It was when his father, Pietro Bernardone, the merchant of rich textiles and rare silks, was on a journey to France that Francis was born in the year 1182. But it is certain that in naming his followers and himself "Friars Minor," he forever stamped his Order with the insignia of the lowly. Francis was the son of a wealthy, important merchant, and a mother reputed to be of noble birth so it is difficult to say now to which class he rightfully belonged. There were the majores and the minores, the popolo grasso and the popolo minuto. In his mediaeval city perched upon a pinnacle high above the Umbrian plain, there were definite class distinctions. While the troubadors sang in the Courts of Love, and while the spires of magnificent Gothic cathedrals were beginning to pierce the skies, off in the green hills of Italy the Order of Friars Minor was quietly, humbly born. City warred against city chivalry and knavery walked hand-in-hand. As kings and emperors vied with the Papacy for power, so vied feudal castles with the monasteries for the highest hilltops. The Middle Ages were still in mid-channel the Crusades had but half run their course.
In this Vision Book, Helen Walker Homan has captured all the excitement and beauty of these two popular saints' lives, and their centuries-long influence on the whole world through their radical living of the Gospel and founding of two great religious orders.Shop: Roman Catholic "RC" Brand Original White Logo Collection Mug The saints of Assisi followed Lady Poverty and found happiness. Other men followed, and Saint Clare too left her castle to establish a convent.
For he had always yearned to be both a knight and a troubadour-to do battle for God and at the same time to amuse with a joke and a song.įrancis of Assisi did become God's Troubadour, and this is the story of the people's saint-the happy friar who preached in the marketplace and gave up family and fortune to devote his life to God and His poor. He later rode boldly to battle, and when captured by the enemy, heartened his fellow prisoners with his humorous antics. This was the same cheerful Francis, son of the merchant Bernardone, who helped with the marketing and scuffled with his brother and from time to time glimpsed in a neighboring castle the little golden-haired Lady Clare. Today, from nation to nation, the good works of the Franciscans remind the world of the gentle charity of their founder-the "Poor Little Man" of Assisi.
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