Origin of the Franciscan Order

The Franciscan Order was a Mendicant religious Order in 13th Century High Medieval Europe. It was founded by Francis of Assisi and given Papal recognition in 1210. The Franciscans were more of an urban rather than rural religious Order. They lived lives that involved wandering, preaching, begging, poverty and they answered to the spiritual needs of townspeople.

Francis was born in 1181/1182 in the home of a cloth merchant named Bernardino in the town of Assisi, in northern Italy. He was supposed to become a Merchant — that was the dream of his father — but he became disaffected in his early 20s. He began to cast about for a different sort of religious life, one that would be more fulfilling.

At around 24, Francis heard the crucifix in the Church speaking to him: “Rebuild my church.” Francis took the message seriously and began to beg for funds to rebuild churches in ruin. He wandered through the streets of Assisi asking people for money and stones. His father Bernardino was furious when he discovered that Francis had taken some of the family cloth and used the money for repairs without permission.

After a confrontation with his father, Francis devoted himself entirely to the repair of small churches. Around 1208, sitting in another church and hearing a priest read a gospel message, his life took a dramatic turn — he became a travelling preacher rather than a repairer of churches.

By 1209, Francis had attracted a small band of followers — about ten — whom he called “the little brothers.” He led them to Rome where he obtained an audience with the Pope and asked permission to found a new religious order. In 1210, the Franciscan Order received official Papal recognition.

As he grew older and sicker, he received the stigmata — the wounds in the hands and feet that Christ suffered during the crucifixion. His health had never been good, and he finally died in 1226, a relatively young man even by medieval standards.