Note 14 — Chapter XXIII · THOMAS OF CELANO.

There is a serious difficulty connected with the chronology of his history, which I have not been able to overcome. Unfortunately this greatest of Catholic dogmatists never seems to have inspired enough of personal interest in any disciple or contemporary to lead to the preparation of a biography of him. So the earliest in existence were written long after his death, when the Neapolitans asked for his canonization. And a comparison of their statements with those of contemporary chronicles, like that of Richard of San Germano, does not inspire confidence in their veracity.