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Student Name Professor Name Subject 25 September 2012 The Franciscans The Franciscans is an umbrella term used to distinguish representatives of the various religious subgroups, both men and women, who are seeking to follow the rules prescribed by St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) (Source 1). In 1209, when St. Francis appeared before the Pope Innocent III, he was accompanied by his first eleven followers, while by the end of his life the Order amounted thousands of friars around Europe. The establishment of the Order itself, as well as its tremendous development was to the large extent influenced by the troublous situation inside Italian cities, the continent, and in the Christian Church. It would be even fair to say that St. Francis religious doctrine was his indirect response to the challenges the outside world put before him. It is widely known that St. Francis originated from the wealthy family, and spent his younger years surrounded by joy and pleasure. Nevertheless, due to the circumstances of that period of Italian history, he was forced to join army against Perugia and was captured as a military prisoner for a year. This period had possibly influenced the world view of a young man accustomed to sweets of life, now forced to be behind bars. Besides that, already after the establishment of the Order, St. Francis made several attempts to bring his message outside Italy, and even the continent. During the 1219 journey to Egypt he had possibility to see how on practice the Crusade mission, encouraged by the Pope, looked like, and how it was encountered

Yourlastname 2 on the ground. (Source 5) Instead of the forcible imposition, St. Francis sought to deliver the message of Peace and Good. The restless world and distemper inside the Catholic Church could not but affect the Franciscan Order. Notwithstanding the peace-minded ideals of the Franciscans, they were not welcomed by the rest of the previously established orders, as well as the Franciscans themselves did not manage to coexist without contradictions. Due to this reason they had broken up into several groups, such as Friar Minors Conventuals, Friars Minor Capuchins, Poor Clares, Secular Franciscan Order and etc (Source 1). Besides the different opinions on the St. Francis original doctrine, various Franciscans leaders had differently evaluated the interrelation between the faith and knowledge. Fortunately, the power of knowledge was admitted to be a mainstay of the religion and service to God, as the achievement of sciences can serve to the improvement to peoples life. The whole world has benefited from this conclusion, as the Order gave to Italian and the world philosophy, literature and science many distinguished personalities, such, for example, Roger Bacon (1214-1294). With the growing interest and investment in science representatives of the Order have occupied the schoolman positions in the universities around Europe; later on the Order got permission of establishing their own universities, colleges and schools; seeking the ways to help people the Franciscans established hospitals, nursing schools, orphanages for children, libraries etc. Discovery of the new territories and roots enabled them to spread their activities around different corners of the world, such as China and Latin America, and nowadays, the Franciscans are represented on all continents. Unfortunately, together with the decline of interest towards religion in general, the Franciscans are no longer playing influential role in the world. (Sources 2, 5)

Yourlastname 3 Works Cited "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Franciscan Order." NEW ADVENT: Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. "Characteristics of Franciscan work for Justice and Peace." 12 Dec. 1993. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. "Franciscan History in England." (2099): Web. 25 Sept. 2012. <http://http://www.friar.org/fileadmin/user_upload/10%20Sept%202009%20History%20of% 20Franciscans%20in%20England.pdf>. "HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER." FIVE FRANCISCAN MARTYRS REGION - Secular Franciscan Order. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. Muscat OFM, Noel. HISTORY OF THE FRANCISCAN MOVEMENT. Jerusalem: N.p., 2008. Web. 25 Sept. 2012.