Saint Bernardine of Siena: The First Boxer?
Investigating the historical claims to find the truth behind Saint Bernardine's alleged role in the birth of boxing
I am researching the Morality of Fighting Competitions, which I plan to discuss in more detail later. During my research, I encountered an unexpected claim: the first boxing master, professor, and referee was none other than Saint Bernardine of Siena.
Frank G. Menke (1885 - 1954), a newspaper reporter and sports historian from Cleveland, Ohio, wrote the first edition of “Encyclopedia of Sports”. In the boxing section (Menke, 1944, pg. 167) he shares how “recently uncovered records” attributes the title of “Father of Boxing” to “Saint Bernardine” in Siena. The account is remarkably interesting:
… recently uncovered records disclose that St Bernardine, a celebrated ecclesiastic in the 13th century taught bare fist fighting, encouraged contests and is really the ‘father of boxing’. As a priest in Siena (Italy) along about 1201 A.D. he became alarmed over the deaths and injuries caused by the practice of dueling to settle arguments. He finally prevailed upon the hot headed citizenry to use fists instead of steel. This form of combat quickly caught the fancy of the youths who wanted to mix it with each other for the fun of it, and the result was that St Bernardine became a teacher of boxing, and also a matchmaker and referee. He arranged many amateur contests, under rules that made it a healthy exercise for the boys, instead of brutal encounter. He supervised all the fistic warfare and always halted proceedings before any real damage was done. St Bernardine described the sport as “the art of boxing up an opponent” and perhaps this is the origin of the word boxing.”
There are a few problems with this history. The first is that Saint Bernardine of Siena was not alive in 1201 A.D.; he was born in 1380, making the claim off by 180 years. Second, Menke fails to provide a source, only sharing that he sourced it from “recently uncovered records.”
Some eight years after the first publication of Menke’s Encyclopedia, newspapers across America published the story of Saint Bernardine as the precursor of boxing:
It is notable how Bill Warner, the writer for “The Catholic Advance” who signs the article above, also had Saint Bernardine of Siena in the 13th century.
In 1963 a third edition of “Encyclopedia of Sports” and the boxing section was rewritten. The part that claims Saint Bernardine was the first boxer had some modifications as well. Now instead of “recently uncovered records,” we have a new assertion: “one historian, and one alone (...) claims to have discovered that a gentle priest, later canonized as St. Bernardine, caused his parishioners to substitute fist fights for knife duels in Siena, Italy, about 1201 A.D.” (Menke, 1963, p. 241).
Although Saint Bernardine is still placed in 1201, now we know they are sourcing from “one historian, and one alone,” but again, no mention on who this historian is.
John Valentin Grombach, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1901, a member of “1924 US Olympic boxing team” (www.olympedia.org, 2006), published in 1977 the book “The Saga of the Fist,” where he shares a more vivid background for Saint Bernardine's boxing activities:
“The first character that did a great deal for boxing and enjoys a position unmatched in boxing history is, strangely enough, a Saint Bernardine monk. He was an ecclesiastic who lived at the beginning of the thirteenth century. As a priest in Italy, he became alarmed by the number of deaths and serious injuries caused by the practice of dueling among his parishioners during this period.” (Grombach, 1977, p. 174)
Grombach explains that fights emerging from business competitions, arguments, courtships, drunken brawls, or insults could easily end up using swords with fatal consequences, hence, Saint Bernardine of Siena's success on replacing sword duels with fist fights was so significant that “he went around the countryside, as no one ever had before or since, teaching boxing to the youths so they might beat each other up with their fists rather than kill each other off with their swords” (Grombach, 1977, p. 174). The Saints approach was so successful, explains Grombach, that ordinary people started to “mix it with each other for fun.” Grombach also claims that the saint eventually organized amateur contests, making boxing a healthy exercise.
Unfortunately, Grombach also doesn’t share his source, but as he puts Saint Bernardine in the “thirteenth century” and uses the very same phrases from Menke (e.g. “mix it with each other for fun”) one could say that the Grombach either sourced from Menke’s encyclopedia, or had access to the same “recently uncovered records,” or to the same “one historian, and one alone” that Menke mentions.
Since Menke, Warner and Grombach fail to share the sources of their claims, it is really hard to check the veracity of this history.
In my research, I think the most plausible source for them is Joseph Forsyth, a Scottish man born in 1763, who after recovering from an almost fatal pulmonary complication in 1801, decided to pursue his “grand object”: a tour through Italy (Forsyth, 1818, pg. 8).
Forsyth documented most of his tour in the book “Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters.” Published in 1818 (126 years before Menke’s first Encyclopedia of Sports), Forsyth learned about the Saint Bernardine boxing tale during his tour in Siena (1803 or 1804):
“In the year 1200, St. Bernardine instituted boxing as a more innocent outlet for their hot blood and laid the bruisers under certain laws which are sacredly observed to this day. As they improved in prowess and skill, the pugilists came forward on every point of national honor; they were sung by poets and recorded in inscriptions.”
Here again, it is extremely important to note that Forsyth placed Saint Bernardine in the year 1200. An error that will be repeated 126 years later by Menke, Warner and Grombach.
Forsyth, in his very informal book, is not trying to make a treatise or be a historian; he was just documenting his trip to Italy. One could imagine that he was talking to locals when he learned about this Saint Bernardine story…
Is this history real?
In the end, I could not validate the veracity of St. Bernardine boxing career.
It seems to me that Warner (in 1952) and Grombach (in 1977) sourced this history from Menke (in 1944), and Menke sourced from Forsyth (1803/1804).
Rev. George Charles Bernard (1952, p. 8), who studied the matter, suggests that it could be another ecclesiastic named Bernardine but leaves the question open.
Personally, it is hard for me to imagine a saint traveling Italy to teach bare-knuckle fighting as a way to resolve disputes. It is even stranger the lack of catholic books on the life of the saint mentions such a unique aspect about this saint's life.
But, let’s for a moment assume Saint Bernardine was a proponent of boxing (bare-knuckle fights). This would be more an exception rather than a rule. In fact, when reading the lives of the saints, there is almost no mention of sports, healthy activities, healthy foods, healthy drinks, and so on. The emphasis is vastly on virtue, living a moral life, taking part in the sacraments, meditation, and so on.
So, the lack of a clear source makes it difficult to believe that Saint Bernardine of Siena was a boxer. Even if this were true, it would be an exception and not a rule, which is an important conclusion for the research I am putting together on the morality of fighting competitions, which I intend to share more with you later on.
Bibliography
Forsyth, J. (1818). Remarks on antiquities, arts and letters during an excursion in Italy in the years 1802 and 1803. 2nd ed. [online] Wells and Lilly. Available at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Remarks_on_Antiquities_Arts_and_Letters/EfUtAAAAYAAJ [Accessed 14 Jun. 2024].
Grombach, J.V. (1974). The Saga of the Fist. [online] Barnes Publications. Available at: https://archive.org/details/sagaoffistth00grom [Accessed 14 Jun. 2024].
Menke, F.G. (1944). The new encyclopedia of sports. 1st ed. [online] New York: A.S. Barnes & Co. Available at: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.547633 [Accessed 14 Jun. 2024].
Menke, F.G. (1963). The new encyclopedia of sports. 3rd ed. [online] New York: A.S. Barnes & Co. Available at: https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofspmen00menk/ [Accessed 14 Jun. 2024].
Rev. George Charles Bernard (1952). The Morality of Prizefighting. [online] The Catholic University of America Press. Available at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Morality_of_Prizefighting/dGAhAQAAMAAJ?hl=en.
Warner, B. (1952). St. Bernardine thought ‘boxing’ was a good idea. The Catholic Advance. [online] 1 Feb. Available at: https://www.newspapers.com/image/180111170/ [Accessed 14 Jun. 2024].