Thomas Celano

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He was born in Celano in Abruzzo. His first and main biography on st. Francis was the Vita prima, a work that deals with the saint's early years, commissioned by Pope Gregory IX in 1228 while the canonization of Francis was carried out. The second work, the second Vita was commissioned by Crescentius de Jessi, the Franciscan General Minister in the period between 1244 and 1247, and reflects the changing official perspectives in the decades after the saint's death. The third is a treated of the miracles of the saint, written between 1254 and 1257 and was commissioned by John de Parma, who succeeded Crescentius as General Minister.

Thomas's authorship is well established. Thomas also wrote Fregit victor virtualis and Sanctitatis nova signa in Francisco's honor. The life of St. Clare of Assisi, which deals with the early life of Saint Clare of Assisi, and the anthem "Dies Irae" are also attributed to him, but the authorship of these last two works is actually uncertain.

Thomas was not Francis' first friars, but he joined the Francis about 1215, during the saint's life, and evidently he met him personally. In 1221, Thomas was sent to the Holy Roman-Germanic Empire with Caesarius de Espira to promote a new order there, and in 1223 he was named unicus custos of the order in the province of Rhineland, which included convents in Cologne, Mainz, Worms, and Turn. After a few years he returned to Italy, where he retired for the rest of his life, although he directed short missions to Germany. In 1260 he settled in his last position, as spiritual director of the convent of the Poor Clares in Tagliacozzo, where he died sometime between 1260 and 1270. He was buried first in the church of S. Giovanni Val dei Varri, connected to his monastery, but his body was re-buried in the church of S. Francesco in Tagliacozzo.