Fra Dolcino
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Fra Dolcino (c. 1250 – 1307) was an Italian radical Christian preacher burnt at the stake in 1307, and often described as being a heretic inspired by the Franciscan theories. He became the leader for a group of radical reformers who after him was called Dulcinians.
Cultural references
In Dante's Divine Comedy, actually written after Fra Dolcino's death but as if it were before it, Mohammed talks about Dolcino (Inferno XXVIII):
Then you, who will perhaps soon see the sun,
tell Fra Dolcino to provide himself
with food, if he has no desire to join me
here quickly, lest when the snow besieges him,
it brings the Novarese the victory
that otherwise they would not find too easy
Fra Dolcino and his former followers are mentioned often in Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose. The dialogue between the narrator Adso and the old priest Ubertino, tell us the story of Fra Dolcino, leaving much to the imagination of the reader. Bernardo Gui also figures in the novel, as do Dolcino's papers.
