1182
Assisi, Italy
October 3, 1226
Portiuncula, Italy
Founder of the Franciscan Order
"Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor, Of You Most High, he bears the likeness."
—Francis of Assisi, "Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon of St. Francis of Assisi." Catholic Online. http://www.catholic.org/clife/prayers/prayers.php?section_id=41&name=Saint%20Prayers.
An Italian of the Middle Ages, Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscans, an important religious order (group) that bears his name. Untrained and not even a priest when he set out on his itinerant (wandering) preaching in the early thirteenth century, Francis wanted to reform the church and bring it more in line with the needs of the common people. Born to a rich family, he gave up his personal wealth and formed a small group of followers who lived a simple lifestyle and preached about nature and the birds and animals of the forest as if they communicated with them. In 1210 Francis and his followers gained the approval and recognition of the pope, Innocent III (see entry).
Francis wanted to take his message of love and peace to the Islamic world, preaching to the Moors, or North African Muslims living in Spain. He also attempted to make a truce between battling Christians and Muslims during the Fifth Crusade (1218–21), crossing enemy lines to speak with the leader of the Egyptian forces, Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil (see entry). Although he did not convert to Christianity, the sultan was impressed with Francis's honesty and devotion and allowed him to return unharmed to the Crusader camp. Francis was loved by many, but he also was feared by those who were suspicious of his emphasis on simplicity. In 1126, only two years after his death, Francis of Assisi was canonized, or made a saint of the Catholic Church.
Five Pillars of Islam
Francis of Assisi tried to convert Sultan al-Kamil to Christianity, but the sultan was also interested in converting the Christian to his religion of Islam. In fact, during the Crusades, one way for prisoners to escape death was to convert to the religion of their captor. The basic tenets, or principles, of Islam—called the Five Pillars of Islam—are organized in five groups.
First, a Muslim must make a shahadah, a statement of belief in Allah, the Muslim God, and in Muhammad, as the prophet of Allah. Second are the salah, the prayers that a faithful Muslim recites five times a day. Since there are no priests in the Islamic religion, these prayers form a direct link between the believer and Allah. Prayers are said at dawn, midday, late afternoon, sunset, and nightfall, thus setting the rhythm for the entire day. Recited in Arabic, these prayers are chosen from the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an, known in English as the Koran. A typical prayer goes:
God is Great. God is Great. God is Great. God is Great. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God. I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God. I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God. Come to prayer! Come to prayer! Come to success! Come to success! God is Great! God is Great! There is none worthy of worship except God.
The third concept is the zakah, which means "purification" or "growth." This is a donation of a part of one's income to charity in order to teach that wealth is not the most important thing in life. The fourth tenet is sawm, or fasting, which involves eating nothing between sunset and sunrise during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The fifth and final pillar is the hajj, a pilgrimage, or spiritual journey, to the Muslim holy city of Mecca for those who are physically able to do so. More than two million Muslims make this pilgrimage each year.
Ironically, many of these same beliefs—praying, fasting, and giving away part of one's wealth—were exactly what Saint Francis was preaching. The Christians and Muslims who fought each other during the Crusades had (and still have) much in common in terms of the basic beliefs of their separate religions.
From Riches to Rags
Francis of Assisi's life turned the romantic "rags to riches" tale on its head. Born Giovanni Bernardone, Francis gave up his family fortune to serve what he saw as the will of God. Still, he achieved more than riches in his lifetime; his fame spread far and wide, and he remains one of the best-known and best-loved saints of the Catholic Church, inspiring hundreds of books and several motion pictures. His father, Pietro Bernardone, was among the richest men in the city of Assisi, located in central Italy, where Giovanni was born in 1182. The father, a cloth merchant, was traveling on business in France when his first son was born, and he did not much care for the name his wife had chosen for their son, after the biblical John the Baptist. Pietro wanted a practical child who would follow him into business, not someone who might go into the church. He gave his son the nickname "Francesco" ("Francis" in English), a reminder of Pietro's trip to France at the time of the boy's birth.
Being the first son, Francis was spoiled by his parents. He was more interested in having a good time than in studying. His father taught him French, which was the international language of business at the time, and it is thought that Francis also traveled with his father on business trips to other countries. In addition, the young boy learned Latin, which was the language of the universities and the church. Francis, however, was never a good writer; as an adult he would dictate letters for others to write down and then sign them with a cross. A happy youth, he had many friends and gathered around him a similarly fun-loving crowd—mostly nobles and children of the wealthy—that enjoyed a good party and singing. By day he worked in his father's cloth store and proved to be a good salesman. Francis also had dreams of becoming a knight, or professional soldier, riding a fine horse and being elevated to the ranks of the nobility, for though his family was wealthy, it was not aristocratic. Perhaps in war he could prove himself. He dreamed of becoming "Sir Francis."
He had his chance for military glory in 1202, when Assisi and its rival city, Perugia, went to war. That year Francis fought at the Battle of Ponte San Giovanni and was taken prisoner. He was lucky to survive, since most of the force from Assisi had been wiped out in the battle. He was thrown in prison, not with the common foot soldiers but rather with nobles who had been captured. Still, his imprisonment was not an easy one, for he was chained to a dungeon wall for a year. In 1203 his freedom was finally bought, and he returned to his home in Assisi, where he fell ill for many weeks. When he finally recovered, he had not lost his desire to become a knight.
Next, he took up his sword in the service of Pope Innocent III, who was battling the princes of Germany over the successor to the throne of the German kingdom, or the Holy Roman Empire, as this loose association of German states was called. The leader of that empire thought of himself as the leader of Europe, but the pope also saw himself in that role. This rivalry always caused conflict, and now Francis was going to take part in it too.
A Dream Changes Francis's Life
Francis had been away from Assisi for only one day when he had a dream that changed the direction of his life. While staying at an inn in the town of Spoleto, he dreamed that God told him that the military life was not the way for him to live the good life. Instead of serving a military commander, he should serve the Lord. Francis returned to Assisi in a state of confusion. Unsure what to do, he began visiting the churches of the city and praying. In 1206 he again heard the voice of God telling him to repair a small church in Assisi, which he did, seeing it as his new mission in life. He took money from his father's business to repair the church. His father was angered and took his son before the bishop, or regional church official, demanding that Francis return the money, which he did. Then he also took off all the clothes his father had given him, leaving on only a simple shirt. Francis said he now had only one father—namely, God.
Francis took a vow, or promise, of poverty and began begging for food and shelter. This was at first amusing to the citizens of Assisi and embarrassing for his wealthy father, but Francis was convinced that this was what God had planned for him. While he continued to repair old churches, the meaning of the message he had received suddenly became clear to him during Mass (Catholic church service) one day. God did not mean for him to rebuild churches with stone and mortar but to reform the institution of the church by preaching the truth of Jesus and caring for the sick. Francis followed the exact words of the Bible and went out to spread the word of God and Jesus Christ in a simple, direct manner. He did not threaten the common people with damnation or a miserable after life in hell, nor did he criticize the wealth of powerful Catholic officials. His was a simple message announcing the joy one could find in Christianity if only one had faith. Soon followers came to Francis, and he formed a small group of the faithful, who called themselves Franciscans.
Francis had never been to a university or studied theology (religious faith and practice). He simply found his calling by preaching to the common people. However, he also wanted official recognition for his group. Tradition has it that in 1210 Francis took matters into his own hands and traveled to Rome to request an audience, or formal visit, with the pope. When Francis came before Innocent III he was almost thrown out because he looked like a tramp. The pope listened to him and then sent him away. That night the pope dreamed of a little man in rags, like Francis, who saved his church from collapsing. The next day Innocent III sent for Francis and gave him official permission to preach. Francis's example encouraged others not only to join his Franciscan order but to begin new ones as well. From Assisi came another child of the wealthy who decided to give up riches in exchange for a life devoted to the church. This religious follower was a young woman named Clare, whom Francis met and inspired. She ultimately went on to form the women's order of the Poor Clares.
Taking the Message to the "Heathens"
As membership in his new order spread throughout Italy—including the towns of Perugia, Pisa, and Florence—Francis decided that he wanted to deliver his message to the larger world, to preach the Bible to the Muslims. In 1212 he set sail for the Holy Land, but when his ship encountered bad weather, he had to return to Italy. In 1214 he set off for Spain to preach to the Muslim Moors who lived there. Again he was unsuccessful, for illness made him cut short his journey and return to Italy. Finally, during the Fifth Crusade, he found an opportunity to spread his message of peace and harmony.
In 1219 the Crusader forces were trying to attack Muslim strongholds in Egypt. It was thought that if they could first destroy the power of Islam in that region, they could move on to the Holy Land in Palestine and liberate Jerusalem, considered a holy city in Christianity. The two armies were fighting over control of the city of Damietta, which was located at the mouth of the Nile River and blocked access to the upriver journey to Cairo, the Crusaders' ultimate target. However, the city of Damietta held off the Crusaders, who were being led by the pope's aide, Pelagius. Al-Kamil, the Egyptian sultan, or leader, and his forces were battling the Crusaders from outside the city walls at their own camp.
For more than a year the two sides fought, with men dying on both sides. In August 1219 Francis arrived in the Crusader camp. As James M. Powell has noted in his Anatomy of a Crusade, 1213–1221, Francis "came not to cheer on the discouraged Christian army or to fight the heathen [people who do not acknowledge God and the Bible], but on a mission of peace." Francis had a vision announcing the defeat of the Crusaders at an upcoming battle. In his sermon to the troops he predicted this defeat. On August 29 Francis's vision came true, for the Crusaders were drawn into a trap and suffered heavy losses. Sultan al-Kamil proposed a truce following this defeat, and it was then that Francis saw his opportunity to speak with the Muslims.
Francis was mistaken for a messenger sent from the Crusaders to respond to the proposed truce. He was taken to the sultan and attempted to preach the truth of Christianity to him. The sultan brought into his tent his own religious advisers, who urged him to kill Francis. Al-Kamil, impressed by Francis's honesty and bravery, instead showered him with gifts and sent him safely back to the Crusader camp. Francis had attempted to achieve the final goal of the Crusades—freeing the Holy Land from Muslim control—by converting the Muslims rather than by defeating them in battle. As Powell has noted, this was the beginning "of the long-term commitment of the Franciscan order to missions among the Moslems, and especially to the custody of the Holy Places."
Francis Returns to Italy
Francis's last years were spent in Italy, where his order by that time included thousands of new followers. Earlier,his personality had held the members together, but they now needed rules to live by. Francis insisted that the primary rule of the order be to live in poverty. He did not want to eliminate poverty but instead to make it holy. The houses of the order had to be plain, and friars, as the members were called, were to wear only a robe tied with a cord. If it was really cold, then shoes were permitted. In 1223 he presented the new rule of the order to Honorius III, the pope in Rome; in fact, some of the emphasis on simplicity was left out of the document the pope approved. The new members of the Franciscan order wanted to adopt a more intellectual approach to their work. In the future the Franciscans would become less known as happy friars wandering the countryside and preaching God's love than as an order associated with learning, whose members became teachers at the great universities of the Middle Ages.
Francis, however, was determined to continue living the simple life and returned to Assisi, where he spent more and more time alone and in prayer. While praying at a mountain chapel north of the city, it is said that he showed signs of the stigmata, the wounds that Christ suffered on the cross. His hands, feet, and side began to bleed in the exact places where nails and a soldier's spear had pierced Christ's body during the Crucifixion, or death on the cross. Francis was marked by these wounds for the rest of his life. Some modern historians say that these wounds may have been signs of leprosy, a disfiguring skin disease, for Francis had worked closely with lepers and other people with diseases throughout his life.
Francis's health was failing. Although he was only in his forties, his life of poverty and serving others had taken its toll. He died in 1226 and was buried in Assisi. Following his death the legend of Francis continued to grow, and he was made a saint in 1228. Assisi still attracts large numbers of tourists who want to see the home of this famous saint, known for his fondness for life and nature and for his devotion to a simple life of peace and love. Francis was the first Christian to carry this message to the Holy Land as a possible alternative to the violence of the Crusades.
For More Information
Books
Bishop, Morris. Saint Francis of Assisi. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974.
Green, Julien. God's Fool: The Life and Times of Francis of Assisi. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987.
House, Adrian. Francis of Assisi: A Revolutionary Life. Mahwah, NJ: HiddenSpring, 2001.
Powell, James M. Anatomy of a Crusade, 1213–1221. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986.
Spoto, Donald. Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi. New York: Viking Compass, 2002.
Web Sites
"Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon of St. Francis of Assisi." Catholic Online.http://www.catholic.org/clife/prayers/prayers.php?section_id=41&name=Saint%20Prayers (accessed on July 21, 2004).
"Fifth Crusade." The ORB: On-line Reference Book for Medieval Studies.http://the-orb.net/textbooks/crusade/fifthcru.html (accessed on July 21, 2004).
"St. Francis of Assisi." Catholic Online.http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=50 (accessed on July 21, 2004).
"St. Francis of Assisi." New Advent.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm (accessed on July 21, 2004).
"The Testament of St. Francis." Internet Medieval Sourcebook.http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/stfran-test.html (accessed on July 21, 2004).
