The Franciscan Order was born at the beginning of the 13th century from an intuition as simple as it was revolutionary: to take the Gospel literally, without gloss or mitigation, and to follow the poor and humble Christ even into his destitution. In Assisi, in Umbria, a young converted merchant, Francis Bernardone, gathered around him a few companions determined to live “without anything of their own.” From this handful of penitents would arise, in less than a century, one of the greatest orders in the history of the Church — and an entirely new way of being religious: no longer enclosed within the walls of a monastery, but mendicant, itinerant, mingling with the crowds of the new cities.[1][2]
This article presents the order both as an institution and as a spiritual family: its originality as a mendicant order, the program of minority, the central place of Lady Poverty, the history of its Rule and its Testament, the structure of its three orders, its rapid expansion and great figures, the poverty controversy that nearly broke it, the division of its family into three male orders, its missionary and cultural influence, and finally its spirituality. It does not retell the detailed story of the foundation — see the foundation of the Franciscans — nor the biographies of Saint Francis or Saint Clare, nor the spirituality dossier developed in Franciscan spirituality: each has its own article.
“The rule and life of the Friars Minor is this: to observe the holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without anything of one’s own, and in chastity.”
— Saint Francis of Assisi, Regula bullata (1223), ch. I[3][4]
The Franciscan order and the Carthusian order or the Cistercian order belong to two different ages and two different logics of renunciation. The Carthusians (1084) and Cistercians (1098) are the great monastic and contemplative blooms of the 11th century: one withdraws from the world, into solitude or enclosure, to seek God. Francis, a century later, invents something else: poverty in the streets, itinerant preaching, the friar who has no land, no income, no barn, and who lives by the work of his hands or by alms. This is the revolution of the mendicant orders, which Francis shares with his contemporary Saint Dominic.
What is the Franciscan Order?
A "Mendicant" Order, Not Monastic
This distinction is crucial and too often overlooked: Franciscans are not monks. A monk—whether Benedictine, Cistercian, or Carthusian—takes a vow of stability: he is bound to a monastery, a community, a place, where he lives and dies. His poverty is collective: the individual monk owns nothing, but the abbey may hold lands, forests, herds, and income.[5][6]
The Friar Minor, on the other hand, is a new type of religious figure that emerged with the merchant cities of the 13th century. He has no fixed stability in one place: he moves from city to city, preaching in public squares, hearing confessions, comforting the sick, then moves on. His poverty is not only personal but institutional: originally, the order itself refused to own property, estates, or fixed income. The friar lives by the work of his hands and, failing that, by begging—hence the name mendicant order. Whereas the monk flees the world to seek God in the desert, the Friar Minor plunges into the heart of the cities to proclaim the Gospel.[7][8]
This innovation did not come out of nowhere: it responded to a changing world. In the 13th century, Europe was urbanizing, commerce and money were taking unprecedented roles, and numerous voluntary poverty movements—some orthodox, others sliding into heresy, like the Waldensians or the Cathars—called for a more evangelical Church. Francis’s genius was to live this thirst for evangelical poverty not against the Church, but in perfect fidelity to the Apostolic See. Where other preachers of poverty fell into schism, Francis sought and obtained papal approval, making obedience to the Church the first word of his Rule.[9][10]
The "Friars Minor": The Program of Minority
The very name of the order is a spiritual program. Francis did not want his companions to be called “brothers,” nor “major brothers,” nor “fathers,” but friars minor—fratres minores, the “very little brothers.” The word minority (minoritas) expresses the heart of the vocation: to be the smallest, the last, the servant of all, in the image of Christ who “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7).[11]
This minority is not mere social self-effacement: it is a theology of humility, a way of resembling Christ “gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). The Friar Minor seeks neither dignity, honor, nor authority; he chooses to be at the bottom. For this reason, for a long time, the friars refused ecclesiastical offices and even, at times, the priesthood: Francis himself was never more than a deacon, out of humility, not considering himself worthy of the priesthood.[12][13]
Lady Poverty: sine proprio
At the center of everything is poverty. Not a poverty endured, but a poverty chosen, embraced, loved—Francis spoke of “Lady Poverty” (Domina Paupertas) as a bride. The key word of the Rule is sine proprio, “without anything of one’s own”: the friar owns nothing, neither money, nor goods, nor reserves for tomorrow.[14]
This radical poverty has a precise Christological foundation: Christ was born poor in a manger, lived without “where to lay his head” (Luke 9:58), and died naked on the cross. To follow Christ, for Francis, is to imitate this destitution. Franciscan poverty is therefore not an ascetic performance or a social protest: it is a form of love, a way of leaving everything behind to cling only to God.
“Let the brothers appropriate nothing, neither house, nor place, nor anything else. But as pilgrims and strangers in this world, serving the Lord in poverty and humility, let them confidently go begging for alms.”
— Saint Francis of Assisi, Regula bullata (1223), ch. VI[15]
It is this same poverty, taken to its ultimate consequences, that a century later would trigger the order’s most serious crisis: how far must one go in poverty? Can the order possess collectively? Did Christ and the apostles own anything? We will return to this question.
Saint Francis and the Birth of the Fraternity
This article does not retell the detailed story of the foundation—it is recounted in the foundation of the Franciscans and in the biography of Saint Francis of Assisi. But the institution cannot be understood without its origins: here are the essential milestones.
"To live according to the form of the holy Gospel"
Son of a wealthy cloth merchant from Assisi, Francis Bernardone experienced a conversion around 1205-1206 that detached him from everything. Before the bishop and his father, he gave up even his clothes so as to have no other father than "Our Father who art in heaven." He personally restored small ruined churches, including the chapel of the Portiuncula, which would become the cradle of the order.[16][17]
The decisive turning point came one day in 1208 at the Portiuncula, where he heard the Gospel reading of the mission sending: "Do not possess gold or silver..." (Matthew 10). Francis understood that this was, word for word, his vocation. In his Testament, dictated at the end of his life, he kept a moving memory of it:
"And after the Lord had given me brothers, no one showed me what I should do; but the Most High Himself revealed to me that I should live according to the form of the holy Gospel."
— Saint Francis of Assisi, Testament, 14[18]
The Approval of Innocent III (1209-1210)
Francis founded nothing against the Church: as soon as he had a few companions, he wrote a brief form of life (propositum vitae), composed almost entirely of Gospel quotations, and went to Rome to submit it to the pope. Around 1209-1210, Innocent III gave oral approval to this primitive rule and authorized the brothers to preach penance. This was the legal birth certificate of the order: an evangelical fraternity recognized by the Apostolic See.[19][20]
This foundational obedience is a permanent trait of authentic Franciscanism: Francis did not want to reform the Church by opposing it, but by obeying it. This is the fundamental difference between him and the heterodox poverty movements of his time.
The Rule: from the propositum to the Regula bullata
The Franciscan order is one of the few that can say its Rule was written by its founder himself, and that it remains in force eight centuries later. But this Rule has a turbulent history.
The Regula non bullata (1221)
As the order grew—from a few companions to several thousand brothers in about ten years—the brief form of life of 1209 was no longer sufficient. In 1221, Francis had a more developed rule approved by the general chapter, rich in scriptural quotations and spiritual exhortations: the Regula non bullata ("non-sealed rule"), so called because it never received a papal bull. Too long and insufficiently juridical, it could not serve as a definitive canonical text.[21][22]
The Regula bullata (1223): Solet annuere
Francis then withdrew, on the advice of Cardinal Hugolin—protector of the order and future Pope Gregory IX—to Fonte Colombo, near Rieti, to rewrite a shorter and more canonical rule. This Regula bullata ("sealed rule"), in twelve chapters, was approved by the papal bull Solet annuere of Pope Honorius III on November 29, 1223. It is this Rule that still governs the Order of Friars Minor today and which every brother professes to observe.[23][24]
| Text | Date | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Propositum vitae (primitive rule) | circa 1209-1210 | Oral approval by Innocent III | A few Gospel verses |
| Regula non bullata (1st rule) | 1221 | Never sealed | Long, spiritual, little juridical |
| Regula bullata (2nd rule) | 1223 | Bull Solet annuere (Honorius III) | Definitive canonical text, 12 chapters |
| Testament | 1226 | Spiritual text, not legislative | Memorial and final exhortation |
The Testament of Saint Francis (1226)
A few months before his death, Francis dictated his Testament: not a new rule, but a burning spiritual memorial, in which he recalls the spirit of the origins and begs the brothers never to betray poverty, to keep the Gospel "without gloss," that is, without diluting it with accommodating commentaries.[25]
"Let the brothers beware of receiving in any way churches, dwellings, and all things built for them, if they are not in conformity with the holy poverty which we have promised in the Rule, remaining in them only as strangers and pilgrims."
— Saint Francis of Assisi, Testament (1226)[26]
The status of the Testament—simple exhortation or binding text?—would become one of the fracture points in the great poverty controversy. As early as 1230, by the bull Quo elongati (28 September 1230), Gregory IX would have to decide: the Testament does not have the force of law equal to the Rule.[27]
The Three Franciscan Orders
One of Francis's great innovations was to give rise not to a single order, but to a family with three branches, open to all states of life: religious brothers, religious sisters, and laypeople living in the world.
The First Order: the Friars Minor
The First Order gathers the brothers, clerics and laymen, living in community under the Rule of 1223. It is the trunk of the Franciscan tree, which later divided into three branches (Observants who became O.F.M., Conventuals, Capuchins). Its vocation: evangelical life in fraternity, poverty, preaching, and mission.
The Second Order: the Poor Ladies (Poor Clares)
The Second Order was born in 1212, when a young noblewoman from Assisi, Clare Offreduccio, fled her home on Palm Sunday night to dedicate herself to God in the hands of Francis at the Portiuncula. Settled at Saint Damian, she founded the order of the Poor Ladies, later called the Poor Clares. Whereas the brothers were itinerant, the Poor Clares lived in cloister, in absolute contemplative poverty. Clare obtained from Innocent III, then definitively from Innocent IV two days before her death (bull Solet annuere, 9 August 1253), the “privilege of poverty”: the right to possess no goods, neither income nor property — neither personally nor in common.[28]
A text of disputed authenticity — transmitted by the Franciscan chronicler Luke Wadding alone, in the 17th century, as a letter from Clare to Ermentrude of Bruges — exhorts to love God and the crucified Christ “with all one's heart” and to keep the memory of His Passion constantly before one's eyes.[29]
The Third Order: Franciscan laity and religious
Very soon, married laypeople, merchants, and artisans wished to share the Franciscan ideal without leaving the world. Francis gave them a rule of life, the Memoriale propositi (around 1221), founding the Third Order (today the Secular Franciscan Order, O.F.S.). These tertiaries committed themselves to penance, prayer, charity, and peace, while keeping their professions and families.[30][31]
The Third Order had immense influence: the order's tradition links to it saintly kings — Saint Louis IX of France and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, patroness of the Third Order — as well as popes, artists, and millions of ordinary faithful. Later appeared a Third Order Regular (T.O.R.), made up of religious brothers and sisters living in community under the third rule.
| Order | Founded | Members | Life | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Order | 1209-1223 | Friars Minor (clerics and laymen) | Evangelical life, poverty, preaching, mission | O.F.M., O.F.M. Conv., O.F.M. Cap. |
| Second Order | 1212 | Poor Clares (nuns) | Cloister, contemplative poverty | Poor Clares, Capuchin Poor Clares |
| Third Order | circa 1221 | Laity (and T.O.R. religious) | Evangelical life in the world | Secular Franciscan Order (O.F.S.) |
The Rapid Expansion and the First Generations
Unprecedented Growth
Few religious movements have experienced such rapid growth. From twelve companions in 1209, the order grew to several thousands of brothers before Francis’s death in 1226; the general chapter called the “Chapter of the Mats,” held at the Portiuncula at Pentecost 1220 or 1221, reportedly gathered several thousand brothers — the exact date and number remaining uncertain. By the end of the 13th century, the order counted tens of thousands of brothers, spread across provinces throughout Europe, and already in the East, North Africa, and as far as China.[32][33]
This very growth posed a formidable problem: how could a thousand then ten thousand brothers live the ideal of absolute poverty of a small Umbrian fraternity? Convents were needed, books for students, churches for preaching. The tension between the original ideal and the demands of a large order was present from the start.
Brother Elias and the Basilica of Assisi
Soon after Francis’s death, the order established institutions. Brother Elias of Cortona, a controversial minister general, launched the construction of the immense Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, a double church built one above the other housing the saint’s tomb, decorated by Cimabue and later Giotto. For some, this grand monument was the rightful glory of the founder; for others, it already betrayed the poverty that Francis had so loved. The debate was set.[34][35]
Saint Bonaventure, the “Second Founder”
The great regulatory figure was Saint Bonaventure (born circa 1217–1221 – 1274), minister general from 1257 to 1274. A brilliant theologian and Doctor of the Church (“the Seraphic Doctor”), he managed to hold together fidelity to the ideal and the necessities of a worldwide order. He wrote an official biography of Francis, the Legenda maior, and obtained at the Paris chapter (1266) that all previous lives be set aside in favor of his — a debated decision, but one that gave the order a unified memory. He has rightly been called the “second founder” of the order.[36][37]
The Great Franciscan Doctors
Within a few decades, the order gave the Church a host of saints and doctors who deeply marked theology, preaching, and holiness:
- Saint Anthony of Padua († 1231), extraordinary preacher and Doctor of the Church — proclaimed as such by Pius XII in 1946, with the title of “Evangelical Doctor” — the order’s first great master of theology;[38]
- Saint Bonaventure († 1274), the Seraphic Doctor, the pinnacle of Franciscan mysticism and theology;
- Blessed John Duns Scotus († 1308; beatified by John Paul II on 20 March 1993), the “Subtle Doctor,” great metaphysician and defender of the Immaculate Conception;
- William of Ockham († 1347), major philosopher, whose nominalism and engagement in the poverty controversy weighed heavily on the late Middle Ages.[39]
This Franciscan school developed an original theology, distinct from the Dominican and Thomist school: primacy of love (will) over intellect, absolute primacy of Christ (who would have incarnated even without sin, according to Duns Scotus), and early defense of the Immaculate Conception, long before its dogmatic definition in 1854.[40]
The Great Poverty Controversy
No crisis marked the order more deeply than the debate over poverty, which occupied the entire 14th century and nearly tore it apart.
Usus pauper: How far does poverty go?
The heart of the debate was one question: what does it concretely mean to “possess nothing” for an order of tens of thousands of friars? A subtle distinction was developed: the friars have neither ownership (dominium) nor possession, but only the simple use of the necessary goods — the ownership of the property belonging to the Holy See. The question remained whether this use had to be poor (usus pauper): beyond the lack of ownership rights, should the use itself be truly narrow and stripped down?[41][42]
Spirituals and Conventuals
Two currents clashed:
- the Spirituals (Spirituales or zelanti) — around Angelus Clareno, Ubertin of Casale, and the theologian Peter John Olivi — wanted the strictest and most literal observance of the Testament and primitive poverty;
- the Conventuals (the “Community”) — the majority — accepted a life more adapted to the needs of large convents, studies, and urban preaching.[43][44]
Exiit qui seminat (Nicholas III, 1279)
To soothe the conflict, Pope Nicholas III, former protector of the order, published in 1279 the bull Exiit qui seminat, a true theological charter of Franciscan poverty: it declared that the renunciation of all property, both communal and individual, in imitation of Christ and the apostles, is “meritorious and holy.” The ownership of the goods used by the friars was attributed to the Holy See, with the friars retaining only their use.[45][46][47]
John XXII and the Condemnation (1322-1329)
The balance shattered under John XXII (1316-1334), pope of Avignon. Considering the legal fiction of papal ownership untenable, he dismantled it by the bull Ad conditorem canonum (1322), restoring to the friars ownership of what they consumed. Then, by the bull Cum inter nonnullos of November 12, 1323, he took a decisive step and condemned as heretical the assertion that Christ and the apostles owned nothing, neither personally nor in common.[48][49]
“To obstinately affirm that Christ and the Apostles had nothing in their own right nor in common, we declare by this perpetual constitution, on the advice of our brothers, to be erroneous and heretical.” — John XXII, Cum inter nonnullos, November 12, 1323[50]
A part of the order, around Minister General Michael of Cesena and the philosopher William of Ockham, refused this condemnation and entered into open resistance, which earned John XXII the bull Quia vir reprobus (1329) against them. These rebellious friars took refuge with Emperor Louis of Bavaria, an adversary of the pope.[51][52]
The Fraticelli
On the margins of the order, some Spirituals broke with the Church and formed dissident groups, the Fraticelli (Fraticelli), who considered the condemnation of absolute poverty heretical and were themselves condemned. The poverty controversy left the order wounded, but the ideal of poverty did not die: it would periodically be reborn in the form of internal reforms demanding a return to primitive rigor.[53][54]
The Great Reforms and the Division of the Family
The history of the Franciscan order is marked by a pendulum movement: relaxation, then reform, then new relaxation, then new reform. From this movement arose the three male orders of today.
Observants and Conventuals (Leo X, 1517)
From the 14th century onward, groups of Observants (Fratres de Observantia) appeared, who wanted to observe the Rule in its rigor, opposed to the Conventuals, settled in large urban convents with a broader life. For a century, the two currents coexisted within the same order, under distinct superiors. Cohabitation became impossible. In 1517, Pope Leo X, by the bull Ite vos (Ite et vos in vineam meam), definitively separated the two families: the Observants became the order of the Friars Minor proper (with precedence and the title of minister general of the entire order), while the Conventuals (O.F.M. Conv.) formed a distinct order.[55][56]
The Capuchins (Clement VII, 1528)
A few years later, an Observant from the Marches, Matthias of Bascio (Matteo da Bascio), judged that even the observance was no longer faithful enough to the spirit of Francis. Around 1525, he undertook to return to the eremitical life, penance, and primitive poverty, and adopted the long pointed hood (cappuccio) which he believed conformed to Francis’s habit — hence the name Capuchins. With the support of the Duchess of Camerino, he obtained from Pope Clement VII approval by the bull Religionis zelus (1528).[57][58]
Long threatened with suppression, the Capuchins would become one of the great forces of the Catholic Counter-Reformation: popular preachers, confessors, missionaries, chaplains to plague victims and the poor. They form today one of the three male branches of the Franciscan family, whose detailed numbers are published each year in the Annuario Pontificio.[59]
The Leonine Unification (Leo XIII, 1897)
Over the centuries, the Observant family itself had subdivided into a multitude of branches: Reformed, Recollects, Discalced (Alcantarines). To end this fragmentation, Pope Leo XIII, by the bull Felicitate quadam of October 4, 1897 (Feast of Saint Francis), merged all these Observant congregations into a single Order of Friars Minor (O.F.M.), leaving the Capuchins and Conventuals their full independence.[60][61]
| Branch | Abbreviation | Origin | Founding Act |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friars Minor | O.F.M. | Observants (then union of 1897) | Ite vos (Leo X, 1517); Felicitate quadam (Leo XIII, 1897) |
| Friars Minor Conventual | O.F.M. Conv. | Conventuals | Separation by Ite vos (Leo X, 1517) |
| Friars Minor Capuchin | O.F.M. Cap. | Reform of Matthias of Bascio | Religionis zelus (Clement VII, 1528) |
Thus, since 1897, the First Franciscan Order comprises three autonomous orders — O.F.M., O.F.M. Conv., O.F.M. Cap. — all sons of Saint Francis, all bound by the same Rule of 1223, but with their own constitutions and governance.
Franciscan Influence
The Custody of the Holy Land
One of the most beautiful missions entrusted to the order is the guardianship of the Holy Places. By the papal bulls Gratiam agimus and Nuper charissimae of Pope Clement VI (1342), the Friars Minor officially received the charge, on behalf of the Catholic Church, to watch over the sanctuaries of the Holy Land — the Holy Sepulchre, the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and many others. This Custody of the Holy Land continues to this day, nearly seven centuries later: the Franciscans ensure worship, hospitality for pilgrims, and the Christian presence at the heart of the places of Redemption.[62]
The Missions
Francis’s itinerant spirit made the Friars Minor born missionaries. As early as 1219, Francis himself traveled to Egypt and met Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in Damietta, a bold gesture of dialogue and proclamation. By the 13th century, the friars had already reached China (John of Montecorvino, Archbishop of Beijing). Later, they would be on the front lines of evangelization in the Americas and Asia — not without debates, as in the missionary controversy that stirred the Church.
The Nativity Scene, the Way of the Cross, the Immaculate Conception
The order has left a lasting mark on Catholic popular piety:
- the Nativity scene: it was Francis who, at Greccio, on Christmas night 1223, staged the first living nativity to make the poverty of the Nativity “seen with the eyes of the body”;[63]
- the Way of the Cross (Via Crucis) in its current form was widely spread by the Franciscans, guardians of the Holy Places, notably by Saint Leonard of Port Maurice (1676–1751) in the 18th century;[64]
- the defense of the Immaculate Conception, championed by Duns Scotus and the Franciscan school, paved the way for the dogmatic definition of 1854.[65]
Franciscan Spirituality in Brief
The full dossier on Franciscan spirituality is the subject of the article Franciscan spirituality. Here we recall the three traits that define the soul of the order.
Conformity to the Poor and Crucified Christ: the Stigmata
All of Francis’s spirituality tends toward one goal: to become conformable to Christ, even in His Passion. This conformity received an extraordinary seal. In September 1224, on Mount La Verna, during a vision of a crucified seraph, Francis received in his flesh the stigmata — the five wounds of Christ. He is the first case of stigmatization documented by contemporary witnesses in the history of the Church. The Friars Minor would always bear this mark as the emblem of their order: to follow the Crucified Love — it is this Giotto fresco that opens the infobox of this article.[66][67]
Universal Brotherhood: the Canticle of the Creatures
Francis’s love for Christ blossomed into a love for all creation, seen as one great family where the sun is “brother,” the moon and water are “sisters.” Shortly before his death, nearly blind and suffering, he composed in Umbrian Italian the Canticle of the Creatures (or Canticle of Brother Sun, around 1224-1225), one of the first masterpieces of the Italian language and a pinnacle of Christian praise:
“Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who brings us the day and the light; he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor, and bears a likeness of You, the Most High. Praised be You, my Lord, for Sister Moon and the stars... for Brother Wind... for our Sister Water, who is very useful and humble, precious and chaste... for our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape.”
— Saint Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Creatures (circa 1225)[68]
This cosmic brotherhood is never pantheism: for Francis, creatures are not God, they point to God; they are man’s brothers and sisters because they share the same Creator and Father. The Canticle is a praise, addressed to the Most High, not a worship of nature.
Franciscan Joy
The third trait is joy — that spiritual gladness bursting forth in the Fioretti, where Francis teaches Brother Leo what “perfect joy” consists of: not in success, knowledge, or miracles, but in the humble and patient acceptance of contempt, suffering, and rejection, out of love for Christ. The Friars Minor were nicknamed the “jongleurs of God” (joculatores Domini), joyful singers of the Kingdom.[69]
The Franciscan Order Today
Eight centuries after the Portiuncula, the Franciscan family remains one of the largest in the entire Church. The First Order is divided into three autonomous branches, whose detailed numbers are published each year in the Annuario Pontificio and which together make it one of the largest religious bodies in Catholicism:[70]
- the Friars Minor (O.F.M.);
- the Capuchins (O.F.M. Cap.);
- the Conventuals (O.F.M. Conv.).
To this First Order are added thousands of Poor Clares spread throughout the world, the Third Order Regular (T.O.R.), and especially the vast Secular Franciscan Order (O.F.S.), which gathers hundreds of thousands of laypeople living Francis’s ideal worldwide.
The most visible sign of this vitality was, in 2013, the choice of a pope — the first in history — to take the name Francis in homage to the Poverello of Assisi, placing his pontificate under the dual sign of poverty and universal fraternity. Eight centuries later, the intuition of a young merchant from Assisi who wished to “live according to the form of the holy Gospel” continues to speak to the whole world.
And in the silence of convents as well as on the roads of missions, tens of thousands of brothers and sisters still live faithfully what Francis summed up in one phrase — the greeting Franciscans have exchanged for eight hundred years: Pax et bonum, “peace and good.”
To Learn More
- The Foundation of the Franciscans — the detailed account of the order’s birth, from Francis’s conversion to papal approval.
- Saint Francis of Assisi — the life of the founder, the Poverello of Assisi.
- Saint Clare of Assisi — the foundress of the Poor Ladies (Poor Clares), the Second Order.
- Franciscan Spirituality — the dossier on Franciscan mysticism: poverty, stigmata, fraternity, joy.
- Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Bonaventure — the two great doctors of the order.
- Sanctuary of Assisi — the basilica and Franciscan sites in Assisi.
- Cistercian Order and Carthusian Order — the great contemplative monastic families of the previous century.
- The Foundation of the Dominicans — the other great mendicant order, born at the same time.
- The History of Religious Orders — to place the Franciscans within the great religious flourishing of the Church.
Notes and References
General reading guide: “Order of Friars Minor,” Wikipédia (French), consulted June 2026 — used here as a simple reading outline. No precise fact in the article rests on this source alone: each is sourced to its dedicated note (Regula bullata, Testament, bulls, Catholic Encyclopedia by section, Thomas of Celano, Bonaventure).
1 5 8 12 16 19 22 31 34 56 58 61“Order of Friars Minor,” Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent (newadvent.org/cathen/06281a.htm): history of the order since Francis of Assisi (verbal sanction by Innocent III, 1209); nature of the mendicant order; ideal of poverty; the three orders; generalate of Elias of Cortona and Basilica of Assisi; role of Saint Bonaventure; poverty controversy (Spirituals — Olivi, Clareno, Ubertin — and Conventuals, Exiit qui seminat, John XXII, Fraticelli); reforms (Observants, Conventuals, Capuchins); missions and expansion (East, North Africa, China).
2 6 7 9 11 20 33 35 37 39 44 47 54 67The Regula non bullata (1221) and the Regula bullata (1223), in twelve chapters, approved by the bull Solet annuere of Honorius III on 29 November 1223. Ch. I (incipit): “Regula et vita Minorum fratrum haec est, scilicet Domini nostri Jesu Christi sanctum Evangelium observare vivendo in obedientia, sine proprio et in castitate”; ch. VI: “Fratres nihil sibi approprient, nec domum nec locum nec aliquam rem. Et tanquam peregrini et advenae in hoc saeculo, in paupertate et humilitate Domino famulantes, vadant pro eleemosyna confidenter...”. Latin text after K. Esser, Die Opuscula des hl. Franziskus von Assisi, critical edition, Grottaferrata, 1976; the English quotations in the body are its translation.
3 14 15 21 24Bull Solet annuere (Honorius III, November 29, 1223), approving the Regula bullata of the Friars Minor; cf. capucin.org (“Celebration of the anniversary of the promulgation of the Regula Bullata”) and centenarifrancescani.org: this 1223 rule still governs the order today and each friar professes to observe it.
4 23General reading guide: “Franciscan Spirituals,” Wikipédia (French), consulted June 2026 — used here as a simple reading outline. Precise facts are sourced to their dedicated notes: scope of the Testament and Quo elongati, usus pauper and Exiit qui seminat, Cum inter nonnullos, Quia vir reprobus, Fraticelli and Conventuals.
10 41 43 46 49 52 53Catholic Encyclopedia, art. “St. Francis of Assisi” (New Advent): “Francis himself being ordained deacon later on” — Francis, tonsured at Rome with his companions, received only the diaconate; the same article links the name Fratres minores to humility (“as a perpetual reminder of their humility”).
13Thomas of Celano, Vita prima sancti Francisci (written in 1228–1229 at the request of Gregory IX): conversion of the cloth merchant's son, renunciation before the bishop of Assisi, restoration of ruined chapels including the Portiuncula, and the decisive hearing of the mission sending (Matthew 10) in 1208.
17Saint Francis of Assisi, Testament (dictated in 1226, shortly before his death), Test. 14: “Et postquam Dominus dedit mihi de fratribus, nemo ostendebat mihi, quid deberem facere, sed ipse Altissimus revelavit mihi, quod deberem vivere secundum formam sancti Evangelii” — hence the English quotation in the body (“the Most High Himself revealed to me that I should live according to the form of the holy Gospel”); the same Testament contains the warning on the poverty of places and churches, hence the second quotation in the body. Latin text after K. Esser, Die Opuscula des hl. Franziskus von Assisi, critical edition, Grottaferrata, 1976 (Test. 14, p. 439). Memorial text dictated at the end of life; its legal scope was limited by Gregory IX (Quo elongati, 1230).
18 25 26Bull Quo elongati (Gregory IX, 28 September 1230): first papal declaration interpreting the Rule; it rules that Francis's Testament, drawn up without the consent of the brothers, has no value as a binding norm for the order (it binds spiritually, not canonically).
27The “privilege of poverty”: Catholic Encyclopedia, art. “Poor Clares” (New Advent) — Clare “petitioned Innocent III for the "privilege" of absolute poverty, not merely for the individual members but for the community as a whole”; art. “St. Clare of Assisi” — two days before her death, Innocent IV solemnly confirmed the definitive Rule of the Poor Clares (bull Solet annuere, 9 August 1253), securing for them the treasure of the poverty embraced since her conversion.
28Text known as the “letter to Ermentrude of Bruges”: known only through the transmission of Luke Wadding, Annales Minorum (17th century), without ancient attestation; for lack of which most historians dispute its authenticity (cf. C. M. Mooney, Clare of Assisi and the Thirteenth-Century Church), while including it with reservations in several editions of Clare's writings (R. J. Armstrong (ed.), Clare of Assisi: Early Documents). The passage in the body is a paraphrase of it, presented as such: it cannot be attributed with certainty to Saint Clare and is not quoted here as her words.
29Franciscan Third Order: the Memoriale propositi fratrum et sororum de Poenitentia (circa 1221) serves as the rule of life for lay Franciscan penitents, origin of the Third Order (today the Secular Franciscan Order, O.F.S.); cf. Catholic Encyclopedia, “Third Orders,” and Wikipédia “Secular Franciscan Order.” The order's tradition links to it Saint Louis IX and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary — the latter, patroness of the Third Order, venerated there as the model of tertiaries.
30The “Chapter of the Mats”: Catholic Encyclopedia, art. “St. Francis of Assisi” — assembly held at the Portiuncula at Pentecost 1220 or 1221 (“there is seemingly much room for doubt as to the exact date”), about five thousand brothers present and some five hundred postulants; hence the cautious wording used in the body.
32Saint Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church: proclaimed as such by Pius XII on 16 January 1946 (apostolic letter Exulta, Lusitania felix), who attributed to him the title of Doctor evangelicus on account of the evangelical richness of his Sermons. Cf. Catholic Encyclopedia, “St. Anthony of Padua,” and Wikipedia.
38Blessed John Duns Scotus († 1308), “Subtle Doctor”: great Franciscan metaphysician, defender of the Immaculate Conception (through the notion of preservative redemption) and of the absolute primacy of Christ (incarnation foreseen independently of sin). Beatified by John Paul II on 20 March 1993, who called him “singer of the incarnate Word and defender of the Immaculate Conception.” The Franciscan school (Bonaventure, Scotus) emphasizes love and will in contrast to Thomistic intellectualism. Cf. Catholic Encyclopedia, “John Duns Scotus,” and Wikipedia.
40 65Bull Exiit qui seminat (Nicholas III, August 14, 1279): theological charter of Franciscan poverty; it declares meritorious and holy the renunciation of all property, both communal and individual, in imitation of Christ and the apostles, and assigns ownership of the goods used by the friars to the Holy See. Cf. Catholic Encyclopedia, “Order of Friars Minor,” and Wikipedia “Franciscan Spirituals.”
42 45Bull Cum inter nonnullos (John XXII, November 12, 1323): apostolic constitution declaring erroneous and heretical the obstinate assertion that Christ and the apostles possessed nothing, neither personally nor in common. Preceded by Ad conditorem canonum (1322), which restored to the brothers ownership of consumed goods. Latin text (incipit “Cum inter nonnullos viros scholasticos...”); the English quotation in the body is its translation.
48 50Bull Quia vir reprobus (John XXII, 1329), the pope’s response to the objections of Michael of Cesena, deposed minister general, and his supporters (including William of Ockham), who refused the condemnation of absolute poverty and sought refuge with Emperor Louis of Bavaria. Cf. Wikipedia “Franciscan Spirituals” and “William of Ockham.”
51Bull Ite vos (Ite et vos in vineam meam) (Leo X, 1517): definitively separates the Friars Minor of the Observance (who receive the title and precedence of “Order of Friars Minor”) from the Conventual Friars Minor (O.F.M. Conv.), now a distinct order. Cf. Wikipedia “Order of Friars Minor” and “History of the Franciscan Orders.”
55Bull Religionis zelus (Clement VII, 1528): approves the reform begun around 1525 by Matthew of Bascio (Matteo da Bascio) with the support of the Duchess of Camerino; the birth of the Capuchins (O.F.M. Cap.). Cf. ofmcap.org (“Religionis zelus 1528,” “History of the Capuchins”) and Wikipedia “Capuchin Friars Minor,” “Matthew of Bascio.”
57The First Order today: the three male branches (O.F.M., O.F.M. Cap., O.F.M. Conv.) form three autonomous orders; their detailed numbers, which vary from year to year, are published each year in the Annuario Pontificio and are not given here. In addition are the Poor Clares, the Third Order Regular (T.O.R.) and the Secular Franciscan Order (O.F.S.).
59 70Bull Felicitate quadam (Leo XIII, October 4, 1897): merges the various congregations of the Observance (Observants, Reformed, Recollects, Discalced/Alcantarines) into a single Order of Friars Minor (O.F.M.), leaving Capuchins and Conventuals independent; Leonine constitutions approved May 15, 1897. Cf. laportelatine.org (text of the constitution) and Wikipedia “Recollect Friars Minor,” “History of the Franciscan Orders.”
60Custody of the Holy Land: by the bulls Gratiam agimus and Nuper charissimae of Clement VI (1342), the Friars Minor received official guardianship of the Holy Places on behalf of the Catholic Church. The Custody continues today (worship, pilgrim hospitality, Christian presence). The title of the first bull is given as “Gratiam agimus” by the Catholic Encyclopedia (art. “Knights of the Holy Sepulchre”) and the Library of Congress; some secondary publications write “Gratias agimus” and “Nuper carissimae”. Cf. custodia.org (the Custody, founded in 1342). See also the missions for missionary outreach.
62The Greccio crib (Christmas 1223): Thomas of Celano, Vita prima sancti Francisci (written in 1228–1229 at the request of Gregory IX), recounts how Francis had the birth of the Child of Bethlehem represented at Greccio during midnight Mass “to see with the eyes of the body” His destitution — hence the English quotation in the body. Cf. EWTN and Catholic World Report (“St. Francis and the story of the first Nativity scene”).
63Saint Leonard of Port Maurice (1676–1751), Friar Minor: great promoter of the Way of the Cross, which he erected at the Colosseum and in more than five hundred other places throughout Italy. Cf. Catholic Encyclopedia, “St. Leonard of Port Maurice” (New Advent), and catholicireland.net.
64The Stigmata of La Verna: in September 1224, on Mount La Verna (Alvernia), Francis received, during a vision of a crucified seraph, the five wounds of Christ. Account in Thomas of Celano (Vita prima) and Bonaventure (Legenda maior, ch. XIII). Cf. Catholic Encyclopedia, “St. Francis of Assisi.” Historians hold it to be the first documented case of the phenomenon — “first recorded occurrence” (Catholic Review), “first known case” (National Catholic Register), the only stigmatization celebrated liturgically (17 September).
66Saint Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Creatures (Cantico di Frate Sole, circa 1224-1225), composed in Umbrian Italian, partly at Saint Damian. English text based on eglise.catholique.fr (“The Canticle of Brother Sun”) and franciscain.org; according to the tradition reported by Thomas of Celano, Francis composed it during his illness, almost blind, shortly before his death. “Praised be You, my Lord, for Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, Sister our Mother the Earth, those who forgive, and Sister Bodily Death.”
68The “perfect joy”: Fioretti di san Francesco (The Little Flowers of St. Francis, 14th-century collection), ch. VIII, where Francis teaches Brother Leo that perfect joy consists in enduring contempt, cold, and rebuffs out of love for Christ. The brothers are called joculatores Domini, “juggler-players of the Lord.” A late collection of Franciscan tradition, to be cited as such.
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