Salimbene e il profetismo

The Order of Friars Minor and the Order of Preachers discovered around the middle of the 13th century that they were ‘twins’, both in terms of their origins and in terms of their mission to defend the Church against the imminent arrival of the Antichrist. Like most friars, Salimbene learned the works attributed to Joachim of Fiore, but elaborated in the mendicant milieu, convinced that they pointed to the birth of the Mendicants as the fulfilment of the prophecies attributed to the Calabrian abbot. Therefore, while prophecy in the broad sense was an important justification for him against the attacks of the secular clergy, after 1250 (the year of Frederick II's death) his conviction entered into a serious crisis. A careful examination of his writings also reveals the superficial nature of his adherence to these interpretations.