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Francis of Assisi and the Franciscans
c. 1181–1226; order approved 1209· Person· People
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
A rich merchant's son from Assisi who gave everything away to live in poverty and founded the Franciscan friars.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
Francis (c. 1181–1226) was a cloth merchant's son and failed soldier. Around 1205 he heard a call to 'rebuild my church', stripped off his clothes before the bishop, and began begging and preaching. Pope Innocent III approved his simple rule around 1209. Unlike monks enclosed in monasteries, his friars ('brothers') moved among townspeople. He preached to the sultan of Egypt in 1219, staged a Christmas manger scene in 1223, and is said to have received the stigmata, Christ's wounds, in 1224.
Why it matters
The Franciscans became one of the largest Catholic orders and later led missions to the Americas and Asia. Pope Francis took his name in 2013.
Life, legacy and sources
His own writings survive, including the Canticle of the Sun, plus early biographies by Thomas of Celano (1228–1229) and Bonaventure. He was declared a saint in 1228, two years after his death.
Questions and debates
The stigmata are a matter of faith; early accounts describe them, but historians cannot verify them. Stories like his sermon to the birds may be embellished.
Connections (2)
▸Francis of Assisi and the Franciscans renewed, as a friar, the ideals of Benedict and Western monasticismHistorical record
The connection
Francis kept the monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience but took them out of the cloister. His friars owned nothing, even in common, and lived by begging and preaching in towns. It was a new kind of order, the 'mendicants' (beggars), renewing ideals that wealthy monasteries had drifted from.
When and where
Assisi, Italy, from about 1205; Innocent III approved his rule orally around 1209, and Honorius III confirmed the final Rule in 1223.
Historical evidence
Francis's Rules and Testament survive, and early sources contrast his brothers with Benedictine monks.
Questions and debates
Soon after his death the order split over how strict poverty must be; the argument ran for centuries, and Pope John XXII condemned the strict 'Spirituals'.
▸Pope Francis took his name from Francis of Assisi and the FranciscansHistorical record
The connection
As Bergoglio's election became certain, Brazilian cardinal Cláudio Hummes hugged him and said, 'Don't forget the poor.' He chose Francis, after Assisi's 'man of poverty, man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.' His encyclical Laudato si' (2015) takes its title from Francis's 'Canticle of the Creatures.'
When and where
Sistine Chapel, March 13, 2013; explained to journalists in Rome on March 16, 2013; Fratelli tutti signed at Francis's tomb in Assisi, October 2020.
Historical evidence
His own explanation, recorded on video at the March 16, 2013 audience, and the texts of his encyclicals, which quote Francis of Assisi.
Questions and debates
Some first wondered whether he meant Francis Xavier, a Jesuit founder; he clarified Assisi. Whether his papacy lived up to that ideal of poverty is debated.