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Dolcino and his followers would be "miraculosamente rapiti in Paradiso," that is, "miraculously raptured
into Paradise." Anagnine, Dolcino, 219 no.2.

The anonymous historian (p. 9) says that they believed that homines eorum secte erant missi a deo ad

reformandam ecclesiam, qu perierat per superbiam avaritiam luxuriam et multa alia vitia. "the sect of those
men had been sent by God for reforming the church, which had perished through pride, avarice, luxury and
many other vices." Indication of this ecclesiology also comes from the Dominican Inquisitor who tried
members of the Apostolic Brethren, Bernard Gui. He wrote a formula of abjuration used for repentant
members. One of the phrases that former members of the Apostolic Brethren had to say upon their return
to the Roman Church was Item, revoco id quod dixeram de ecclesia carnali, quod ipsa erat quam Johannes
in Apocalipsi vocat Babilonem, meretricem magnam; item, bestiam illam que habebat septem capita et
decem cornua; item, mulierem illam que habebat calicem aureum in manu sua et plenum
abhominationibus.... "Again, I revoke that which I had said about the carnal Church, that it was that which
John in the Apocalypse calls Babylon, the great whore; again, that beast which had seven heads and ten
horns; again, that woman who had a golden chalice in her hand and full of abominations..." Bernard Gui,
Manuel de l'inquisiteur, G. Moffat, ed. (Paris: Libraire ancienne honoré champion, 1926), 40.

The Latin is "per plurima tempora," literally "through many times." A better English translation might be

"for a long time," or "for many days."

For example, Richard of Rolle of Hampole (d. 1349), who wrote, "The greatest opposition to Antichrist

will come from the preaching of Henoch and Elias whom he will destroy after 1260 days. They will rise
again after three and one half days and ascend into heaven. Antichrist will then reign for three and one half
years." Quoted in R. Gerald Culleton, The Reign of Antichrist (Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers,
1974), 137.

There is evidence in Gui's treatise, On the Sect of Those Who Call Themselves Apostles, also written in

1316, that Dolcino may have used Rev 3:10 in support of his "pretribulation" rapture theology. Like others
in the middle ages, Dolcino believed that the holy pope, who would be chosen by God and not by cardinals,
was symbolized in Revelation 3:7 as the angel of the Church of Philadelphia. See Gui, Manuel de
l'inquisiteur, 90; and Robert E. Lerner, The Feast of Saint Abraham: Medieval Millenarians and the Jews
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001). 114. If the rapture takes place during the reign of
the holy pope, as The History of Brother Dolcino says, and the holy pope's reign is described in Rev 3:7-
13, which of these seven verses would point to the rapture? Verse 10--"I will keep you from the hour of
testing coming upon the whole earth" seems like the most likely candidate. Interestingly, this is the same
passage used by modern pretribulationists in support of the view that the Church in the last days will escape
the tribulation of Antichrist by means of a translation to heaven. For an account of another preacher in the
early fourteenth century who believed that he was the angel of the Church of Philadelphia, see Lerner, "An
`Angel of Philadelphia' in the Reign of Philip the Fair: The Case of Guiard of Cressonessart" in Order and
Innovation in the Middle Ages: Essays in Honor of Joseph R. Strayer, William C. Jordan, Bruce McNab,
and Teofilio F. Ruiz, eds. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976), 343-364.

Many examples of the identification of Enoch and Elijah with the two witnesses from early medieval

commentaries on Revelation are cited and translated into English in Thomas W. Mackay, "Early Christian
Millenarist Interpretation of the Two Witnesses in John's Apocalypse 11:3-13" in By Study and Also By
Faith, Vol. 1. John M. Lundquist, Stephen D. Ricks, eds. (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Company,
1990), 222-331.

Ubertino di Casale, in 1304, wrote his Tree of the Crucified Life of Jesus , of which Book V is a

commentary on Revelation. He interprets the earthquake of Rev 11:13 as the death of Antichrist. See
Ubertinus de Casali, Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu (Torino: Bottega d'Erasmo, 1961), 492. Arnold of
Villanova, in his commentary on Revelation of 1306, wrote that the death of Antichrist was signified in the
great earthquake of Rev. 11:13. See Arnaldi de Villanova, Expositio Super Apocalypsi (Barcelona:
Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 1971), 150.

For example, Dionysius the Carthusian (1402-1471), says in his commentary on this passage nunc

Antichristo oppresso...tunc enim totus pene mundus ad Christum converetur, secundum doctores. "now
once Antichrist is beaten down, then almost the whole world will be converted to Christ, according to the
doctors." D. Dionysii Cartusiani Opera Omnia 14: 304. A rich treatment of the medieval concept of the
conversion of the world after the death of Antichrist is Lerner, "Refreshment of the Saints: The Time After
Antichrist as a Station for Earthly Progress in Medieval Thought" Traditio 32 (1976):97-144. Dolcino said
that the time of renewal was prophesied in Isaiah 54-57. Gui, Manuel de l'inquisiteur, 84, 88, 100.