Popes and clergy

Egidio

Franciscan friar remembered by Dante among the earliest followers who went barefoot to follow Francis, an example of the renunciation that accompanied the beginning of the order.

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Egidio is mentioned by Dante in Paradiso XI, within the narration of the life of Saint Francis, alongside Silvestro and Bernardo di Quintavalle, also remembered as one of the very earliest followers of the saint. The verse «Scalzasi Egidio, scalzasi Silvestro / dietro a lo sposo, sì la sposa piace», inserted into the Franciscan account, places him among those who imitated Francis's gesture of poverty, as the note explains going barefoot as a choice of poverty. The sources provided add no further biographical details about Egidio beyond his presence at this moment in the canto and the gesture of following the saint barefoot.

In the text

Linked verses

1 verses
CanticaCantoVersoTestoOpen verse
ParadiseCanto XI83Scalzasi Egidio, scalzasi SilvestroOpen verse