Editing Francis of Assisi (section)

== Biography ==
[[File:Pintura Ducarmo Teles 1.jpg|thumb|''São Francisco das Chagas'', painted by Ducarmo Teles.]]

===Early life===
Francis of Assisi was born {{Circa|1181}},<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. Francis of Assisi |url=https://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=4829 |access-date=22 Sep 2023 |website=Catholic Online}}</ref><ref name="dukemag2">{{Cite journal |last=Dagger |first=Jacob |date=November–December 2006 |title=Blessing All Creatures, Great and Small |url=https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/blessing-all-creatures-great-and-small |journal=Duke Magazine |access-date=1 December 2019}}</ref> one of the children of an [[Italians|Italian]] father, Pietro di Bernardone dei Moriconi, a prosperous silk merchant, and a French mother, Pica di Bourlemont, about whom little is known except that she was a noblewoman originally from [[Provence]].<ref name="Lives">{{Cite book |last=Englebert |first=Omer |url=https://archive.org/details/livesofsaintshis00omer/page/529 |title=The Lives of the Saints |date=1951 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |isbn=978-1-56619-516-4 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/livesofsaintshis00omer/page/529 529] |orig-date=1951}}</ref>

Indulged by his parents, Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man.<ref name="ODCC Francis">{{Cite book |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0199566712 |editor-last=Cross |editor-first=F. L. |location=New York |chapter=Francis of Assisi}}</ref> As a youth, Francis became a devotee of [[troubadours]] and was fascinated with all things [[Transalpine]].<ref name="Chesterton" /> He was handsome, witty, gallant and delighted in fine clothes.<ref name="cefa" /> He spent money lavishly.<ref name="cefa" /> Although many [[Hagiography|hagiographers]] remark about his bright clothing, rich friends and love of pleasures,<ref name="Lives" /> his displays of disillusionment toward the world that surrounded him came fairly early in his life, as is shown in the "story of the beggar". In this account, he was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for [[alms]]. At the conclusion of his business deal, Francis abandoned his wares and ran after the beggar. When he found him, Francis gave the man everything he had in his purse. His friends mocked him for his charity; his father scolded him in rage.<ref name="chest41">Chesterton (1924), pp.&nbsp;40–41</ref>

Around 1202, he joined a military expedition against [[Perugia]] and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada. He spent a year as a captive,<ref name="Bonaventure">{{Cite book |last1=St. Bonaventure |author-link1=Bonaventure |title=The Life of St. Francis of Assisi (from the Legenda Sancti Francisci) |last2=Cardinal Manning |date=1988 |author-link2=Henry Edward Manning |publisher=TAN Books & Publishers |isbn=978-0-89555-343-0 |edition=1988 |location=[[Rockford, Illinois]] |page=190 |orig-date=1867}}</ref> during which an illness caused him to re-evaluate his life. However, upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life. In 1205, Francis left for [[Apulia]] to enlist in the army of [[Walter III, Count of Brienne]]. A strange vision made him return to Assisi and lose interest in worldly life.<ref name="ODCC Francis" /> According to [[Hagiography|hagiographic]] accounts, thereafter he began to avoid the sports and feasts of his former companions. A friend asked him whether he was thinking of marrying, to which he answered: "Yes, a fairer bride than any of you have ever seen", meaning his "Lady Poverty".<ref name="cefa" />

On a [[pilgrimage]] to Rome, he joined the poor in begging at [[Old St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's Basilica]].<ref name="ODCC Francis" /> He spent some time in lonely places, asking God for [[divine illumination]]. He said he had a mystical [[visions of Jesus and Mary|vision of Jesus Christ]] in the forsaken country chapel of [[San Damiano, Assisi|San Damiano]], just outside Assisi, in which the [[San Damiano cross|Icon of Christ Crucified]] said to him, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My church which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." He took this to mean the ruined church in which he was presently praying, so he sold some cloth taken from his father's store to assist the priest there.<ref name="chest54">Chesterton (1924), pp.&nbsp;54–56</ref><ref>According to the Franciscan Order, Francis of Assisi personally experienced the [[Itala Mela#The Trinitarian indwelling|Trinitarian indwelling]] for more times during his earthly life. See {{Cite book |last=Fr. Guglielmo Spirito, OFM Conv |title=Terra che diventa cielo - L'inabitazione trinitaria in san Francesco |year=2009 |isbn=978-8870947397 |editor-last=Edizioni Studio Domenicano |series=Le frecce |pages=312 |language=it,es |oclc=799697579 |issue=17}} (EAN 9788870947397). Also available in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: A. Spirito (franciscano conventual), Guglielmo (1 de enero de 1994). ''El cielo en la tierra. La inhabitación trinitaria en s. Francisco a la luz de su tiempo y de sus escritos.'' Varia (2). Miscellanea Francescana. p. 312.</ref> When the priest refused to accept the ill-gotten gains, an indignant Francis threw the coins on the floor.<ref name="cefa" />

In order to avoid his father's wrath, Francis hid in a cave near San Damiano for about a month. When he returned to town, hungry and dirty, he was dragged home by his father, beaten, bound and locked in a small storeroom. Freed by his mother during Bernardone's absence, Francis returned at once to San Damiano, where he found shelter with the officiating priest, but he was soon cited before the city consuls by his father. The latter, not content with having recovered the scattered gold from San Damiano, sought also to force his son to forego his inheritance by way of restitution. In the midst of legal proceedings before the [[Bishop of Assisi]], Francis renounced his father and his [[Property|patrimony]].<ref name="cefa" /> Some accounts report that he stripped himself naked in token of this renunciation and the bishop covered him with his own cloak.<ref>{{Cite web |last=de la Riva |first=Fr. John |date=2011 |title=Life of St. Francis |url=http://www.shrinesf.org/life-of-st-francis.html |access-date=11 June 2019 |website=St. Francis of Assisi National Shrine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kiefer |first=James E. |date=1999 |title=Francis of Assisi, Friar |url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/258.html |access-date=11 June 2019 |website=Biographical sketches of memorable Christians of the past}}</ref>

For the next couple of months, Francis wandered as a beggar in the hills behind Assisi. He spent some time at a neighbouring monastery working as a [[wiktionary:scullion|scullion]]. He then went to [[Gubbio]], where a friend gave him, as an alms, the cloak, girdle and [[pilgrim's staff|staff of a pilgrim]]. Returning to Assisi, he traversed the city, begging stones for the restoration of St. Damiano. These he carried to the old chapel, set in place himself, and rebuilt it over time. Over the course of two years, he embraced the life of a [[penitent]], during which he restored several ruined chapels in the countryside around Assisi, among them San Pietro in [[Spina]] (in the area of San Petrignano in the valley about a kilometre from modern [[Rivotorto]], on private property and once again in ruin); and the [[Porziuncola]], the little chapel of [[Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli|St. Mary of the Angels]] in the plain just below the town.<ref name="cefa" /> This later became his favorite [[Dwelling|abode]].<ref name="chest54" /> By degrees he took to nursing [[leper]]s, in the [[leper colony|leper colonies]] near Assisi.

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Casa-de-sao-francisco.jpg|[[The Piccolino Chapel]], Francis’ legendary birthplace 
File:Sassetta 001.jpg|''Saint Francis renounces his earthly father''.
</gallery>

===Founding of the Franciscan Order===
====Friars Minor====
One morning in February 1208, Francis was taking part in a Mass in the chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, near which he had by then built himself a hut. The Gospel of the day was the "Commissioning of the Twelve" from the Book of Matthew. The disciples were to go and proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Francis was inspired to devote himself to a life of poverty. Having obtained a coarse woollen tunic, the dress then worn by the poorest Umbrian peasants, he tied it around himself with a knotted rope and went about exhorting the people of the countryside to penance, brotherly love and peace. Francis's preaching to ordinary people was unusual as he had no license to do so.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}}
 
His example attracted others. Within a year Francis had eleven followers. The brothers lived a simple life in the deserted leper colony of Rivo Torto near Assisi. They spent much of their time wandering through the mountainous districts of [[Umbria]], and through their earnestness toward people they encountered, often deeply impressed them.<ref name="cefa" />

[[File:Legend of St. Francis by Giotto.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pope Innocent III]] approving the statutes of the Order of the Franciscans, by [[Giotto]]]]

In 1209 he composed a simple rule for his followers ("friars"), the ''Regula primitiva'' or "Primitive Rule", which came from verses in the Bible. The rule was "to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps." He then led eleven followers to Rome to seek permission from [[Pope Innocent III]] to found a new religious order.<ref name="chest107">Chesterton (1924), pp.&nbsp;107–108</ref> Upon entry to Rome, the brothers encountered Bishop Guido of Assisi, who had in his company [[Giovanni di San Paolo]], the [[Cardinal Bishop of Sabina]]. The Cardinal, who was the confessor of Pope Innocent&nbsp;III, was immediately sympathetic to Francis and agreed to represent Francis to the pope. After several days, the pope agreed to admit the group informally, adding that when God increased the group in grace and number, they could return for an official audience. The group was [[tonsure]]d.<ref name="Francis of Assisi and His World">Galli (2002), pp.&nbsp;74–80</ref> This was important in part because it recognized Church authority and prevented his following from accusations of heresy, as had happened to the [[Waldensians]] decades earlier. Though a number of the pope's counsellors considered the mode of life proposed by Francis to be unsafe and impractical, following a dream in which he saw Francis holding up the [[Basilica of St. John Lateran|Lateran Basilica]], he decided to endorse Francis's order.  Per tradition, this occurred on 16 April 1210 and constituted the official founding of the [[Franciscan Order]].{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} The group, then the "Lesser Brothers" (''Order of Friars Minor'' also known as the ''Franciscan Order'' or the ''Seraphic Order''), were centred in the Porziuncola and preached first in Umbria, before expanding throughout Italy.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} Francis was later ordained a deacon, but not a priest.<ref name="cefa" />

====Poor Clares and Third Order====
From then on, the new order grew quickly. Hearing Francis preaching in the church of [[Assisi Cathedral|San Rufino]] in Assisi in 1211, the young noblewoman [[Clare of Assisi]] sought to live like them. Her cousin Rufino also sought to join. On the night of [[Palm Sunday]], 28 March 1212, Clare clandestinely left her family's palace. Francis received her at the Porziuncola and thereby established the Order of Poor Clares.<ref name="chest110">Chesterton (1924), pp.&nbsp;110–111</ref> He gave Clare a [[religious habit]], a garment similar to his own, before lodging her, her younger sister Caterina and other young women in a nearby monastery of [[Order of St. Benedict|Benedictine]] nuns until he could provide a suitable monastery. Later he transferred them to San Damiano,{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} to a few small huts or cells. This became the first monastery of the Second Franciscan Order, now known as [[Poor Clares]].<ref name="cefa" />

For those who could not leave their affairs, Francis later formed the [[Third Order of Saint Francis|Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance]], a fraternity composed of either [[laity]] or clergy whose members neither withdrew from the world nor took [[religious vows]]. Instead, they observed the principles of Franciscan life in their daily lives.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} Before long, the Third Order – now titled the [[Secular Franciscan Order]] – grew beyond Italy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Secular Franciscan Order |url=https://secularfranciscansusa.org |access-date=January 13, 2021 |website=Secular Franciscan Order US}}</ref>

===Travels===
Determined to bring the Gospel to all peoples and let God convert them, Francis sought on several occasions to take his message out of Italy. In approximately 1211, a [[captain]] of the [[Medrano|Medrano family]] held the lordship of the castle and town of [[Agoncillo, La Rioja|Agoncillo]], situated near the city of [[Logroño]], in the region of [[La Rioja]], Spain. Medrano's son was suffering from a mysterious and untreatable ailment. In 1211, Saint Francis of Assisi roamed those very paths of Agoncillo.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jzYg5AN1x28C&q=Medrano |title=Revista Hidalguía número 9. Año 1955 |publisher=Ediciones Hidalguia |pages=181–182 |language=es}}</ref> In a saintly manner, he visited Medrano's [[Castle of Aguas Mansas|Agoncillo castle]], placed his mystical hands upon the ailing boy and [[Miracle|miraculously]] healed him, securing the Medrano lineage in Agoncillo.<ref name=":2">Recoge esta historia, entre otros, D. Cesáreo Goicoechea en "Castillos de la Rioja, Logroño, 1949, y Fray Domingo Hernáez de Torres en "Primera parte de la Crónica ·[franciscana] de la Provincia de Burgos". Madrid, 1772.</ref><ref name=":1" />  

The Medrano family generously donated some land, including a tower, situated close to the [[Ebro|Ebro River]] within the city of [[Logroño]] as a gift to Saint Francis, where he established the first Spanish [[convent]] of his Order there.<ref name=":1" /> By the late 14th century, [[Diego López de Medrano, Lord of Agoncillo]], royal steward and ambassador to  [[John I of Castile]], established a hereditary chaplaincy in the main [[chapel]] of the Monastery of San Francisco in Logroño.<ref name=":3">Government of Spain. ''Perpetual Chaplaincy of Diego López de Medrano. Order of the Franciscans.'' https://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas20/catalogo/show/4016417
</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Informe del patronato de la capellanía perpetua fundada por Diego López de Medrano en la capilla principal del Monasterio de San Francisco de Logroño, de la que son patrones la casa de Agoncillo. |url=https://www.europeana.eu/da/item/2048340/providedCHO_ES_SNAH_45168_UD_4016289_ES_SNAH_45168_UD_4016289___ES_SNAH_45168_UD_4016417 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=www.europeana.eu |language=da-DK}}</ref> The Medrano family held perpetual ecclesiastical patronage over the site, which functioned both as a center of worship and as a dynastic [[Cemetery|burial ground]]. This act formalized the family’s long-standing devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi. Although the convent met its demise in the 19th century, the remnants of its walls remain.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Rioja |first=El Día de la |date=2024-02-19 |title=Un convento de armas tomar |url=https://www.eldiadelarioja.es/noticia/z2dfd573c-eb33-bb3e-d4393945f387190a/202402/un-convento-de-armas-tomar |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=El Día de la Rioja |language=spanish}}</ref> As a result, the Medrano family, lords of Agoncillo, are distinguished by their devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi.<ref name=":2" />

On 29 March 1537, Maundy Thursday, the ''Cofradía de la Santa Vera Cruz'' was established within the Convent of San Francisco in Logroño—then under the patronage of the House of Medrano.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /> According to records from the Diocesan Historical Archive, this confraternity—one of the oldest in the region—had its own chapel inside the convent. The guardian of the convent served as the chaplain of the cofradía, and the Franciscan community was considered part of the brotherhood.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SEMANA SANTA DE LOGROÑO |url=https://www.hermandadcofradiaslogrono.org/semana-santa-de-logrono |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=web-hermandad |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=La Semana Santa de Logroño, una fiesta con mucho interés - Visita Logroño - Logroño |url=https://visitalogrono.com/-/la-semana-santa-de-logrono-una-fiesta-con-mucho-interes |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Visita Logroño |language=es-ES}}</ref> The Convent of San Francisco in Logroño enjoyed both royal favor and ecclesiastical prominence throughout its history. It was exempted from municipal taxes, held [[jurisdiction]] over its own lands and dependencies, and maintained close ties to the monarchy.<ref name=":4" /> 

===Missionary work during the 5th Crusade===
In the late spring of 1212, he set out for Jerusalem, but was shipwrecked by a storm on the [[Dalmatia]]n coast, forcing him to return to Italy. On 8 May 1213, he was given the use of the mountain of [[La Verna]] (Alverna) as a gift from [[Count]] Orlando di Chiusi, who described it as "eminently suitable for whoever wishes to do penance in a place remote from mankind".<ref>Fioretti quoted in: St. Francis, ''The Little Flowers, Legends and Lauds'', trans. N. Wydenbruck, ed. Otto Karrer (London: [[Sheed and Ward]], 1979) 244.</ref> The mountain would become one of his favourite retreats for prayer.<ref name="chest130">Chesterton (1924), p. 130</ref>

During the [[Fifth Crusade]] in 1219 Francis went to Egypt where a Crusader army had been encamped for over a year besieging the walled city of [[Damietta]]. He was accompanied by Friar [[Illuminatus of Arce]] and hoped to convert the [[Sultan of Egypt]] or be martyred in the attempt. The Sultan, [[al-Kamil]], a nephew of [[Saladin]], had succeeded his father as Sultan of Egypt in 1218 and was encamped upstream of Damietta. A bloody and futile attack on the city was launched by the Christians on 29 August 1219, following which both sides agreed to a ceasefire that lasted four weeks.<ref>Runciman, Steven. ''History of the Crusades, vol. 3: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades'', Cambridge University Press (1951, paperback 1987), pp. 151–161.</ref> Probably during this interlude Francis and his companion crossed the Muslims' lines and were brought before the Sultan, remaining in his camp for a few days.{{sfn|Tolan|2009|pp=4–}} Reports give no information about what transpired during the encounter beyond noting that the Sultan received Francis graciously and that Francis preached to the Muslims. He returned unharmed.{{efn|e.g., Jacques de Vitry, Letter 6 February or March 1220 and ''Historia orientalis'' (c. 1223–1225) cap. XXII; Tommaso da Celano, ''Vita prima'' (1228), §57: the relevant passages are quoted in an English translation in {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|pp=19–}} and {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|p=54}} respectively.}} No known Arab sources mention the visit.{{sfn|Tolan|2009|p=5}}

[[File:Leprosy in La Franceschina.jpg|thumb|Francis and others treating victims of leprosy or smallpox]]
In the upper basilica at Assisi, the ministering to lepers and smallpox sufferers is depicted in a late-1200s fresco cycle attributed to Giotto.{{efn|e.g., Chesterton, ''Saint Francis'', Hodder & Stoughton (1924) chapter 8. {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|p=126}} discusses the incident as recounted by Bonaventure, an incident which does not extend to a fire actually being lit.}}

According to some late sources, the Sultan gave Francis permission to visit the sacred places in the Holy Land and even to preach there. All that can safely be asserted is that Francis and his companion left the Crusader camp for [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], from where they embarked for Italy in the latter half of 1220. Drawing on a 1267 sermon by [[Bonaventure]], later sources report that the Sultan secretly converted or accepted a death-bed baptism as a result of meeting Francis.{{efn|For grants of various permissions and privileges to Francis as attributed by later sources, see, e.g., {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|pp=258–263}}. The first mention of the Sultan's conversion occurs in a sermon delivered by Bonaventure on 4 October 1267. See {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|p=168}} }}

Whatever transpired as a result of Francis’ and al-Kamil’s meeting the Franciscans have maintained a presence in the [[Holy Land]] almost uninterrupted since 1217 and remain there (see [[Custody of the Holy Land]]). They received concessions from the [[Mameluke]] Sultan in 1333 with regard to certain Holy Places in [[Jerusalem]] and [[Bethlehem]] and (so far as concerns the Catholic Church) jurisdictional privileges from [[Pope Clement VI]] in 1342.<ref>Bulla ''Gratias agimus'', commemorated by Pope John Paul II in a [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/1992/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19921130_p-schalluuck_it.html Letter] dated 30 November 1992. See also {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|p=258}}. On the Franciscan presence, including a historical overview, see, generally the official website at [http://www.custodia.org/default.asp?id=425 ''Custodia''] and [[Custodian of the Holy Land]]</ref>

===Reorganization of the Franciscan Order===
[[File:Francis preaching the birds.fresco. master of st francis. Assisi.jpg|thumb|left|St. Francis preaching to the birds outside of [[Bevagna]] (by [[Master of Saint Francis|Master of St. Francis]]).]] The growing order of friars was divided into [[ecclesiastical province|provinces]]; groups were sent to France, Germany, Hungary and Spain and to the East. Upon receiving a report of the martyrdom of five brothers in [[Morocco]], Francis returned to Italy via [[Venice]].<ref name="b162">Bonaventure (1867), p.&nbsp;162</ref> Cardinal [[Pope Gregory IX|Ugolino di Conti]] was then nominated by the pope as the protector of the order. Another reason for Francis' return to Italy was that the Franciscan Order had grown at an unprecedented rate compared to previous religious orders, but its organizational [[sophistication]] had not kept up with this growth and had little more to govern it than Francis' example and simple rule. To address this problem, Francis prepared a new and more detailed Rule, the "First Rule" or "Rule Without a [[Papal Bull]]" (''Regula prima'', ''Regula non bullata''), which again asserted devotion to poverty and the apostolic life. However, it also introduced a greater institutional structure, though this was never officially endorsed by the pope.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}}

Brother Peter was succeeded by [[Brother Elias]] as [[Vicar]] of Francis. Two years later, Francis modified the "First Rule", creating the "Second Rule" or "Rule With a Bull", which was approved by Pope Honorius III on 29 November 1223. As the order's official rule, it called on the friars "to observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience without anything of our own and in chastity". In addition, it set regulations for discipline, preaching and entering the order. Once the rule was endorsed by the pope, Francis withdrew increasingly from external affairs.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} During 1221 and 1222, he crossed Italy, first as far south as [[Catania]] in Sicily and afterwards as far north as [[Bologna]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ruggeri |first=Francesco Rocco |title=Sicilian Visitors Volume 2 |publisher=Lulu.com |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-387-97789-5}}</ref>

=== Stigmata, final days and sainthood ===
[[File:Cigoli, san francesco.jpg|thumb|Francis considered his [[stigmata]] part of the ''[[Imitation of Christ]]''.<ref name="Goff">Le Goff, Jacques. ''Saint Francis of Assisi'', 2003 {{ISBN|0-415-28473-2}} p. 44</ref><ref name="Miles160">Miles, Margaret Ruth. ''The Word made flesh: a history of Christian thought'', 2004 {{ISBN|978-1-4051-0846-1}} pp. 160–161</ref> by [[Cigoli]], 1699]]

While he was praying on the mountain of Verna, during a forty-day fast in preparation for [[Michaelmas]] (29 September), Francis is said to have had a vision on September 17, 1224, three days after the feast of the [[Exaltation of the Cross]], as a result of which he received the [[stigmata]]. Brother Leo, who had been with Francis at the time, left a clear and simple account of the event, the first definite account of the phenomenon of stigmata. "Suddenly he saw a vision of a seraph, a six-winged angel on a cross. This angel gave him the gift of the five wounds of Christ."<ref name="chest131">Chesterton (1924), p. 131</ref> Suffering from these stigmata and from [[trachoma]], Francis received care in several cities ([[Siena]], [[Cortona]], [[Nocera Umbra|Nocera]]) to no avail. He began to go blind and the bishop of Ostia ordered that his eyes be operated on which meant cauterizing the eyes with hot irons. Francis claims to have felt nothing at all when this was done.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Armstrong |first1=Regis J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-geLPmduL4C&dq=st+francis+of+assisi+cauterized+eyes&pg=PA861 |title=Francis of Assisi - The Prophet: Early Documents, vol. 3: Early Documents |last2=Hellmann |first2=J. A. Wayne |last3=Short |first3=William J. |date=1999 |publisher=New City Press |isbn=978-1-56548-114-5 |page=861 |language=en |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref>  In the end, he was brought back to a hut next to the Porziuncola. Here he spent his last days dictating his spiritual testament. He died on the evening of Saturday, 3 October 1226, singing [[Psalm 142|Psalm 141, ''"Voce mea ad Dominum"'']].

On 16 July 1228, he was declared a saint by Pope [[Gregory IX]] (the former cardinal Ugolino di Conti, a friend of Francis and Cardinal Protector of the Order). The next day, the pope laid the foundation stone for the [[Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi|Basilica of St. Francis]] in Assisi. Francis was buried on 25 May 1230, under the Lower Basilica, but his tomb was soon hidden on orders of Brother Elias to protect it from Saracen invaders. His burial place remained unknown until it was rediscovered in 1818. Pasquale Belli then constructed a crypt for the remains in the Lower Basilica. It was refashioned between 1927 and 1930 into its present form by Ugo Tarchi. In 1978, the remains of Francis were examined and confirmed by a commission of scholars appointed by [[Pope Paul VI]] and put into a glass urn in the ancient stone tomb.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Key to Umbria: Assisi |url=http://www.keytoumbria.com/Assisi/S_Francesco_Crypt.html |access-date=2021-05-09 |website=www.keytoumbria.com}}</ref>

In 1935, Dr. Edward Frederick Hartung concluded that Francis contracted [[trachoma]] while in Egypt and died of [[quartan malaria]]. This data was published in the ''[[Annals of Medical History]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=11 March 1935 |title=Medicine: St. Francis' Stigmata |url=https://time.com/archive/6820515/medicine-st-francis-stigmata/ |access-date=15 August 2024 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref>