|
Founder of the Franciscan Order, born at Assisi in 1181 and died there in 1226. The son of a wealthy Italian merchant, Francis rejected his family and devoted himself to a life of extreme poverty and the doing of good works. Francis soon had a large following. He and his followers were confirmed as a brotherhood by Pope Innocent III in 1210. Francis' preaching and simple lifestyle inspired a religious revival in northern Italy, and the Franciscan ideal of poverty and simplicity spread throughout Europe. The Franciscans became an order in 1223, but were unable to retain the rule of absolute poverty. Franciscan Order
|
This mendicant order grew out of the movement inspired by the life and preaching of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). The Rule of St. Francis, which was based on Matthew 19:21, 16:21 and Luke 9:3, prescribed poverty, itinerant preaching and manual labour. Francis sought papal approval for his brotherhood but did not seek to found a formal order. In 1223, however, the Regula Secunda (Second Rule) received papal approval and marked the foundation of the order. The simplicity of life Francis sought in his rule did not long characterise the entire order. Even in his lifetime, tensions arose between two movements within the order, the Spirituals and the Conventuals. The Spirituals insisted on retaining Francis' original ideal, while the Conventuals were prepared to abandon the rule of absolute poverty. The Conventuals believed that monks could hold property in common but not individually. In the fourteenth century, the Spiritual Franciscans were frequently prosecuted, partly because some accepted the teachings of Joachim of Flora and were declared heretical. The conflict continued for generations. After the effective suppression of the Spirituals, the Observant branch of the order continued to oppose the Conventuals and frequently urged reform of the order.
