Franciscan

/fran sis"keuhn/, adj.

1. of or pertaining to St. Francis or the Franciscans.

n.

2. a member of the mendicant order founded by St. Francis in the 13th century.

[1585-95; < ML Francisc(us) St. Francis of Assisi + -AN]

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Member of a Christian religious order dedicated to the apostolic life of poverty and preaching founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi.

The Franciscans actually consist of three orders. The First Order comprises priests and lay brothers who have sworn to a life of prayer, preaching, and penance. The Second Order (founded 1212) consists of cloistered nuns known as the Poor Clares. The Third Order consists of religious members and laypersons who observe Franciscan principles in teaching, charity, and social service. The Rule of St. Francis stipulated that Franciscan friars could own no property of any kind, either individually or communally. The friars wandered and preached among the people, helping the poor and sick. Their impact was immense; within 10 years they numbered 5,000. A milder version of the rule was approved in 1223, and after the death of St. Francis in 1226 the order was divided by conflicts over the vow of poverty. A moderate interpretation of the rule was established while St. Bonaventure was minister general of the order (1257–74), and the friars spread throughout Europe, their missionaries penetrating as far as Syria and Africa. Though continuing controversy over the definition of poverty led to the intervention of the Pope John XXII, who persecuted the advocates of strict poverty, and to divisions of the order that lasted into the 19th century, the Franciscans flourished. They remain the largest Roman Catholic religious order.

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▪ religious order

      any member of a Christian religious order founded in the early 13th century by St. Francis of Assisi (Francis of Assisi, Saint) (q.v.). The members of the order strive to cultivate the ideals of the order's founder. The Franciscans actually consist of three orders. The First Order comprises priests and lay brothers who have sworn to lead a life of prayer, preaching, and penance. This First Order is divided into three independent branches: the Friars Minor (O.F.M.), the Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.), and the Friars Minor Capuchin (O.F.M. Cap.). The Second Order consists of cloistered nuns who belong to the Order of St. Clare (O.S.C.) and are known as Poor Clares (P.C.). The Third Order consists of religious and lay men and women who try to emulate Saint Francis' spirit by performing works of teaching, charity, and social service. Strictly speaking, the latter order consists of the Third Order Secular, whose lay members live in the world without vows; and the Third Order Regular, whose members live in religious communities under vow. Congregations of these religious men and women are numerous all over the Roman Catholic world. The Franciscans are the largest religious order in the Roman Catholic church. They have contributed six popes to the church.

      It was probably in 1207 that Francis felt the call to a life of preaching, penance, and total poverty. He was soon joined by his first followers, to whom he gave a short and simple rule of life. In 1209 he and 11 of his followers journeyed to Rome, where Francis received approval of his rule from Pope Innocent III. Under this rule, Franciscan friars could own no possessions of any kind, either individually or communally (i.e., as the property of the order as a whole). The friars wandered and preached among the people, helping the poor and the sick. They supported themselves by working and by begging food, but they were forbidden to accept money either as payment for work or as alms. The Franciscans worked at first in Umbria and then in the rest of Italy and abroad. The impact of these street preachers and especially of their founder was immense, so that within 10 years they numbered 5,000. Affiliated with them were the Franciscan nuns, whose order was founded at Assisi in 1212, by St. Clare (Clare of Assisi, Saint), who was under the guidance of St. Francis. Clare and her followers were lodged by Francis in the Church of San Damiano, where they lived a severe life of total poverty. They later became known as the Poor Clares (Poor Clare) or the Order of St. Clare.

      During the first years of the Franciscans, the example of Francis provided their real rule of life, but, as the order grew, it became clear that a revised rule was necessary. After preparing a rule in 1221 that was found too strict, Francis, with the help of several legal scholars, unwillingly composed the more restrained final rule in 1223. This rule was approved by Pope Honorius III.

      Even before the death of Francis in 1226, conflicts had developed within the order over the observance of the vow of complete poverty. The rapid expansion of the order's membership had created a need for settled monastic houses, but it was impossible to justify these if Francis' rule of complete poverty was followed strictly. Three parties gradually appeared: the Zealots, who insisted on a literal observance of the primitive rule of poverty affecting communal as well as personal poverty; the Laxists, who favoured many mitigations; and the Moderates, or the Community, who wanted a legal structure that would permit some form of communal possessions. Something of an equilibrium was reached between these different schools of thought while St. Bonaventure (Bonaventure, Saint) was minister general (1257–74). Sometimes called the second founder of the order, he provided a wise, moderate interpretation of the rule. During this period the friars spread throughout Europe, while missionaries penetrated Syria and Africa. Simultaneously, the friars' houses in university towns such as Paris and Oxford were transformed into schools of theology that rapidly became among the most celebrated in Europe.

      With the death of Bonaventure, the internal dissensions of the order flared up anew. The Zealots, who now became known as the Spirituals (Spiritual), demanded absolute poverty. Opposed to them were the Community, or the Conventuals, who stood for a more moderate community life adapted to the needs of study and preaching. Papal decisions favoured the Conventuals, and the Spirituals ceased to be a faction of importance in the order after 1325.

      The latter part of the 14th century saw a great decline in the religious life of the friars. But throughout that century a series of reformers initiated groups of friars, known as Observants, living an austere life apart from the main body of Conventuals. Under the leadership of St. Bernardino of Siena (Bernardine of Siena, Saint) and St. John of Capistrano (John of Capistrano, Saint), the Observants spread across Europe. Though several attempts were made to reconcile them with the Conventuals, the outcome was in fact a complete separation in 1517, when all the reform communities were united in one order with the name Friars Minor of the Observance, and this order was granted a completely independent and autonomous existence. It is estimated that in 1517 the Observants numbered about 30,000, the Conventuals about 25,000.

      The union of the Observants was short-lived as several stricter groups arose. One of these reform groups, the Capuchins (q.v.), founded in 1525, was separated as the third branch of the Franciscan Order in 1619. The other groups were finally reunited to the Observants by Pope Leo XIII in 1897 with new constitutions and the official title Order of Friars Minor. All three branches of the Franciscans suffered in the French Revolution, but they revived during the 19th century.

      The Franciscans have popularized several devotional practices in the Roman Catholic church. Among the best known are the Christmas crib, the Stations of the Cross, and the Angelus. Besides their traditional role of preaching, Franciscans have been active in the work of foreign missions and have made many contributions to the field of education and scholarship.

Additional Reading

William J. Short, Poverty and Joy: The Franciscan Tradition (1999); C.H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movement on Western Society (1994); John R.H. Moorman, A History of the Franciscan Order From Its Origins to 1517 (1968, reissued 1988).

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