The Franciscan Order; A Victim of its own Success Essay -- essays rese

The Franciscan movement was a religious recount that arose out of one mans ideologies and beliefs. St. Francis of Assisis ideals of absolute poverty, obedience, humility, and relief were uncomplicated and basic, but during his life and even shortly after his goal these ideologies were gradually shifting and causing a great amount of debate. The large size of the Franciscan dress combined with the mass amount of popularity that the come out gained do changes in the ideology and objectives of Francis messages and teaching almost an inevitable necessity. well-nigh could argue that in many ways the Franciscan Orders original ideologies were a victim of the movements success. This is evident in the main rules of the Order, what the rules were initially like during the life of Francis, and what they became after his death.Saint Francis of Assisi was born(p) in 1182 into a wealth family. His beget was Peter Bernardone, a pissed cloth merchant. Throughout Francis childhood he exp erienced many of the tangible pleasures in life however, gradually he began to have imaginativenesss from the divine. The first vision appeared when he was fighting with knights against Assisis enemies, the second during a night of gaiety and celebration, and a third when he was praying at the ruined Church of San Damiano. During the last mentioned vision, Francis heard a voice coming from the crucifix telling him to make the Church. Francis sold many of his fathers assets and gave the money to San Damiano, but his father was unimpressed. Francis publicly denounced his father, striping naked and throwing his clothes at his father, saying that his except father from that point on was the divine. For a time Francis wandered unsure of what to do, until he had his fourth divine vision on February 28, 1206. He realized that his rightful(a) mission in life was the imitation of the life of Christ. Francis took to begging, and wandering from townsfolk to town, caring for those less f ortunate than himself, and taking only what was necessary for his survival. aft(prenominal) a time, Francis accumulated a small number of followers and short realized that some rules would have to be formulated to govern his order. On April 6th 1209 the order began when Francis said, He that will come after me, allow him deny himselfThis, my brothers, is our life and rule and that of all those who shall wish to join... ... and also made the Order increasingly difficult to govern. This difficulty in governance often forced the Order to turn to the Pope for guidance, thus creating a chancy reliance on the Pope and making the order submissive to a potentially oppressive and dogmatic power. Likewise, the popularity of the movement contributed to its size. The more popular the Order was the more people joined it. The popularity also contributed to the relaxing of the standards of poverty, humility and simplicity. funds and gifts were given to the Order, jobs with a degree of power and prestige were offered to members of the Order by the Pope, and many other circumstances. The Order itself had become a worldly constitution rather than a wandering group of poor friars as Francis had intended. With such(prenominal) undermining of the original ideals and objectives of St. Francis, a split in the Order seems almost inevitable.final exam Word Count 2971 Sources/ Works CitedBurr, D. Olivi and Franciscan Poverty The Usus Pauper Controversy. Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989.Moorman, J. A History of the Franciscan Order. UK Oxford University Press, 1968.