Baschi, Matteo

Baschi, Matteo an Italian visionary, was born in the duchy of Urbino, near the close of the.15th centurv. He entered the Convent of Montefalconi, where a sort of religious madness seized him. He believed that it had been revealed to him that the costume of the Franciscans should be changed, and, with the sanction of the pope, Clement VII, it was attempted; but the Franciscans refused to do this, and he was imprisoned. The capuchon, or cowl, which he wished them to adopt was that from which the Capuchin friars, who adopted it, derived their name. Matteo Baschi was the first general of the Capuchin Order, and died at Venice in 1552. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.