Carmelite Exemplars: Saint Andrew Corsini

Novitiate Module - Lesson 16

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Saint Andrew Corsini

(1302—
(1302—January 6, 1373)
Carmelite and Bishop: A Human and Spiritual Portrait
by Stefano Possanzini, O.Carm.
from Carmel in the World

We have just celebrated the seventh hundreth

anniversary of the birth of St. Andrew Corsini, whose life
was fully committed to the service of God and of
neighbor. As he added luster to the Carmelite Order and
to the Church, it becomes our duty to remember him in
favor of the faithful since he provides a light that even
today can guide the People of God on the paths of
goodness and of social justice. The anniversary was given
special recognition by the Letter which the Holy Father
John Paul II sent for the occasion to the Bishop of
Fiesole, Mons. Luciano Giovannetti.

Andrew is a descendant of the noble Corsini family. The

family was originally of common stock: in the 13th
century, it transferred from its habitat in Val de Pesa
(Turin) to Florence. Dealing in wool, it acquired great
riches, acting as a go-between the noble rich and the
poor classes.

During that first period, the Corsini’s became renowned as a family for the outstanding
members it gave to ecclesiastical service. Avignon, where the Popes of the time resided,
was the residence of Cardinal Peter Corsini, cousin of our saint. There was also our
Andrew, bishop of Fiesole who came to be venerated as a saint, as well as his brother
Neri who succeeded him as Bishop of Fiesole and was also venerated as a Blessed. There
was also Amerigo Corsini, first Archbishop of Florence from 1420 to 1435.

But the family also produced men well known in the field of trade and civil law. Others
were noteworthy citizens of Florence. Eight of them had the office of flag-bearer
(Gonfaloniere), fifty-six were priors. Andrew’s brother, Matthew, was well versed in
literature; he was a friend of Petrarch and he left us the Ricordanze of the Corsini family.

The life span of St. Andrew Corsini covers slightly more than two-thirds of the 14th
century, which was among the most outstanding periods of Italian history because of its
civic, literary and artistic merits. Florence emerges as one of the outstanding cities. It
was the money capital: its banks were known throughout Europe and in the East. All
heads of state made use of its florins.

During this epoch the best known buildings of the city were built: Santa Maria del Fiore,
Santa Croce, and Santa Maria Novella. Construction on the church of Carmine also
began. With frescoes by the most renowned artists of the day, from the schools of Giotto
to Masaccio, the church was second to none.

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Andrew’s Birth
St. Andrew was born in this city, the
center of Europe, of Nicholas Corsini
and Gemma degli Sgracciabende. There
are not many credible notices about the
life of Andre up until his nomination as
Bishop of Fiesole. The first biographies,
that of Peter di Andrea del Castagno and
that of an anonymous author, cannot be
trusted. Further lives followed these first
versions, except for that of Fr. Paolo
Caioli, which, however, did not
completely disassociate itself from the
preceding.
He is said to have been born at the
beginning of the 14th century. The
Carmelite Andrea Sabatini carefully and
wisely studied the Ricordanze of
Matthew Corsini, brother of our saint:
for him it is most likely that Andrew was
born between 1315 and 1318.
In the Ricordanze, Matthew gives a list
of all the children of Nicolas and Gemma
Corsini, and it seems that he lists them
in the order of birth: Peter, Duccio,
John, Neri, Batholomew, Andrew,
Philip, Matthew, and Nicholas.
However, Matthew on records the date
of his own birth, November 4, 1322.
Andrew, then, would have been born
between 1315 and 1318. he does not
mention the three sisters, whom we
know from the author Passerini to have
been named Talama, Francesca, and
Margherita.
Matthew tells us that Andrew was the
sixth son of Nicholas and Gemma. It is
evident, then, that the story of Gemma’s
sterility and of Andrew’s birth as the
result of the insistent prayers of his
parents in the Carmine Church before
the image of the Madonna del Popolo, is
merely a legend. G. Richa wrote: “as
soon as the image was set up for public
veneration, throngs of people gathered
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every day to venerate her and to obtain
many graces from her. This throng
continued for so long that in short time
the image acquired the name of the
Madonna del Popolo.”
Also legendary are the dream which
Gemma had the night before her
childbearing and the loose-living of
Andrew before his conversion by which
he changed from a wolf into a lamb. As a
good mother, Gemma certainly would
have prayed for all her children, that
they be born healthy and that they grow
in the grace of God and in the practice of
the Christian virtues. We do know that
Jesus invited Andrew to follow him
when he was fifteen, and the youngster
answered the Lord’s invitation
promptly, placing himself at his service
without hesitation or weakness.
Carmelite
We do not know the exact year in which
Andrew entered the Carmelite Order.
Peter del Castagno holds for 1326, when
the Provincial was Fr. Jerome
Migliorati, a man of deep learning and
of authentic holiness. The brothers
elected him provincial for nine years.
Under his leadership the Florence
Carmine became a hearth of holiness
and regular observance. Together with
del Castagno, other biographers too
repeat that Andrew took the habit in the
Carmine of Florence at fifteen years of
age under Fr. Migliorati, i.e. in 1316 or
1317. But A. Sabatini shows that
Migliorati was not the Provincial at that
time, and possibly was part of the
community of Prato, his native town.
Fr. Sabatini did much research to find
out the date of Andrew’s religious
profession of vows. In those days, it was
a solemn profession that bound the
religious to his Order for the rest of his
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life. But the broad research led to no
definite conclusions.
Besides we cannot accept his
affirmations about the age of 18 being
required for profession in the Order. In
fact, the Constitutions which would have
been followed when Andrew made his
novitiate, namely those of 1294, rubric
29, decree that no one under the age of
fifteen may be admitted to profession:
serious punishment was to be meted out
to transgressors, and dispensations were
not foreseen. We are able to affirm that
Andrew made his profession before 1331
basing ourselves on a document of the
Florence Carmel dated August 3, 1338,
in which among the 52 religious he is
found before Fra. Simone Orlandini, the
only one listed whose profession year we
know, 1331. The question still remains
unanswered.
In his preparation for the priesthood,
Andrew was committed to the regular
observance and also to studies. He
certainly would have completed the
curriculum of studies at the Carmine in
Florence, which in 1320 had been
declared a Studium generale with the
authority of conferring academic
degrees. He acquired the degree of
Lector, or Professor, since in 1347 at
Carmine he was teaching the Sentences
of Peter Lombard. Later he was entitled
Bachelor, a degree which presupposes
that of Lector.
As a religious, Andrew owed obedience
to his superiors who, according to
concrete needs, assigned him to other
houses. This first document in which his
name figures is a parchment dated
August 3, 1338, by which all the friars of
Florence Carmel designated as their
procurators, charged to undertake all
the affairs of their convent, the following
confreres: Fra. Bonaguida di Cola, Fra.
Giovanni di Tonio, and Fra. Giovanni di
Castelfiorentino.
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From April 17 until the 26th, 1344, he is
in Pisa. His name is included in a
contract between Carmine and the
Congregation of the Battuti. The
contract is composed of five distinct acts
and is signed by all the religious. The
name of Andrew Corsini is in second
place, immediately following that of the
Prior.
June 1st of that same year finds him once
more in Carmine in Florence, serving as
a counselor to the Prior and also named
Bachelor. He took up his teaching post
again, and, following Saggi, in all
probability he was appointed to study
for the Magisterium, since the General
Chapter of Milan in the year 1345
decreed that within seven years “Andrew
of Florence” should teach Sacred
Scripture in the study house of Paris.
But Fr. Caioli says that this is a mistake:
he holds that it is not a question of
Andrew Corsini, but of Andrew
Bonanza, who in his Province always is
identified by name and surname, while
in various General Chapters, Barcelona
(1324), Albi (1327) and Valenciennes
(1330), he is called Fr. Andrew of
Florence or de Plathea (he is named so
by the Chapter of Milan [1327]).
On October 9, 1346 Andrew is in
Carmine in Florence and he is named to
receive the money earned from the sale
of a house. At the Chapter celebrated in
Pistoia on June 15, 1347, Andrew Corsini
was confirmed as responsible for the
teaching of theology at the Carmine of
Florence. He was also, together with
Giovanni del Moro and Fra Cante
named provincial counselor. Here he is
identified as a lector.
P. Caioli shares this reflection about our
saint: “From what we had said so far, it
is evident that only after many years of
hidden life in the cloister, the Lord
wished to reveal Andrew to the eyes of
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the world. Only gradually are various
tasks and duties of the Order assigned to
him. Only in this way were his goodness
and his virtue eventually known by his
confreres in Italy and in Avignon where
the General Curia of the Order was set
up, with the Papal court.”
If he is Prior Provincial of Tuscany in
1348 he is still young, somewhat over
thirty years of age. In those days the
priests in the Tuscan Province and in the
Order were numerous and it was rare
that such a young religious were elected
to such an important office. He was
named bishop in 1349 when he was 34
or 35 years of age. We can conclude that
his talents and ability were such as to be
known and appreciated in short order by
both of his confreres and by his
superiors.
Prior Provincial in Tuscany
In 1348 Andrew took part in the General
Chapter of the Order in the quality of
socius (associate) of the Provincial of
Tuscany. The Chapter was of two days
duration only. It was convened on
Pentecost Sunday in Metz, Alsace, but
was quickly ended due to the fear of the
Black Plague which was raging
throughout Europe at that time. In fact
it claimed many victims among the
capitulars on the way both to and from
the Chapter. Pentecost that year fell on
June 8th. Andrew Corsini was named
Provincial of Tuscany.
Thus Andrew received the heavy burden
of guiding the Province at possibly the
most dramatic moment of its whole
existence. More than a hundred friars
died of the plague. Among them were all
the students who at the time were
studying in Montpellier in southern
France, where the plague had broken
out in 1347.
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During the brief period in which he
exercised this duty, Andrew strove to
give hope to his confreres and also
pushed forward the project for the
construction of the Church of Carmine.
He held two provincial chapters and
authorized the buying and selling of
some books.
Bishop of Fiesole
On the 13th of October 1349, Pope
Clement VI names him Bishop of
Fiesole. He had been preceded in the
See of St. Romulus by Bishop Filigno
Olivieri Carboni Campi who had died of
the plague in June 17th of the same year.
The Papal Bull of Clement VI who
resided at Avignon, bears the date of
October 13, 1349. The Bull opens with a
greeting to the newly elected bishop and
with a declaration of the Pope’s duty to
provide for the governance of dioceses.
It declares that information had been
gathered and it witnessed to the
candidate’s zeal for the faith, his
doctrinal preparation, his moral
rectitude, his concern for spiritual
matters, and his attention to temporal
affairs, and to other merits of numerous
virtues. For these reasons, the Pope
promotes him to the see of Fiesole,
trusting that under his direction, with
the help of God, it will be guided to ever
greater increase. It ends with good
wishes for a successful and fruitful
governance and the just reward on the
part of the Lord.
The Pope, who did not know Andrew
personally, was informed by credible
members of the Corsini family, by
confreres in Carmel, and by members of
the diocesan clergy of Fiesole.
The date of Andrew’s episcopal
consecration has not come down to us.
P. Caioli writes that among the
consecrating prelates there certainly
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would have been the Dominican bishop
of Florence Angelo Acciaioli and the
Bishop of Pistoia. The ceremony in all
likelihood took place in Santa Maria dei
Fiori. We do not know when he formally
entered his diocese. However, on
January 19th he is still in Carmine in
Florence in his function of Provincial
and the first act of his Episcopal
ministry is dated March 28th. Together
with his Episcopal consecration, the new
bishop swore fidelity to the Pope. He
promised not to foster any activity
against the Pope and his successors, and
to help in the maintenance of the
Roman Papacy. He also bound himself
to help the legate of the Apostolic See, to
make his “ad limina visits” either
personally or through delegates, and to
sell the goods of the episcopacy or to
change rents without the foreknowledge
of the Supreme Pontiff.
In Fiesole
Andrew went to the hill town of Fiesole,
his episcopal see, without any desires of
lording it over his people. He knew that
he was Christ’s representative for his
people. It was Christ who told him as he
had done to the apostles: “I am with you
always, even to the end of the world”
(Mt 28:20). He felt the urgent duty to
exercise the mission of a good shepherd,
which meant that like Jesus he too
should have a rapport of living
communion and of mutual love with his
sheep. But to do this he should be in
their midst and not be like the hired
hand who leaves them for his own
interests: rather, he should give his life
for them (Jn 10: 11-16).
When he went to Fiesole, he embraced a
project which he wished to put into
effect immediately. He broke with a long
standing tradition of Fiesole bishops,
who for more than a century had resided
in Florence at the Church of S. Maria in
Campo. He took up residence in the old
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Episcopal palace, which restored so that
his successors would be willing to
remain there. The Church of S. Maria in
Campo and the adjacent palace always
remained the property of the diocese of
Fiesole and as such were exempt from
the jurisdiction of the Bishop of
Florence. The historical background to
this state of affairs can be traced to the
year 1125, when the Florentines
destroyed Fiesole. The people of this
latter town were forced to transfer to
Florence, while their bishop went to
various castles in the diocese as an exile.
In the end, the bishop, Ildebrando, was
forced to live in the bishop’s palace in
Florence. But there were inevitable
difficulties in the co-habitation of the
palace with the bishop of Florence, and
so Pope Gregory IX, in 1228, had
granted to Ildebrando the Church of S.
Maria in Campo. The latter’s successor,
Maynetto, obtained from Pope
Alexander IV permission to have his
curia and his tribunal in this Church.
This was behind the decision of the
Fiesole bishops to live in Florence in
perpetuity.
One glance at his cathedral and he saw
that the engrained sandstone facade was
in a ruinous state. The cathedral had
been built in 1028 and completed in the
episcopate of Jacopo the Bavarian.
Originally it was of more modest
proportions, but it was modified and
enlarged during the 13th century. The
renovations undertaken by St. Andrew
were imposing. In order to avoid that
the waters that gushed down from the
rocks above the town affect the
cathedral adversely, he had the posterior
of the edifice divided into two levels. The
works lasted a long time, and even
though they were far-reaching, the
facade its original design.
Practically complementing this work on
the cathedral, St. Andrew in 1371 had a
new choir built, where the Canons would
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offer their prayers. It was a project rich
in inlaid and carved workmanship which
cost him the sum of a hundred forty four
gold florins. In his Memoriale episcopi
fesulani he lists all the work done until
1362, which cost almost fifty thousand
florins and a thousand Florentine lire.
We do not know exactly how much he
spent for the restoration of the
Cathedral, because he does not make an
itemized listing of expenses in his
Memoriale. Caioli concludes: “This is
sufficient to realize how much the Saint
loved his see and the flock confided to
his care.”
He also collaborated in the restoration
of parish churches: he had special
regard for the small church of S. Maria
Primerana to which the local people had
recourse, and which he administered
personally. In this same vicinity of
Figline Valdarno, he took special care of
the local church and in 1360 he restored
the parish house. In 1364 he had an
arcade built on it and above the arcade
he had two rooms built. In all likelihood,
he resided here when he was on pastoral
visits in the area.
Reformer
If St. Andrew was personally involved in
the decor of church buildings, he
showed an even greater commitment for
the reform of morals which had become
somewhat lax especially after the two
years of the terrible scourge of the
plague. For the faithful for whose
pastoral needs he was responsible he
wished to form “a spiritual house, a holy
priesthood in order to offer spiritual
sacrifices, pleasing to God, through
Jesus Christ” (1 Pt 2:5).
To bring the faithful back to the practice
of the faith, he concentrated on his
priests, and especially on pastors. He
demanded that pastors and all who held
benefices reside locally; he himself had
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given the good example by living in the
Bishop’s palace. His pastoral visits were
detailed. Many churches were in
disorder; ignorant was prevalent and
even the most elementary duties of both
faithful and priests were neglected.
Concubinage was not rare. With all he
uses both firmness and charity, but to
those who cannot control themselves he
applies the canonical punishments and
he deprives the incorrigible of their
benefices and of their duties.
Because the diocese is extensive and
mountainous, in order to be aware of the
real situation, in 1353, he appoints Don
Dionisio, Prior of S. Maria in Poppi as
his Vicar. For the moral and spiritual
formation of seminarians in 1372 he
establishes a confraternity of priests,
dedicated to the Blessed Trinity, with
the duty of preparing them and
instructing them for the priestly and
apostolic life. This association
foreshadows the function of seminaries,
which the Council of Trent will establish
two centuries later.
Father of the Poor
The good he did for the poor, more than
any other factor, mirrored his interior
life. While he remained poor, he wished
that his entourage/family be composed
of only six persons. Two of these were
confreres from the Carmine in Florence;
with them he intended to lead a religious
life in the spirit of Carmel.
His naturally good nature urged him to
aid the poor and every needy person
who appealed to him. He never sent
away unheard anyone who knocked at
his door. He personally helped the poor
at the door of his Episcopal home, and
he felt that this was an authentic duty of
a bishop. But the voice that called him
was of even greater importance than
that of nature. In pilgrims, in the
unfortunate, in the sick, in the
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disinherited he saw Christ who
encouraged him and told him:
“Whatever you do for one of these the
least of my brothers, you do to me” (Mt
25:40).
He considered himself the father and
administrator of the poor. Setting apart
what was necessary for his family, the
rest belonged to the poor. The bishop is
not an owner, but an administrator. As
soon he was appointed bishop, he
named Fra Andre Salvi of the Carmelites
as his procurator with all the rights to
search out and recuperate the legacies
left for the poor.
One of the saddest consequences of the
Black Plague of 1348 was the misery into
which many families had fallen. The
were deprived of their main sources of
providing bread for their members.
Many children had lost their parents
and found themselves with no one to
care for them. Added to this was a
subsequent famine because of which the
situation of the poor became even more
deplorable.
He calls his acts of charity “the love of
God.” In a book, written by himself one
finds many alms and many portions of
wheat given to the poor for the love of
God. Among these poor one also finds
families of religious Orders. In the first
place are the friars of Carmine in
Florence, whose humble and cherished
confrere he always felt.
Like the poor, he also assists the sick,
either in their homes or in the hospitals.
He took personal interest in the income
of hospitals; he was vigilant that such
funds, destined for hospitals, be
administered justly. He was a main
protagonist in the building of a hospital
in San Cristofero de Perticaia. His
charity towards the needy must have a
deep impression because the necrology
of the Carmine in Florence says that he
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was “famous for the virtue of charity,
committed to almsgiving.”
Angel of Peace
In every way possible he expended
efforts to blunt the disorders and
contentious situations of his time.
Towns were tearing each other apart;
even within the same city, the various
factions and political parties divided
allegiances and gave rise to blood-
scarred wars.
Without abate, Andrew preach peace
and concord. People from Florence and
neighboring towns thronged to his
preaching. In legal actions and lawsuits,
not only churchmen and rich merchants
of Florence had recourse to him but also
the powerful citizens of Prato, Pistoia,
and other cities.
He strove to establish peace in families.
His blood brothers were the first to turn
to him, and to his brother Neri, for
judgments in family matters. Matthew
in particular, who later became a
member of his household, was always
very devoted to him and entrusted all his
vital interests to him.
His whole bearing mirrored a spirit
filled with peace. No one remembered
hearing him speak with anger, but
rather his speech was in pleasant and
tranquil tones. This was true also in
cases when he had to correct his
subjects. And these virtues did not
prevent him from meting out salutary
penances when there was no other
remedy for evil.
His Edifying Death
He died on January 6, 1374 (1373
according to the Florentine calendar).
The Canons of Fiesole wished to bury
their bishop in his cathedral, despite the
express stipulation in his will asking for
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burial in the Florence Carmine. His

confreres, aiming to fulfill his last will
and probably with the consent of his
brother Neri, who succeeded him as
bishop of Fiesole, during the night of
February 2nd, carried his body to
Florence. He was later buried in a
marble monument which his brother
Matthew and his nephews
commissioned in the Carmine Church.

The monument was engraved with an

epitaph composed by Coluccio Salutati,
Chancellor of the Republic. The tribute
praises the deceased bishop as
illustrious for his family background,
but even more so for his virtue. He is
praised as father and helper of the poor,
as a true servant of God committed to
his glory, as an outstanding example of a
holy life, and for the effective eloquence
of his preaching.

His body now reposes in the splendid

chapel built by Bartolomeo di Filippo
and Neri di Andrea Corsini during the
years 1675-1683. When Lorenzo Corsini
was elected Pope in 1730 with the name
Clement XII, he commissioned the
architect Alessandro Galilei to build the
Corsini chapel in the Basilica of St. John
the Lateran in honor of the great saint,
his family ancestor. The Chapel, for the
number and variety of artists who
contributed to its construction and to its
artistic decoration, can be considered an
authentic compendium of the sculpture
of the 1700’s.

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