The Poverello: Life of Saint Francis of Assisi
Francesco Bernardone was born around 1181 in Assisi, the son of Pietro di Bernardone, a prosperous cloth merchant, and his wife Pica, of French descent. [1] Raised in affluence, he earned the nickname "Francesco" ("the Frenchman") as a youth and aspired to a knightly career. The turning point came through a series of mystical encounters between 1205 and 1208 that fundamentally reoriented his life. [2]
Following imprisonment after the Battle of Collestrada (1202) and a prolonged illness, Francis experienced a vision at the abandoned Church of San Damiano in which Christ commanded him: "Francis, go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin." [2] Interpreting this literally at first, he began physically rebuilding dilapidated local churches. His public repudiation of his father before Bishop Guido II of Assisi in 1206 — returning all his possessions and clothes — marked his irrevocable embrace of radical poverty.
In 1209, Francis composed a simple Rule based on Gospel texts on poverty and mission, gaining verbal approval from Pope Innocent III. He established the Order of Friars Minor ("little brothers"), followed by the Second Order (Poor Ladies, led by Saint Clare) in 1212, and the Third Order for laypeople in 1221. [2]
In September 1224, in a forty-day fast on Mount La Verna in the Apennines, Francis received the first historically documented stigmata of the Christian tradition — the five wounds of Christ appearing in his hands, feet, and side. [3] His final years were marked by severe physical suffering, including near-total blindness from trachoma. He died at the Portiuncula chapel on October 3, 1226, having asked to be laid naked on the bare earth in imitation of his crucified Lord.
| Period | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| c. 1181 | Birth in Assisi | Son of wealthy cloth merchant Pietro di Bernardone. |
| 1202 | Captured at Collestrada | One year imprisoned in Perugia; illness triggers conversion. |
| 1206 | Public renunciation of father | Strips off clothing before Bishop; embraces radical poverty. |
| 1209 | Papal oral approval of Rule | Pope Innocent III approves the first Franciscan Rule. |
| 1219–1220 | Mission to Sultan al-Kamil | Travels to Damietta, Egypt during the Fifth Crusade to preach peace. |
| 1224 | Receives the Stigmata | First historically documented stigmata, received at La Verna. |
| Oct 3, 1226 | Death at Portiuncula | Dies naked on bare earth; canonized two years later. |
The Gospel Literally Lived
The spiritual program of Francis of Assisi was defined by a single, radical ambition: to live the Gospel sine glossa (without gloss), without canonical qualifications, without financial security, and without institutional compromise. [2] His theology was not academic but experiential. He spoke of Lady Poverty as a bride, of Brother Sun and Sister Moon as family members, and of all creation as a transparency of the divine. [4]
Central to his spirituality was the concept of minoritas (littleness), which is why his community was the "Minor" Friars rather than "Major." [2] All social status, economic security, and ecclesiastical privilege were to be surrendered to occupy the lowest rung of medieval society. His theology of incarnation was radical and sensory: he is credited with inventing the first Christmas crèche at Greccio in 1223. [5]
The Canticle of the Creatures (1225), composed while nearly blind and in severe physical pain, is one of the oldest surviving texts in the Italian vernacular. [4] It inaugurated a sacramental theology of creation — the entire natural world as a vehicle for praising God — and provided the theological basis for Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical Laudato Si'.
Wonders, Legends & Artistic Tradition
Francis is associated with numerous wonders documented in the Legenda Maior of Saint Bonaventure and the Fioretti di San Francesco (Little Flowers of Saint Francis). [2] The most famous is the taming of the Wolf of Gubbio, who had been terrorizing the town — Francis negotiated a peace between the wolf and the townspeople, agreeing to feed it in exchange for protection. [6]
Other renowned accounts include his sermon to the birds at Bevagna, in which swallows, doves, and larks reportedly gathered and remained still while he preached. [6] The stigmata of 1224 stand as the most historically documented miracle of his life, attested by Brother Leo, his confessor, who examined the wounds and wrote the earliest first-hand account. [3]
Iconography
- The Tau Cross: His distinctive mark; he used this ancient cross shape as his signature.
- The Brown Habit and Rope Girdle: Three-knotted rope representing Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience.
- The Stigmata: Depicted with visible wounds in hands, feet, and pierced side.
- Birds and Animals: Frequently surrounded by birds perching on his outstretched arms.
- The Wolf of Gubbio: A wolf at his feet in art representing his mastery of nature through divine love.
Scholarly Debates & Misconceptions
The Poverty Controversy (Franciscan Split)
The most significant controversy spawned by Francis's legacy was the Franciscan poverty debate. [2] The order split between the "Spirituals" (Fraticelli), who insisted on absolute poverty and saw any institutional compromise as apostasy, and the "Conventuals," who believed institutional organization and property were necessary for the order's mission. Popes John XXII and Nicholas III issued contradictory papal bulls on the question.
The "Eco-Saint" Projection
Pope John Paul II named Francis the patron saint of ecology in 1979. Some historians argue that retrofitting the 21st-century concept of ecology onto a 13th-century mystic risks distorting his message. [4] His love for creation was fundamentally sacramental and theocentric, not a proto-environmentalist movement for its own sake.
The Mission to the Sultan
Historians debate whether Francis intended to convert Sultan Malik al-Kamil or achieve martyrdom. [7] The Sultan received him with hospitality and reportedly gave him an ivory horn. Modern interreligious scholars like John Tolan and Paul Moses present this encounter as a pioneering act of nonviolent dialogue during an era of Crusade warfare.
Archival Sources & Scholarly Library
Francis left a small but precious literary legacy: two Rules, the Testamentum (1226), the Canticle of the Creatures, and approximately 28 letters and admonitions. [2] The critical collection was compiled by Kajetan Esser OFM in 1976. The three main hagiographies are the Vita Prima and Vita Secunda by Thomas of Celano, and the Legenda Maior by Saint Bonaventure.
Francis of Assisi: A New Biography [2]
Augustine Thompson OP (Cornell University Press, 2012)
The most rigorously documented modern academic biography, using only contemporary sources.
Francis and the Sultan [7]
Paul Moses (Oxford University Press, 2009)
Definitive study of the Damietta encounter and its significance for interreligious dialogue.