Jordanus of Giano

Jordanus of Giano (1195 – after 1262) was an Italian Minorite from Giano in the Valley of Spoleto.

Background

Jordanus joined the Franciscans around 1220. A few years later he was sent to Germany with a group under Caesarius of Speyer, the first Franciscan provincial of Germany. He was ordained in 1223, and became the guardian at Mainz and the custos of the Franciscan houses in Thuringia in 1225. In 1230 and again in 1238, he returned to Italy on business relating to his order.

Earliest German Franciscans Memoirs

He attended a chapter of German Franciscans held at Halberstadt in 1262. There he dictated the early memoirs of the Franciscans in Germany (De primitivorum Fratrum in Theutoniam missorum et conversatione et vita) to a Brother Baldwin of Brandenburg. The memoirs begin in the year 1207 and are one of the chief sources for Franciscan history in Germany. The only extant manuscript breaks off abruptly at the year 1238.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Jordanus of Giano". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.