How a wealthy merchant's rejection of luxury created a global religious movement
In 1209, a young man from a prosperous Italian family abandoned his inheritance to live as a beggar. This radical act of poverty birthed the Franciscans, an order that grew from a small group of eleven companions to a massive, multi-branched organization that still shapes the Catholic Church today.
The Franciscan movement began with Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone, born in Assisi around 1181 or 1182. The son of a wealthy cloth merchant, Francis famously renounced his family's riches to pursue a life of apostolic poverty, adopting the simple tunic of the peasantry [S1:p6, S3:p7]. This commitment was codified in a rule approved by Pope Innocent III in 1209, which originally prohibited any form of property ownership, requiring friars to survive solely through preaching and begging [S1:p3].
As the movement expanded, internal tensions emerged regarding how strictly to observe these ascetic ideals. While the original rule was extremely austere, a 1223 revision relaxed some requirements, leading to significant schisms within the order [S1:p4]. These disputes eventually split the movement into distinct branches. The First Order includes the Friars Minor (OFM), the Conventuals (OFM Conv.), and the Capuchins (OFM Cap.), each with different emphases on the Rule of Saint Francis [S1:p4, S1:p10, S1:p11, S1:p12]. The Second Order, the Poor Clares, was founded by Clare of Assisi in 1212 [S2:p5, S3:p4].
Beyond the monastery walls, the Third Order of Saint Francis allows both secular members living in the world and religious members living in communities to emulate the Franciscan spirit [S3:p4]. Despite centuries of structural changes and the complexities of papal legislation, the core values of the charism—charity, humility, and a love for all creation—remain central. Today, the Franciscan presence remains vast, with the 2013 Annuario Pontificio reporting thousands of members across various communities [S1:p17, S3:p3].
Source: Franciscans
