Franciscan Penitent, Mystic Poet, and Herald of Holy Folly
Early Life and Conversion
Blessed Jacopone da Todi, born Iacopo dei Benedetti around 1230 in Todi, Umbria, was at first a successful lawyer, well-educated in civil law and fully immersed in worldly ambition. His life took a dramatic and providential turn upon the sudden death of his young wife, Vanna, during a public festivity when a platform collapsed.
Upon discovering that she had secretly worn a hairshirt beneath her fine garments, Jacopone was struck with compunction. This revelation of her hidden penitential life shattered him, leading to a profound conversion marked by sorrow for sin, contempt for worldly vanities, and a burning desire for penance.
Life of Penance and “Holy Folly”
For nearly a decade Jacopone lived as a penitent layman, embracing radical poverty and public acts of humility. He deliberately accepted ridicule, feigned madness, and practiced what the spiritual tradition calls santa pazzia—holy folly—to mortify pride and conform himself to Christ crucified (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:10).
Eventually, around 1278, he entered the Order of Friars Minor, aligning himself with the Spiritual Franciscans, who sought to preserve the original rigor of Saint Francis’s Rule.
Poet of the Passion
Blessed Jacopone is among the greatest religious poets of the Middle Ages. Writing in the Umbrian vernacular, his laude (sacred songs) burn with affective devotion, especially to:
- The Passion of Christ
- The sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- The nothingness of man before God
- The consuming fire of divine love
He is traditionally associated—though not with absolute scholarly certainty—with the magnificent sequence Stabat Mater Dolorosa, one of the Church’s most poignant meditations on Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, later incorporated into the Roman liturgy.
Conflict, Imprisonment, and Fidelity
Jacopone’s uncompromising defense of evangelical poverty brought him into conflict with Pope Boniface VIII, whom he accused—rightly or wrongly—of betraying the Franciscan ideal. Supporting the Colonna cardinals against the pope, Jacopone was excommunicated and imprisoned for several years.
In prison he composed some of his most profound poetry, marked not by bitterness, but by humility, repentance, and longing for union with God. Near the end of his life, he was reconciled with the Church and absolved.
Holy Death and Cult
Blessed Jacopone died on Christmas Eve, 1306, at the Franciscan convent in Collazzone, after requesting that the Gospel of the Nativity be read to him. His life had come full circle—from worldly joy, through the Cross, to the humility of the Incarnate Word.
His cultus was approved by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726, granting him the title Blessed.
Spiritual Legacy
Blessed Jacopone da Todi stands as:
- A witness to radical conversion
- A master of affective, Christ-centered devotion
- A model of penitence, humility, and fearless truth
- A poet whose verses still inflame hearts with love for the Crucified
“Love is not loved.”
—a cry echoed in Jacopone’s poetry, resonant with the spirit of Saint Francis himself