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Eiximenis, Fra Dolcino and the “Malvat hom”

Summary: In his Terç, del Crestià and Llibre de les dones Francesc Eiximenis referred to a "malvat hom" (evil man) who approved of physical shows of intimacy among unmarried persons. He further related these acts (kissing, embracing, and illicit touch with religious groups of men and women he called "spiritu amoris," whose leader he labeled the "malvat hom." However, Eiximenis' remarks on the figure and his group are cryptic.We therefore examined likely individuals and groups of adherents from antique times to heretical groups of the Middle Ages. By a process of elimination we narrowed our investigation to heterodox groups composed of men and women in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The most likely candidate is fra Dolcino and his pseudo-Apostolici. However, from a historical and religious perspective, the "malvat hom" could be Bentivegna da Gubbio, who fits the description of Eiximenis' infamous heretic.