Editing Franciscans (section)

==History==
[[File:Regra bulada.jpg|thumb|{{lang|la|[[Rule of Saint Francis|Regula bullata]]|nocat=y}}, the rule confirmed by [[Pope Honorius III]]]]
===Beginnings===
In 1209, a sermon Francis heard on [[Matthew 10:9]] made such an impression on him that he decided to devote himself wholly to a life of apostolic poverty. Clad in a rough garment, barefoot, and, after the [[Evangelism|evangelical]] precept, without staff or scrip, he began to preach repentance.<ref name="cefa">{{CathEncy|author=Paschal Robinson|wstitle=St. Francis of Assisi}}</ref>

He was soon joined by a prominent fellow townsman, [[Bernard of Quintavalle]], who contributed all that he had to the work. Other companions joined, with Francis having 11 companions within a year. The brothers lived in the deserted [[leper colony]] of Rivo Torto near [[Assisi]]. They spent much of their time traveling through the mountainous districts of [[Umbria]], always cheerful and full of songs, making a deep impression on their hearers by their earnest exhortations. Their life was extremely [[Asceticism|ascetic]]. Probably as early as 1209, Francis gave them a first rule, a collection of Scriptural passages emphasizing the duty of poverty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06208a.htm|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Rule of Saint Francis|website=www.newadvent.org|access-date=2020-04-19}}</ref>

In spite of some similarities between this principle and some of the fundamental ideas of the followers of [[Peter Waldo]], the brotherhood of Assisi succeeded in gaining the approval of [[Pope Innocent III]].<ref name="chest107">Chesterton (1924), pp.&nbsp;107–108</ref> What seems to have impressed first the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino|Bishop of Assisi]], then [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Giovanni di San Paolo]] and finally Innocent, was their utter loyalty to the Catholic Church and the clergy. Pope Innocent was responsible for helping to construct the church Francis was being called to rebuild. Innocent and the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] helped maintain the church in Europe.<ref name="Francis of Assisi and His World">Galli (2002), pp.&nbsp;74–80</ref>

Pope Innocent probably saw in them a possible answer to his desire for an orthodox preaching force to counter heresy. Many legends have clustered around the decisive audience of Francis with the pope. The realistic account in [[Matthew Paris]]—according to which the pope originally sent the shabby saint off to keep swine and only recognized his real worth by his ready obedience—has, in spite of its improbability, a certain historical interest since it shows the natural antipathy of the older [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine monasticism]] to the plebeian mendicant orders. The group was [[tonsure]]d, and Francis was ordained as a deacon, allowing him to proclaim Gospel passages and preach in churches during Mass.<ref name="Francis of Assisi and His World">Galli (2002), pp.&nbsp;74–80</ref>

===Francis's last years===
[[File:Dream of Innocent III and the Confirmation of the Rule of St Francis Benozzo Gozzoli.jpg|thumb|A dream of [[Innocent III]] and the Confirmation of the [[Rule of Saint Francis]], [[Benozzo Gozzoli]]]]
in 1219, after intense apostolic activity in Italy, Francis went to Egypt with the [[Fifth Crusade]] to announce the [[Gospel]] to the [[Saracens]]. He met with the Sultan [[Al-Kamil|Malik al-Kamil]], initiating a spirit of dialogue and understanding between [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]. The Franciscan presence in the [[Holy Land]] started in 1217, when the province of [[Syria]] was established, with Brother Elias as minister. By 1229, the friars had a small house near the fifth station of the [[Via Dolorosa]]. In 1272, Sultan [[Baibars]] allowed the Franciscans to settle in the [[Cenacle]] on [[Mount Zion]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land |url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/cust/TSmain.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615234812/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/cust/TSmain.html |archive-date=2013-06-15 |access-date=2013-06-16 |publisher=Christusrex.org}}</ref>

In 1309, they also settled in the [[Holy Sepulchre]] and in [[Bethlehem]]. In 1335, the king of Naples [[Robert, King of Naples|Robert of Anjou]] ({{langx|it|Roberto d'Angiò}}) and his wife [[Sancha of Majorca]] ({{langx|it|Sancia di Maiorca}}) bought the Cenacle and gave it to the Franciscans. In 1342, [[Pope Clement VI]] by the Bulls ''Gratias agimus'' and ''Nuper charissimae'', declared the Franciscans as the official custodians of the Holy Places in the name of the Catholic Church. The Franciscan [[Custody of the Holy Land]] is still in force today.<ref>{{cite web |title=Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land |url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/cust/TSmain.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615234812/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/cust/TSmain.html |archive-date=2013-06-15 |access-date=2013-06-16 |publisher=Christusrex.org}}</ref>

The controversy about how to follow the Gospel life of poverty, which extends through the first three centuries of Franciscan history, began in Francis' lifetime. The ascetic brothers Matthew of [[Narni]] and Gregory of Naples, a nephew of Cardinal Ugolino, were the two vicars-general to whom Francis had entrusted the direction of the order during his time in Egypt. They carried through at a chapter which they held certain stricter regulations in regard to fasting and the reception of alms, which departed from the spirit of the original rule. It did not take Francis long, on his return, to suppress this insubordinate tendency. 

He was less successful in regard to another of an opposite nature which soon came up. [[Elias of Cortona]] originated a movement for the increase of the worldly consideration of the order and the adaptation of its system to the plans of the hierarchy. This conflicted with the original notions of Francis and helped to bring about the successive changes in the rule already described. Francis was not alone in opposition to this lax and secularizing tendency. On the contrary, the party which clung to his original views and after his death took his "testament" for their guide, known as Observantists or {{lang|it|[[Zelanti]]}}, was at least equal in numbers and activity to the followers of Elias.

[[File:Honorius_III_approving_the_Rule_of_St._Francis,_Bartolome_del_Castro,_c._1500_(Philadelphia_Museum_of_Art).jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Honorius III]] Approving the Rule of St. [[Francis of Assisi]]'', Bartolome del Castro, c. 1500, [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]]]]
In 1219, exasperated by the demands of running a growing and fractious order, Francis asked [[Pope Honorius III]] for help. He was assigned Cardinal [[Pope Gregory IX|Ugolino]] as protector of the order by the pope. Francis resigned the day-to-day running of the order. Francis retained the power to shape legislation, writing a rule in 1221 which he revised and had approved in 1223. After about 1221, the day-to-day running of the order was in the hands of Brother [[Elias of Cortona]], who was elected as leader of the friars a few years after Francis's death in 1232 but who aroused much opposition because of his autocratic leadership style.<ref name="Paschal">[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05382a.htm Robinson, Paschal. "Elias of Cortona." The Catholic Encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229015938/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05382a.htm |date=2019-12-29 }} Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 28 December 2019 {{PD-notice}}</ref> He planned and built the [[Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi]] in which Francis is buried, a building which includes the friary [[Sacro Convento]], still today the spiritual centre of the order.<ref name="sacro">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sanfrancescoassisi.org/en/st-francis/important-persons/brother-elia |title="Brother Elia of Cortona ", Basilica Papale e Sacro convent di San Francesco in Assisi |access-date=2019-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709090753/http://www.sanfrancescoassisi.org/en/st-francis/important-persons/brother-elia |archive-date=2019-07-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

In the external successes of the brothers, as they were reported at the yearly general chapters, there was much to encourage Francis. [[Caesar of Speyer]], the first German [[provincial superior|provincial]], a zealous advocate of the founder's strict principle of poverty, began in 1221 from [[Augsburg]] with 25 companions, to win for the order in the region of the [[Rhine]] and the [[Danube]]. In 1224, [[Agnellus of Pisa]] led a small group of friars to England. The branch arriving in England became known as the "greyfriars".<ref>[http://www.stpatrickswaterloo.org.uk/greyfriars.html Greyfriars in England] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705124031/http://www.stpatrickswaterloo.org.uk/greyfriars.html |date=2008-07-05 }}</ref> Beginning at [[Greyfriars, Canterbury|Greyfriars]] at [[Canterbury]], the ecclesiastical capital, they moved on to [[London]], the political capital, and [[Oxford]], the intellectual capital. From these three bases, the Franciscans swiftly expanded, to embrace the principal towns of England.

===Development after Francis's death===
====1232–1239====
[[File:Anthony pereda.jpg|thumb|left|[[Anthony of Padua]] ({{circa|1195–1231}}) with the [[Child Jesus|Infant Christ]], painting by [[Antonio de Pereda]] ({{circa|1611–1678}})]]
Elias was a lay friar, and encouraged other laymen to enter the order. This brought opposition from many ordained friars and ministers provincial, who also opposed increased centralization of the Order. [[Pope Gregory IX|Gregory IX]] declared his intention to build a splendid church to house the body of Francis and the task fell to Elias, who at once began to lay plans for the erection of a great basilica at Assisi, to enshrine the remains of the ''Poverello''.<ref name=Paschal/> In order to build the basilica, Elias proceeded to collect money in various ways to meet the expenses of the building. Elias thus also alienated the zealots in the order, who felt this was not in keeping with the founder's views upon the question of poverty.

The earliest leader of the strict party was [[Brother Leo]], a close companion of Francis during his last years and the author of the {{lang|la|Speculum perfectionis}}, a strong polemic against the laxer party. Having protested against the collection of money for the erection of the basilica of San Francesco, it was Leo who broke in pieces the marble box which Elias had set up for offertories for the completion of the basilica at [[Assisi]]. For this Elias had him scourged, and this outrage on St Francis's dearest disciple consolidated the opposition to Elias. Leo was the leader in the early stages of the struggle in the order for the maintenance of St Francis's ideas on strict poverty.<ref name=paschrob>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09173a.htm Robinson, Paschal. "Brother Leo." The Catholic Encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205134451/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09173a.htm |date=2019-12-05 }} Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 28 December 2019 {{PD-notice}}</ref> At the chapter held in May 1227, Elias was rejected in spite of his prominence, and [[Giovanni Parenti]], Minister Provincial of Spain, was elected Minister General of the order.

In 1232 Elias succeeded him, and under him the Order significantly developed its ministries and presence in the towns. Many new houses were founded, especially in Italy, and in many of them special attention was paid to education. The somewhat earlier settlements of Franciscan teachers at the universities (in [[Paris]], for example, where [[Alexander of Hales]] was teaching) continued to develop. Contributions toward the promotion of the Order's work, and especially the building of the Basilica in Assisi, came in abundantly. Funds could only be accepted on behalf of the friars for determined, imminent, real necessities that could not be provided for from begging. When in 1230, the General Chapter could not agree on a common interpretation of the 1223 Rule it sent a delegation including [[Anthony of Padua]] to [[Pope Gregory&nbsp;IX]] for an authentic interpretation of this piece of papal legislation. The bull {{lang|la|Quo elongati}} of Gregory&nbsp;IX declared that the Testament of St.&nbsp;Francis was not legally binding and offered an interpretation of poverty that would allow the Order to continue to develop. Gregory&nbsp;IX authorized agents of the Order to have custody of such funds where they could not be spent immediately. Elias pursued with great severity the principal leaders of the opposition, and even [[Bernardo di Quintavalle]], the founder's first disciple, was obliged to conceal himself for years in the forest of [[Sefro|Monte Sefro]].

The conflict between the two parties lasted many years and the {{lang|it|Zelanti}} won several notable victories in spite of the favor shown to their opponents by the papal administration, until finally the reconciliation of the two points of view was seen to be impossible and the order was actually split into halves.

====1239–1274====
{{stack|[[File:Palácio Nacional de Mafra (1).jpg|thumb|A Franciscan convent in [[Mafra, Portugal|Mafra]] in Portugal]]
[[File:François, Claude (dit Frère Luc) - Saint Bonaventure.jpg|thumb|[[Bonaventure]] (1221–1274), painting by Claude François ({{circa|1650–1660}})]]}}
Elias governed the Order from the center, imposing his authority on the provinces (as had Francis). A reaction to this centralized government was led from the provinces of England and Germany. At the general chapter of 1239, held in Rome under the personal presidency of Gregory IX, Elias was deposed in favor of [[Albert of Pisa]], the former provincial of England,<ref name="new advent friars">{{cite web |title=Order of Friars Minor |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06281a.htm |website=newadvent.org}}</ref> a moderate Observantist. This chapter introduced General Statutes to govern the Order and devolved power from the [[Minister General (Franciscan)|Minister General]] to the Ministers Provincial sitting in chapter. The next two Ministers General, [[Haymo of Faversham]] (1240–1244) and [[Crescentius of Jesi]] (1244–1247), consolidated this greater democracy in the Order but also led the Order towards a greater clericalization. The new [[Pope Innocent IV]] supported them in this. In a bull of November 14, 1245, this pope even sanctioned an extension of the system of financial agents, and allowed the funds to be used not simply for those things that were necessary for the friars but also for those that were useful.

The Observantist party took a strong stand in opposition to this ruling and agitated so successfully against the lax General that in 1247, at a chapter held in Lyon, France—where Innocent IV was then residing—he was replaced by the strict Observantist [[John of Parma]] (1247–1257) and the Order refused to implement any provisions of Innocent IV that were laxer than those of Gregory IX.

Elias, who had been excommunicated and taken under the protection of [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], was now forced to give up all hope of recovering his power in the Order. He died in 1253, after succeeding by recantation in obtaining the removal of his censures. Under John of Parma, who enjoyed the favor of Innocent IV and [[Pope Alexander IV]], the influence of the Order was notably increased, especially by the provisions of the latter pope in regard to the academic activity of the brothers. He not only sanctioned the theological institutes in Franciscan houses, but did all he could to support the friars in the Mendicant Controversy, when the secular Masters of the [[University of Paris]] and the Bishops of France combined to attack the [[mendicant orders]]. It was due to the action of [[Pope Alexander IV|Alexander IV]]'s envoys, who were obliged to threaten the university authorities with excommunication, that the degree of doctor of theology was finally conceded to the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[Thomas Aquinas]] and the Franciscan [[Bonaventure]] (1257), who had previously been able to lecture only as licentiates.

The Franciscan [[Gerard of Borgo San Donnino]] at this time issued a Joachimite tract and [[John of Parma]] was seen as favoring the condemned theology of [[Joachim of Fiore]]. To protect the Order from its enemies, John was forced to step down and recommended Bonaventure as his successor. Bonaventure saw the need to unify the Order around a common ideology and both wrote a new life of the founder and collected the Order's legislation into the [[Constitutions of Narbonne]], so called because they were ratified by the Order at its chapter held at [[Narbonne]], France, in 1260. In the chapter of [[Pisa]] three years later Bonaventure's {{lang|la|Legenda maior}} was approved as the only biography of Francis and all previous biographies were ordered to be destroyed. Bonaventure ruled (1257–1274) in a moderate spirit, which is represented also by various works produced by the order in his time{{snd}}especially by the {{lang|la|Expositio regulae}} written by [[David of Augsburg]] soon after 1260.

===14th century===
====1274–1300====
The successor to Bonaventure, Jerome of Ascoli or Girolamo Masci (1274–1279), (the future [[Pope Nicholas&nbsp;IV]]), and his successor, [[Bonagratia of Bologna]] (1279–1285), also followed a middle course. Severe measures were taken against certain extreme [[Fraticelli|Spirituals]] who, on the strength of the rumor that [[Pope Gregory&nbsp;X]] was intending at the [[Second Council of Lyon|Council of Lyon]] (1274–1275) to force the mendicant orders to tolerate the possession of property, threatened both pope and council with the renunciation of allegiance. Attempts were made, however, to satisfy the reasonable demands of the Spiritual party, as in the bull ''Exiit qui seminat''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.papalencyclicals.net/nichol03/exiit-e.htm|title=Exiit qui seminat|date=August 14, 1279|access-date=January 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703073106/https://www.papalencyclicals.net/nichol03/exiit-e.htm|archive-date=July 3, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> of [[Pope Nicholas&nbsp;III]] (1279), which pronounced the principle of complete poverty to be meritorious and holy, but interpreted it in the way of a somewhat sophistical distinction between possession and usufruct. The bull was received respectfully by Bonagratia and the next two generals, [[Arlotto of Prato]] (1285–1287) and [[Matthew of Aqua Sparta]] (1287–1289); but the Spiritual party under the leadership of the Bonaventuran pupil and apocalyptic [[Peter Olivi|Pierre Jean Olivi]] regarded its provisions for the dependence of the friars upon the pope and the division between brothers occupied in manual labor and those employed on spiritual missions as a corruption of the fundamental principles of the Order. They were not won over by the conciliatory attitude of the next general, [[Raymond Gaufredi]] (1289–1296), and of the Franciscan Pope Nicholas&nbsp;IV (1288–1292). The attempt made by the next pope, [[Pope Celestine&nbsp;V|Celestine V]], an old friend of the order, to end the strife by uniting the Observantist party with his own order of hermits (see [[Celestines]]) was scarcely more successful. Only a part of the Spirituals joined the new order, and the secession scarcely lasted beyond the reign of the hermit-pope. [[Pope Boniface&nbsp;VIII]] annulled Celestine's bull of foundation with his other acts, deposed the general [[Raymond de Gaufredi|Raymond Gaufredi]], and appointed a man of laxer tendency, [[John de Murro]], in his place. The Benedictine section of the Celestines was separated from the Franciscan section, and the latter was formally suppressed by Pope Boniface&nbsp;VIII in 1302. The leader of the Observantists, Olivi, who spent his last years in the Franciscan house at Tarnius and died there in 1298, had pronounced against the extremer "Spiritual" attitude, and given an exposition of the theory of poverty which was approved by the more moderate Observantists, and for a long time constituted their principle.

====Persecution====
Under [[Pope Clement V]] (1305–1314) this party succeeded in exercising some influence on papal decisions. In 1309, Clement had a commission sit at [[Avignon]] for the purpose of reconciling the conflicting parties. [[Ubertino of Casale]], the leader, after Olivi's death, of the stricter party, who was a member of the commission, induced the [[Council of Vienne]] to arrive at a decision in the main favoring his views. The 1313 papal constitution {{lang|la|Exivi de paradiso}} was on the whole conceived in the same sense. 

Clement's successor, [[Pope John XXII]] (1316–1334), favored the laxer or conventual party. By the bull {{lang|la|Quorundam exigit}} he modified several provisions of the constitution {{lang|la|Exivi}}, and required the formal submission of the Spirituals. Some of them, encouraged by the strongly Observantist general [[Michael of Cesena]], ventured to dispute the pope's right so to deal with the provisions of his predecessor. Sixty-four of them were summoned to Avignon and the most obstinate delivered over to the Inquisition, four of them being burned in 1318. Shortly before this, all the separate houses of the Observantists had been suppressed.

====Renewed controversy on the question of poverty====
[[File:Panewniki Hedwig.jpg|thumb|Franciscan friary in [[Katowice]], Poland]]
A few years later a new controversy, this time theoretical, broke out on the question of [[Apostolic poverty|poverty]]. In his 14 August 1279 bull {{lang|la|Exiit qui seminat}},<ref>{{cite web|author=Pope Nicholas III |url=http://www.franciscan-archive.org/bullarium/exiit-e.html |title=English translation 2 |access-date=2013-06-16}}</ref> [[Pope Nicholas III]] had confirmed the arrangement already established by [[Pope Innocent IV]], by which all property given to the Franciscans was vested in the [[Holy See]], which granted the friars the mere use of it. The bull declared that renunciation of ownership of all things "both individually but also in common, for God's sake, is meritorious and holy; Christ, also, showing the way of perfection, taught it by word and confirmed it by example, and the first founders of the church militant, as they had drawn it from the fountainhead itself, distributed it through the channels of their teaching and life to those wishing to live perfectly."<ref>[http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/wexiit.html English translation 1]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101081949/http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/wexiit.html |date=2011-11-01 }} cf. [http://www.franciscan-archive.org/bullarium/exiit-e.html English translation 2]  and another translation in Rosalind B. Brooke, ''The Image of St Francis''. Cambridge University Press, 2006 {{ISBN|978-0-521-78291-3}}, p. 98.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dn4eAAAAIAAJ&q=Brian+Tierney+%22consisted+in+the+exercise%22&pg=PA70|title=Origins of papal infallibility, 1150–1350: a study on the concepts of infallibility, sovereignty and tradition in the Middle Ages|publisher=Brill Archive|date= 1972|access-date=2013-06-16}}</ref><ref name="Schatz">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IeH4OKYflbkC&dq=Klaus+Schatz+%22Olivi+by+no%22&pg=PA118 |title=Klaus Schatz, ''Papal Primacy'' |date=1996 |publisher=Liturgical Press |isbn=978-0814655221 |location=Collegeville, Minnesota |pages=117–118 |access-date=2024-08-29}}</ref>

Although ''Exiit qui seminat'' banned disputing about its contents, the decades that followed saw increasingly bitter disputes about the form of poverty to be observed by Franciscans, with the Spirituals (so called because associated with the Age of the Spirit that [[Joachim of Fiore]] had said would begin in 1260)<ref name=History>{{cite web |url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/fra/FRAht03.html |title=History of the Franciscan Movement (3) |publisher=Christusrex.org |date=2001-12-30 |access-date=2013-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522162037/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/fra/FRAht03.html |archive-date=2013-05-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> pitched against the [[Conventual Franciscans]].<ref>Brooke, ''The Image of St Francis'', p. 100</ref> [[Pope Clement V]]'s bull {{lang|la|Exivi de Paradiso}} of 20 November 1312<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.franciscan-archive.org/bullarium/exivi-e.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112210247/http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/wexivi.html|url-status=dead|title=Exivi de Paradiso – Pope Clement V|archive-date=January 12, 2012|website=franciscan-archive.org}}</ref> failed to effect a compromise between the two factions.<ref name=History/> Clement V's successor, [[Pope John XXII]] was determined to suppress what he considered to be the excesses of the Spirituals, who contended eagerly for the view that Christ and his apostles had possessed absolutely nothing, either separately or jointly, and who were citing {{lang|la|Exiit qui seminat}} in support of their view.<ref name=Kleinhenz/> 

In 1317, John XXII formally condemned the group of them known as the Fraticelli.<ref name=History/> On 26 March 1322, with {{lang|la|Quia nonnunquam}}, he removed the ban on discussion of Nicholas III's bull<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/mhpir/politics_and_international_relations/staff/john_kilcullen/quia_nonnunquam/|title=John XXII, Quia nonnunquam|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606232917/http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/mhpir/politics_and_international_relations/staff/john_kilcullen/quia_nonnunquam/|archive-date=2014-06-06}}</ref><ref>Brooke, p. 100</ref> and commissioned experts to examine the idea of poverty based on belief that Christ and the apostles owned nothing. The experts disagreed among themselves, but the majority condemned the idea on the grounds that it would condemn the church's right to have possessions.<ref name=History/> The Franciscan chapter held in [[Perugia]] in May 1322 declared on the contrary: "To say or assert that Christ, in showing the way of perfection, and the Apostles, in following that way and setting an example to others who wished to lead the perfect life, possessed nothing either severally or in common, either by right of ownership and {{lang|la|dominium}} or by personal right, we corporately and unanimously declare to be not heretical, but true and catholic."<ref name=History/> 

By the bull {{lang|la|Ad conditorem canonum}} of 8 December 1322,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/mhpir/politics_and_international_relations/staff/john_kilcullen/john_xxii_ad_conditorem_canonum/|title=John XXII, Ad conditorem canonum|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606234314/http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/mhpir/politics_and_international_relations/staff/john_kilcullen/john_xxii_ad_conditorem_canonum/|archive-date=2014-06-06}}</ref> John XXII, declaring it ridiculous to pretend that every scrap of food given to the friars and eaten by them belonged to the pope, refused to accept ownership over the goods of the Franciscans in the future and granted them exemption from the rule that absolutely forbade ownership of anything even in common, thus forcing them to accept ownership.<ref>Brooke, pp. 100–101</ref> And, on 12 November 1323, he issued the short bull {{lang|la|Quum inter nonnullos}}<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/QINN-E.HTM English translation 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606071618/http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/QINN-E.HTM |date=2013-06-06 }}; [http://www.franciscan-archive.org/bullarium/qinn-e.html English translation 2]</ref> which declared "erroneous and heretical" the doctrine that Christ and his apostles had no possessions whatever.<ref name=Schatz/><ref name="Kleinhenz">{{cite book |author=Christopher Kleinhenz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TNs3BQAAQBAJ&dq=Kleinhenz+conflicting+acts&pg=PT874 |title=Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=978-0415939300 |volume=1 |page=373 |access-date=2024-08-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1pxjEAAAQBAJ&dq=Brian+Tierney+%22judged+heretical%22&pg=PA181 |title=Tierney, p. 181 |date=7 March 2022 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-47696-7 |access-date=2024-08-29}}</ref> John XXII's actions thus demolished the fictitious structure that gave the appearance of absolute poverty to the life of the Franciscan friars.<ref>Brooke, p. 101</ref>

Influential members of the order protested, such as the minister general [[Michael of Cesena]], the English provincial [[William of Ockham]], and [[Bonagratia of Bergamo]]. In 1324, [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis the Bavarian]] sided with the Spirituals and accused the pope of heresy. In reply to the argument of his opponents that Nicholas III's bull {{lang|la|Exiit qui seminat}} was fixed and irrevocable, John XXII issued the bull {{lang|la|Quia quorundam}} on 10 November 1324<ref>[http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/wqq.html English translation 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112204455/http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/wqq.html |date=2012-01-12 }}; [http://www.franciscan-archive.org/bullarium/qquor-e.html English translation 2]</ref> in which he declared that it cannot be inferred from the words of the 1279 bull that Christ and the apostles had nothing, adding: "Indeed, it can be inferred rather that the Gospel life lived by Christ and the Apostles did not exclude some possessions in common, since living 'without property' does not require that those living thus should have nothing in common." In 1328, Michael of Cesena was summoned to Avignon to explain the Order's intransigence in refusing the pope's orders and its complicity with Louis of Bavaria. Michael was imprisoned in Avignon, together with Francesco d'Ascoli, Bonagratia, and William of Ockham. In January of that year Louis of Bavaria entered Rome and had himself crowned emperor. Three months later he declared John XXII deposed and installed the Spiritual Franciscan [[Antipope Nicholas V|Pietro Rainalducci]] as [[antipope]]. The Franciscan chapter that opened in [[Bologna]] on 28 May reelected Michael of Cesena, who two days before had escaped with his companions from Avignon. But in August Louis the Bavarian and his pope had to flee Rome before an attack by [[Robert, King of Naples]]. Only a small part of the Franciscan Order joined the opponents of John XXII, and at a general chapter held in [[Paris]] in 1329 the majority of all the houses declared their submission to the Pope. With the bull {{lang|la|Quia vir reprobus}} of 16 November 1329,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/mhpir/politics_and_international_relations/staff/john_kilcullen/john_xxii_quia_vir_reprobus/|title=John XXII, Quia vir reprobus|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603055534/http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/mhpir/politics_and_international_relations/staff/john_kilcullen/john_xxii_quia_vir_reprobus/|archive-date=2013-06-03}}</ref> John XXII replied to Michael of Cesena's attacks on {{lang|la|Ad conditorem canonum}}, {{lang|la|Quum inter nonnullos}}, and {{lang|la|Quia quorundam}}. In 1330, Antipope Nicholas V submitted, followed later by the ex-general Michael, and finally, just before his death, by Ockham.<ref name=History/>

===Separate congregations===
{{stack|[[File:A christian missionary Friar landing in southrn India (14th cCentury).jpg|thumb|upright|A Christian missionary friar landing in southern India (14th century)]]
[[File:Franciscan monastery Lopud.JPG|thumb|Franciscan convent at Lopud in [[Croatia]]]]}}

Out of all these dissensions in the 14th century sprang a number of separate congregations, or almost sects, to say nothing of the heretical parties of the [[Beghards]] and [[Fraticelli]], some of which developed within the Order on both hermit and cenobitic principles and may here be mentioned:

====Clareni====
The Clareni or Clarenini was an association of hermits established on the river Clareno in the march of [[Ancona]] by [[Angelo da Clareno]] (1337). Like several other smaller congregations, it was obliged in 1568 under [[Pope Pius V]] to unite with the general body of Observantists.

====Minorites of Narbonne====
As a separate congregation, this originated through the union of a number of houses which followed Olivi after 1308. It was limited to southwestern France and, its members being accused of the heresy of the Beghards, was suppressed by the Inquisition during the controversies under John XXII.

====Reform of Johannes de Vallibus====
This was founded in the hermitage of St. Bartholomew at Brugliano near [[Foligno]] in 1334. The congregation was suppressed by the Franciscan general chapter in 1354; reestablished in 1368 by Paolo de' Trinci of Foligno; confirmed by Gregory XI in 1373, and spread rapidly from Central Italy to France, Spain, Hungary, and elsewhere. Most of the Observantist houses joined this congregation by degrees, so that it became known simply as the "brothers of the regular Observance." 

It acquired the favor of the popes by its energetic opposition to the heretical [[Fraticelli]], and was expressly recognized by the 1415 [[Council of Constance]]. It was allowed to have a special vicar-general of its own and legislate for its members without reference to the conventual part of the Order. Through the work of such men as [[Bernardino of Siena]], [[Giovanni da Capistrano]], and [[Dietrich Coelde]] (b. 1435? at Munster; was a member of the [[Brethren of the Common Life]], died December 11, 1515), it gained great prominence during the 15th century. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Observantists, with 1,400 houses, comprised nearly half of the entire Order. 

Their influence brought about attempts at reform even among the Conventuals, including the quasi-Observantist brothers living under the rule of the Conventual ministers (Martinianists or ''Observantes sub ministris''), such as the male Colletans, later led by Boniface de Ceva in his reform attempts principally in France and Germany; the reformed congregation founded in 1426 by the Spaniard Philip de Berbegal and distinguished by the special importance they attached to the little hood ({{lang|la|cappuciola}}); the Neutri, a group of reformers originating about 1463 in Italy, who tried to take a middle ground between the Conventuals and Observantists, but refused to obey the heads of either, until they were compelled by the pope to affiliate with the regular Observantists, or with those of the Common Life; the Caperolani, a congregation founded about 1470 in North Italy by [[Pietro Caperolo|Peter Caperolo]], but dissolved again on the death of its founder in 1481; the Amadeists, founded by the noble Portuguese Amadeo, who entered the Franciscan order at Assisi in 1452, gathered around him a number of adherents to his fairly strict principles (numbering finally twenty-six houses), and died in the odor of sanctity in 1482.

====Unification====
[[File:Kościół św. Barbary w Przeworsku fasada1.jpg|thumb|upright|A 15th century Franciscan church in [[Przeworsk]], Poland]]
Projects for a union between the two main branches of the Order were put forth not only by the Council of Constance but by several popes, without any positive result. By direction of [[Pope Martin V]], [[Giovanni da Capistrano|John of Capistrano]] drew up statutes which were to serve as a basis for reunion, and they were actually accepted by a general chapter at Assisi in 1430; but the majority of the Conventual houses refused to agree to them, and they remained without effect. At [[Giovanni da Capistrano|John of Capistrano]]'s request [[Pope Eugene IV|Eugene IV]] issued a bull ({{lang|la|Ut sacra minorum}}, 1446) aimed at the same result, but again nothing was accomplished. 

Equally unsuccessful were the attempts of the Franciscan [[Pope Sixtus IV]], who bestowed a vast number of privileges on both of the original mendicant orders, but by this very fact lost the favor of the Observants and failed in his plans for reunion. [[Pope Julius II|Julius II]] succeeded in reducing some of the smaller branches, but left the division of the two great parties untouched. This division was legalized by [[Pope Leo X|Leo X]], after a general chapter held in Rome in 1517, in connection with the reform-movement of the [[Fifth Council of the Lateran|Fifth Lateran Council]], had once more declared the impossibility of reunion. The less strict principles of the Conventuals, permitting the possession of real estate and the enjoyment of fixed revenues, were recognized as tolerable, while the Observants, in contrast to this {{lang|la|usus moderatus}}, were held strictly to their own {{lang|la|usus arctus}} or ''pauper''.

All of the groups that followed the Franciscan Rule literally were united to the Observants, and the right to elect the [[Minister General (Franciscan)|Minister General of the Order]], together with the seal of the Order, was given to this united grouping.{{when|date=January 2017}} This grouping, since it adhered more closely to the rule of the founder, was allowed to claim a certain superiority over the Conventuals. The Observant general, elected now for six years, not for life, inherited the title of "Minister-General of the Whole Order of St. Francis". He was granted the right to confirm the choice of a head for the Conventuals, who was known as "Master-General of the Friars Minor Conventual"&mdash;although this privilege never became practically operative.

{{stack|[[File:Augustins - L'Agitateur du Languedoc - Jean-Paul Laurens RO 699.jpg|thumb|''L'agitateur du Languedoc'', Jean-Paul Laurens' depiction of [[Bernard Délicieux]]’s examination by the Inquisition]]
[[File:Nicolas-Antoine Taunay.jpg|thumb|Franciscan friars look at the sea and city landscape from the [[:pt:Convento de Santo Antônio (Rio de Janeiro)|Convent of Santo Antônio]] (Saint Anthony) in [[Rio de Janeiro]] (capital city of the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] at the time), Brazil, 1816.]]}}

===Franciscans and the Inquisition===
{{Main|Inquisition|Medieval Inquisition#Papal inquisition}}
In about 1236 during the time of [[Elias of Cortona]], [[Pope Gregory IX]] appointed the Franciscans, along with the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], as Inquisitors.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08026a.htm|title=Catholic Encyclopedia – Inquisition|website=New Advent|access-date=October 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026132112/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08026a.htm|archive-date=October 26, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> The Franciscans had been involved in anti-heretical activities from the beginning simply by preaching and acting as living examples of the Gospel life.<ref>Prudlo, Donald S., ''The Origin, Development, and Refinement of Medieval Religious Mendicancies'' (Brill, 2011) p. 144</ref> As official Inquisitors, they were authorized to use torture to extract confessions, as approved by [[Pope Innocent IV]] in 1252 while [[John of Parma]] was General Minister.<ref name="auto"/> The Franciscans were involved in the torture and trials of Jews, Muslims, and other heretics<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/bronze/witches.htm#franciscan|title=Witches in Religion|website=New Advent|access-date=October 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812154823/http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/bronze/witches.htm#franciscan|archive-date=August 12, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> throughout the Middle Ages and wrote their own manuals to guide Inquisitors, such as the 14th century ''Codex Casanatensis'' for use by Inquisitors in Tuscany.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Clement |first=Geoffrey Ward |title=A Franciscan Inquisitor's Manual and its Compositional Context: 'Codex Casanatensis' 1730 |pages=1–372 |date=2013 |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=Fordham University|url=https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3564858/ |access-date=12 November 2022 |id={{ProQuest|1410824809}} }}</ref> 

As well as acting as prosecutors, many friars, particularly those associated with the [[Spiritual Franciscans]] and even some [[Order of Friars Minor|Observants]], were also subject to interrogation and prosecution by the Inquisition at various stages in the 13th and 14th centuries. Notable cases from the Spirituals include [[Angelo da Clareno]] and [[Bernard Délicieux]]. Notable examples of Observants include the four burned during the suppression of the Observant houses in 1318 mentioned above. 

{{citation needed span|date=August 2024|Some 300,000 Jews, up to a quarter of the Spanish population, had to convert to Catholicism or flee Spain, or were killed in the [[Spanish Inquisition]].}} The Inquisition spread to the new world during the [[Age of Discovery]] to root out heretics, leading further persecution and execution (e.g., [[Mexican Inquisition]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/history/articles/auto-da-fe-mexico-city|title=The Auto-da-fé of Mexico City |website=Tablet Magazine}}</ref>

===New World missions===
{{Main|Spanish missions in California|Spanish missions in New Mexico|Junipero Serra|Franciscan missions to the Maya|Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda|Mexican secularization act of 1833}}
The work of the Franciscans in New Spain began in 1523, when three Flemish friars—Juan de Ayora, Pedro de Tecto, and Pedro de Gante—reached the central highlands. Their impact as missionaries was limited at first, since two of them died on [[Hernán Cortés|Cortés]]'s expedition to Central America in 1524, but Fray Pedro de Gante initiated the evangelization process and studied the [[Nahuatl language]] through his contacts with children of the Indian elite from the city of [[Tetzcoco (altepetl)|Tetzcoco]].<ref>Nájera, Guillermo Antonio Nájera, and William B. Taylor. "Franciscans", in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures'', Oxford University Press, 2001.</ref> 

In May 1524, the [[Twelve Apostles of Mexico]] arrived, led by [[Martín de Valencia]]. There they built the [[Convent_of_San_Francisco,_Madero_Street,_Mexico_City|Convento Grande de San Francisco]],<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/978514|jstor = 978514|title = The Church of San Francisco in Mexico City|last1 = Chauvet|first1 = Fidel de J.|journal = The Americas|year = 1950|volume = 7|issue = 1|pages = 13–30|doi = 10.2307/978514| s2cid=144573605 }}</ref> which became Franciscan headquarters for [[New Spain]] for the next three hundred years.