FRANCISCANS. The Franciscans owe their name to Francis of Assisi (1172-1226), whose real name was Gio vanni Francesco Bernardone. The son of a rich mer chant, in his early manhood he became leader of a club to which the gay youths of Assisi belonged. He also fought in a battle between Assisi and Perugia. A severe illness marked a change in his life. It led him to take an interest in the poor and suffering, and to abandon his old pleasures. In 1206 he laid aside the clothes which he had been accustomed to wear, put on old garments, and devoted himself to a life of poverty. In 1209 when he heard a preacher read the passage in Matthew x. vss. 9 and 10 (" Get you no gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses; no wallet for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff : for the labourer is worthy of his food. And into whatsoever city or village ye shall enter, search out who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go forth "), the words appealed to him with all the force of a direct personal message, a message to go forth and preach. He now further simplified his dress, dis carding shoes and the use of a staff, and before long he was joined by ten followers. His followers seem to have been exhorted to work for their daily bread, but in return to take only things necessary for life (riot money). In 1210 he obtained from the Benedictines a plot of ground near AsssIxl called Portiuncula on which was an abandoned chapel of Our Lady of the Angels. Around this chapel the Franciscans established a convent con sisting of rude huts. " From this humble site, which thus became the cradle of the order, thousands of monas teries were to be planted, miesioners were to go forth to all parts of the world to preach, toil, and In many cases suffer martyrdom for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a vast multitude of doctors and holy prelates were to issue, by whom the purity of the faith should be sustained, and its principles methodised and applied" (Catholic Dictionary). In 1210 Francis went to Rome to have his rule confirmed by the Pope, but he suc ceeded in obtaining from Innocent III. only verbal con firmation. The rule was not solemnly ratified until 1223, when, in a more compendious form, it was con firmed by Honorius III. The Order had already spread beyond Italy to Spain, Egypt. Africa, Greece, England, Hungary, and Germany. In 1219 as many as five thousand members were present at a general assembly. In 1220 Franciscans established themselves in England at Canterbury, and soon afterwards at Northampton.
In course of time Franciscan convents arose in Oxford. London, Coventry, and in other places. Francis is said to have laid down twenty-seven precepts. "They prescribe the particular means by which the vow of poverty is to be carried out, regulate the dress to be worn, order that the friars shall go barefoot, specify the fasts to be observed, and enjoin a blind unlimited obedience to superiors for the love of God. The habit which he gave them was a grey gown of coarse cloth with a pointed hood or capuche attached to it, one under tunic and drawers, and a cord round the waist" (Cath. Diet.). After the death of Francis, his successor, the Minister-General Elias of Cortona relaxed the original strictness of the rule. This relaxation displeased many of the Franciscans and caused a division. Two branches of the Order grew up, Conventuals and Observantines. The Conventuals were the milder party and lived in convents; the Observantines were the severer party (in France they were called Cordeliers) and lived like hermits in poor dwellings. The Observantines in time became subdivided into Observants, Reformed, Discalced or Alcantariues, and Recollects. There arose also a distinct branch of Franciscans called Capuchins (q.v.). In 1897 Leo XIII. succeeded in re-uniting all the Fran ciscans except the Conventuals and Capuchins under the name of the Order of Friars Minor. The Franciscans have done a great work for humanity, and have produced many very eminent men. Naturally, their zeal and strictness have called forth opponents and rivals. Zoeckler describes the Dominicans (q.v.) as born rivals of the Franciscans. " The two orders fought for a time cordially together, side by side, as long as they had a common object; namely, to get access to the universities. But hardly were Bonaventura the Franciscan, and Thomas Aquinas the Dominican, installed as doctores theologise at the University of Paris, before a strongly marked scientific difference between the two orders became apparent, and it continued to separate them during the whole period of the middle ages. The Fran ciscans were realists; the Dominicans, nominalists : the Franciscans leaned towards Semi-Pelagianism: the Dominicans were ardent disciples of Augustine : the Franciscans were Scotists; the Dominicans were Thomists: in the debate on the immaculate conception of Mary, the Franciscans said Yes, and the Dominicans No " (Schaff-Herzog). See Schaff-Herzog; the Prot. Diet., 1904: the Cath. Diet.; Brockhaus.