Tolerated Saints

This chapter discusses “tolerated saints.” Tolerated saints achieved local veneration, but could have been subject to derision, such as that which Salimbene de Adam directed toward Albert of Villa d'Ogna. In other instances, such as those of Facio of Cremona (d. 1271) or Henry of Bolzano (d. 1315), disapproval came in the form of rejected canonization inquiries, although communities continued to venerate these saints without fear of reprisal. These so-called tolerated cults serve as a foundation for investigating the two intrinsic issues with which the papacy and communities were wrestling, namely, how and by whom sainthood should be conferred. Ultimately, the number and variety of unofficial tolerated saints demonstrates how communities privileged their own experience of the postulant saint, their understanding of the signs of sanctity, their needs as a community, and their right to determine who was worthy of sainthood.