Bl. Agnellus of Pisa

Deacon, founder of the English Franciscan Province, d. 1236

Friar Minor

and founder of the English

Franciscan

Province

, born at

Pisa

c. 1195, of the noble

family

of the Agnelli; died at

Oxford

, 7 May, 1236. In early youth he was received into the Seraphic Order by

St. Francis

himself, during the latter's sojourn in

Pisa

, and soon became an accomplished model of religious perfection. Sent by

St. Francis

to

Paris

he erected a

convent

there and became

custos

. Having returned to

Italy

, he was present at the so-called Chapter of Mats, and was sent thence by

St. Francis

to found the Order in

England

. Agnellus, then in

deacon's

orders, landed at Dover with nine other

friars

, 12 September, 1224, having been charitably conveyed from

France

by the

monks

of Fecamp. A few weeks afterwards they obtained a house at Oxford and there laid the foundations of the English Province, which became the exemplar for all the provinces of the order. Though not himself a learned man, he established a

school

for the

friars

at

Oxford

, which was destined to play no small part in the development of the

university

. But his solicitude extended beyond the immediate welfare of his brethren. He sent his

friars

about to preach the word of

God

to the

faithful

, and perform the other offices of the sacred ministry. Agnellus wielded considerable influence in affairs of state and in his efforts to avert civil

war

between the King and the Earl Marshal, who had leagued with the

Welsh

, he contracted a fatal illness.

Eccleston

has left us a brief account of his death. Agnellus's body, incorrupt, was preserved with great

veneration

at Oxford up to the

dissolution of the religious houses

in the time of

Henry VIII

. The cultus of Blessed Agnellus was formally confirmed by

Leo XIII

in 1882, and his

feast

is kept in the Order on 7 May.