 3rd ed., 1874, p. 268.

Sketches of the life and writings of Jacopone, drawn entirely from the original sources (Trench), have been published as follows:—
(1) By Mohnike, Studien Stralsund, 1825, vol. i. pp. 335-406; (2) by Ozanam, Les Poétes Franciscains en Italie au Treizieme Siecle, Paris. In addition there are articles in the Biographie Universelle; Macmillan’s Magazine, Aug., 1873; and the Encyclopedia Britannica , 9th ed.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Wikipedia Biography

Jacopone da Todi, O.F.M. (ca. 1230 – 25 December 1306) was an Italian Franciscan friar from Umbria. He wrote several laude (songs in praise of the Lord) in the local vernacular. He was an early pioneer in Italian theatre, being one of the earliest scholars who dramatised Gospel subjects.

Texts by Jacopone, da Todi (24)sort descendingAsAuthority LanguagesInstances
Al pie de la cruz, llorandoJacopone da Todi (Author)Spanish1
At the cross her station keeping Mary stood in sorrow weepingJacopone da Todi, 1230-1306 (Author)English11
At the cross her station keeping Stood a mournful mother weepingJacopone da Todi, d. 1306 (Author (Ascribed to))English74
By the cross in anguish sighingJacopone da Todi (Author)English2
Full of beauty stood the motherJacopone da Todi (Author)1
Holy mother, pierce me throughJacopone da Todi (Author)2
In the shadow of the roodJacopone da Todi (Author)2
Junto al pie de la Cruz santa (At the cross her station keeping)Jacapone de Todi, 1230-1306 (Author)English, Spanish2
Naglet til et Kors paa JordenJacopone da Todi (Author)Norwegian5
Near the cross her vigil keepingJacopone da Todi (Author)English4
Near the cross our station takingJacopone da Todi (Author)English5
Near the cross was Mary weepingJacopone da Todi (Author)English33
Schaut die Mutter voller SchmerzenJacopone da Todi (Author)German17
Stabat mater dolorosa, juxta crucem lacrymosaJacopone da Todi (Author)Latin35
Standing was the mother statelyJacopone da Todi (Author)2
Stood the grief struck mother weepingJacopone da Todi (Author)2
Stood the mournful mother weepingJacobus de Benedictus (Author)English1
The virgin mother weeping stoodJacopone da Todi (Author)2
Under the world's redeeming woodJacopone da Todi (Author)5
Virgin of all virgins blest!Jacapone da Todi (Author)English1
Virgo virginum pr'claraJacopone da Todi (Author)1
Weeping sore, the Mother stoodJacapone, da Todi (Author)English2
Weeping stood His mother, sighingJacopone da Todi (Author)English1
Wessen Auge kann der ZährenJacopone (Author)German3

Data Sources

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