Blessed Jacopo Benedetti

Blessed Jacopo Benedetti (born c. 1230 AD in Todi, Umbria, Italy; died December 25, 1306 AD in Collazzone, Umbria, Italy), known in religion as Jacopone da Todi, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan friar and one of the greatest religious poets of the Middle Ages. Converted from a worldly life as a lawyer after the sudden death of his wife revealed that she wore a hair shirt under her finery, he became a Franciscan lay brother known for extreme penitential practices. He is attributed with authorship of the Stabat Mater and composed a large corpus of spiritual poems in Italian (laude) of extraordinary depth. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XIII on September 5, 1724. His feast day is December 25.

Stored in Cargo: Blessed Jacopo Benedetti

Blessed Jacopo Benedetti
Feast Day	December 25
Profession	Italian Catholic Franciscan lay brother and religious poet; born Todi Umbria c. 1230; notary (lawyer); converted after death of wife c. 1268; Franciscan tertiary then lay brother c. 1278; Stabat Mater (attributed) and Italian laude; imprisoned by Pope Boniface VIII 1298-1303; died Collazzone Christmas Day December 25 1306; beatified Pope Benedict XIII September 5 1724; feast December 25; known as Jacopone da Todi
Rel. Affiliation	Catholic Church; Franciscan Order (OFM; Third Order then lay brother); Spiritual Franciscan tradition; 13th-century Umbrian religious poetry; Todi; Umbria; Italy
Patronage	Todi; Umbria; Italy; religious poets; converts; penitents; those who experience sudden conversion; those who discover hidden holiness in others; Franciscan poets; laude poetry; composers of sacred poetry; those imprisoned unjustly
Attributes	Franciscan habit; December 25 feast (Christmas Day death); hair shirt imagery (wife's penitential garment as instrument of his conversion); scroll or book of laude; Stabat Mater text; Todi hilltop setting; chains (imprisonment by Boniface VIII); Umbrian landscape
Birthplace	Todi, Umbria, Italy
Death Place	Collazzone, Umbria, Italy
Cause of Death	Natural death; died December 25, 1306, in Collazzone, Umbria, Italy; Blessed Jacopo Benedetti (known as Jacopone da Todi; Friar Jacopone; Iacobus Benedictus Thodiensis) was an Italian Catholic Franciscan lay brother and religious poet; author of Stabat Mater (attributed); composer of Italian laude (vernacular spiritual poems); converted after death of wife; beatified Pope Benedict XIII September 5 1724; feast December 25
Primary Shrine	Church of San Fortunato, Todi, Umbria, Italy; beatified Pope Benedict XIII September 5 1724; feast December 25
Liturgical Class	Not in universal Roman calendar; December 25 feast locally in Todi and in the Franciscan Order
Historic Class	Not in 1962 calendar

Biography

Jacopo Benedetti (Jacopone da Todi) was born c. 1230 in Todi, Umbria. He was a prosperous notary and led a worldly life until approximately 1268, when his wife Vanna died suddenly and he discovered she was wearing a hair shirt under her fine clothing. The shock of this discovery of hidden sanctity in his wife initiated his conversion.

He spent roughly ten years as a Franciscan penitent living in extreme poverty and mortification before entering the Franciscan Order as a lay brother c. 1278.

A prolific poet in the Italian vernacular, he composed a large corpus of laude (spiritual songs) of great theological and emotional depth. He is traditionally attributed with authorship of the Stabat Mater, the famous Latin sequence on the sorrows of the Virgin Mary at the Cross, though scholarly debate continues on the attribution.

He became entangled in the Franciscan Spirituals controversy and, having joined a protest against Pope Boniface VIII, was excommunicated and imprisoned from 1298 to 1303. Released after Boniface VIII's death, he spent his final years at the Poor Clare convent of Santa Maria di Collazzone.

He died on Christmas Day, December 25, 1306, in Collazzone. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XIII on September 5, 1724. His feast day is December 25.

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Legend

• Birth location: Todi, Umbria, Italy
• Death location: Collazzone, Umbria, Italy
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Feast day

December 25

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