Order of Friars Minor

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(Also known as FRANCISCANS.) This subject may be conveniently considered under the following heads:

I. General History of the Order;

A. First Period (1209-1517);
B. Second Period (1517-1909);

II. The Reform Parties;

A. First Period (1226-1517);
B. Second Period (1517-1897);

(1) The Discalced;
(2) The Reformanti;
(3) The Recollects, including a survey of the history of theFranciscans in the North, especially in Great Britain andIreland (America is treated in a separate article);

III. Statistics of the Order (1260-1909);
IV. The Various Names of the Friars Minor;
V. The Habit;
VI. The Constitution of the Order;
VII. General Sphere of the Order's Activity;
VIII. The Preaching Activity of the Order;
IX. Influence of the Order on the Liturgy and Religious Devotions;
X.Franciscan Missions;
XI. Cultivation of the Sciences;
XII. Saints and Beati of the Order.

General history of the order

First period (1209-1517)

Having gathered about twelve disciples around him (1207-08),St. Francis of Assisi appeared beforeInnocent III, who, after some hesitation, gave verbal sanction to theFranciscan Rule. Thus was legally founded the Order of Friars Minor (Ordo Fratrum Minorum), the precise date being, according to an ancient tradition in the order, 16 April, 1209. Hisfriars having rapidly increased in number and spread over various districts ofItaly, St. Francis appointed, in 1217, provincialministers (ministri provinciales), and sent his disciples farther afield. At the general chapter of 1219 these missions were renewed and otherfriars dispatched to the East, toHungary, toFrance, and toSpain. Francis himself visitedEgypt and the East, but the innovations introduced during his absence by some of thefriars caused his speedy return in 1220. In the same year he resigned the office of general of the order, which he entrusted first to Peter of Cattaneo, on whose early death (10 March, 1221) he appointedElias of Cortona. Francis, however, retained a certain supreme direction of the order until his death on 3 October, 1226.

Elias of Cortona, as the vicar of Francis, summoned the regular Pentecost chapter for the following year, and on 29 May, 1227, Giovanni Parenti, a jurist, was chosen as first successor of St. Francis and first minister-general. He has often been regarded as a native of Florence, but probably came from the neighbourhood ofRome.Gregory IX employed the new general on political missions at Florence andRome, authorized the Minorites to lay out their own cemeteries (26 July, 1227), and charged them with the direction and maintenance of thePoor Clares (1 December, 1227). In 1228 and the succeeding years,Elias of Cortona labouredzealously at the construction of a church to be dedicated toFrancis of Assisi, who wascanonized byGregory IX on 16 July, 1228. On the day following thepope himself laid the foundation stone of this church atAssisi destined to receive the body of St. Francis, and he shortly afterwards entrusted toThomas of Celano the task of writing the biography of thesaint, which he confirmed on 25 February, 1229. The translation of thesaint's body from the church of San Giorgio to the new basilica took place on 22 May, 1230, three days before the appointed time, andElias of Cortona, possibly fearing some disturbance, took possession of the body, with the assistance of thecivic authorities, and buried it in the church, where it was discovered in 1818. Elias was censured and punished for this action in theBull of 16 June, 1230. The usual general chapter was held about the samedate, and on 28 September, 1230, theBull "Quo elongati" was issued, dealing with the Testament of St. Francis and certain points in the Rule of 1223. Elias meanwhile devoted all his energy to the completion of the magnificent church (or rather double church) of S. Francesco, which stands on the slope of a hill in the western portion ofAssisi, and of the adjacentmonastery with its massive pillars and arcades. His election as general in 1232 gave him freer scope, and enabled him to realize the successful issue of his plans. As a politician, Elias certainly possessed genius. His character, however, was too ostentatious and worldly, and, though under his rule the order developed externally and its missions and studies were promoted, still in consequence of his absolutism, exercised now with haughty bearing and again through reckless visitors, there arose in the order an antagonism to his government, in which theParisian masters oftheology and the German and English provinces played the most prominent part. Unable to stem this opposition, Elias was deposed, withGregory IX's approval, by the Chapter ofRome (1239), and the hitherto undefinedrights and almost absolute authority of the general in matters of income and legislation for the order were considerably restricted. Elias threw in his lot withFrederick II (Hohenstaufen), wasexcommunicated in consequence, and died on 22 April, 1253. Albert ofPisa, who had previously beenprovincial ofGermany andHungary, was chosen at the chapter of 1239 to succeed Elias, but died shortly afterwards (23 January, 1240). OnAll Saints' Day, 1240, the chapter again met and electedHaymo of Faversham, a learned andzealous EnglishFranciscan, who had been sent byGregory IX (1234) to Constantinople to promote the reunion of the Schismatic Greeks with theApostolic See. Haymo, who, withAlexander of Hales had taken part in the movement against Elias, waszealous in his visitation of the various houses of the order. He held the Provincial Chapter of Saxonia at Aldenburg on 29 September, 1242, and, at the request ofGregory IX, revised therubrics to theRoman Breviary and theMissal.

After Haymo's death in 1244 the General Chapter ofGenoa elected Crescenzio Grizzi ofJesi (1245-47) to succeed him. Crescenzio instituted an investigation of the life andmiracles of St. Francis and other Minorites, and authorizedThomas of Celano to write the "Legenda secunda S. Francisci", based on the information (Legenda trium Sociorum) supplied to the general by three companions of thesaint (Tres Socii, i.e. Leo, Angelus, and Rufinus). From this period also dates the "Dialogus de vistis Sanctorum Fratrum Minorum." This general also opposed vigorously the separationist and particularistric tendencies of some seventy-two of the brothers. The town ofAssisi asked for him as itsbishop, but the request was not granted byInnocent IV, who, on 29 April, 1252, appointed himBishop of Jesi, in theMarch of Ancona, his native town.John of Parma, who succeeded to the generalship (1247-57), belonged to the more rigorous party in the order. He was most diligent in visiting in person the various houses of the order. It was during this period thatThomas of Celano wrote his "Tractatusde Miraculis". On 11 August, 1253,Clare of Assisi died, and wascanonized byAlexander IV on 26 September, 1255. On 25 May, 1253, a month after the death of theexcommunicated Elias,Innocentconsecrated the upper church of S. Francesco,John of Parma unfortunately shared the apocalyptic views and fancies of the Joachimites, or followers of Jeachim of Floris, who had many votaries in the order, and was consequently not a little compromised whenAlexander IV (4 November, 1255) solemnly condemned the "Liber introductorius", a collection of the writings ofJoachim of Floris with an extravagant introduction, which had been published atParis. This work has often been falsely ascribed to the general himself. its real author was Gerardo di Borgo S.-Donnino, who thus furnished a very dangerous weapon against the order to the professors of thesecular clergy, jealous of the success of the Minorites at theUniversity of Paris. The chapter convened in the Ara Coelimonastery atRome forcedJohn of Parma to abdicate his office (1257) and, on his recommendation, chose as his successorSt. Bonaventure fromBagnorea. John was then summoned to answer for his Joachimism before a court presided over by the new general and thecardinal-protector, and would have been condemned but for the letter of Cardinal Ottoboni, afterwardsAdrian V. He subsequently withdrew to the hermitage of Greccio, left it (1289) at the command of thepope to proceed toGreece, but died an aged broken man atCamerino on 20 March, 1289.

St. Bonaventure, learned andzealous religious, devoted all his energy to the government of the order. He strenuously advocated the manifoldduties thrust upon the order during its historical development — the labour in the care ofsouls, learned pursuits, employment offriars in the service of thepopes and temporal rulers, the institution of largemonasteries, and the preservation of the privileges of the order — being convinced that such a direction of the activities of the members would prove most beneficial to theChurch and the cause ofChristianity. The Spirituals accused Bonaventure of laxity; yet he laboured earnestly to secure the exact observance of the rule, and energetically denounced the abuses which had crept into the order, condemning them repeatedly in his encyclical letters. In accordance with the rule, he held a general chapter every three years: at Narbonne in 1260, atPisa in 1263, atParis in 1266, atAssisi in 1269, and atLyons in 1274, on the occasion of the general council. He made most of the visitations to the differentconvents in person, and was azealous preacher. The Chapter of Narbonne (1260)promulgated thestatutes of the order known as the "Constitutiones Narbonenses", the letter and spirit of which exercised a deep and enduring influence on the Fransican Order. Although the entire code did not remain long in force, many of the provisions were retained and served as a model for the later constitutions.

Even before the death of Bonaventure, during one of the sessions of the council (15 July, 1274), the Chapter ofLyons had chosen as his successor Jerome ofAscoli, who was expected by the council with the ambassadors of theGreek Church. He arrived, and the reunion of the churches was effected. Jerome was sent back byInnocent V asnuncio to Constantinople In May, 1276, but had only reachedAncona when thepope died (21 July, 1276).John XXI (1276-77) employed Jerome (October, 1276) and John ofVercelli, General of theDominicans, as mediators in thewar between Philip III ofFrance and Alfonso X of Castile. This embassy occupied both generals till March, 1279, although Jerome was preferred to thecardinalate on 12 march, 1278. When Jerome departed on the embassy to the Greeks, he had appointed Bonagratia of S. Giovanni in Persiceto to represent him at the General Chapter of Padua in 1276. On 20 May, 1279, he convened the General Chapter ofAssisi, at which Bonagratia was elected general. Jerome later occupied the Chair of Peter asNicholas IV (15 February, 1288-4 April, 1292). Bonagratia conducted a deputation from the chapter beforeNicholas III, who was then staying at Soriano, and petitioned for acardinal-protector. Thepope, who had himself been protector, appointed his nephew Matteo Orsini. The general also asked for a definition of the rule, which thepope, after personal consultation withcardinals and thetheologians of the order, issued in the "Exiit qui seminat" of 14 August, 1279. In this the order's complete renunciation ofpropertyin communi was again confirmed, and allproperty given to the brothers was vested in theHoly See, unless the donor wished to retain his title. All moneys were to be held in trust by thenuntii, or spiritual friends, for thefriars, who could however raise no claim to them. The purchase of goods could take place only through procurators appointed by thepope, or by thecardinal-protector in his name.

TheBull ofMartin IV "Ad fructus uberes" (13 December, 1281) defined the relations of themendicants to thesecular clergy. Themendicant orders had long been exempt from thejurisdiction of thebishop, and enjoyed (as distinguished from thesecular clergy) unrestricted freedom to preach and hearconfessions in the churches connected with theirmonasteries. This had led to endless friction and open quarrels between the two divisions of theclergy, and, althoughMartin IV granted no new privileges to themendicants, the strife now broke out with increasedviolence, chiefly inFrance and in a particular manner atParis.Boniface VIII adjusted their relations in theBull "Super cathedram" of 18 February, 1300, granting themendicants freedom to preach in their own churches and in public places, but not at the time when theprelate of the district was preaching. For the hearing of confessions, themendicants were to submit suitable candidates to thebishop in office, and obtain his sanction. The faithful were left free in regard to funerals, but, should they take place in the church of acloister, thequarta funerum was to be given to theparishpriest.Benedict XI abrogated thisBull, butClement V reintroduced it (1312). Especially conspicuous among the later contentions over the privileges of themendicants were those caused by John of Poliaco, a master oftheology ofParis (1320) and by Richard Fitzralph,Archbishop ofArmagh (1349). In 1516 the Fifth Council of the Lateran dealt with this question, which was definitively settled by theCouncil of Trent.

In theBull "Exultantes" of 18 January, 1283,Martin IV instituted thesyndici Apostolici. This was the name given to the men appointed by theministers and custodians to receive in the name of theHoly See thealms given to theFranciscans, and to pay it out again at their request. Thesyndici consequently replaced thenuntii and procurators. All these regulations werenecessary in consequence of the rule of poverty, the literal and unconditional observance of which was rendered impossible by the great expansion of the order, by its pursuit of learning, and the accumulatedproperty of the largecloisters in the towns. The appointment of these trustees, however, was neither subversive of nor an evasion of the rule, but rather the proper observance of itsprecepts under the altered conditions of the ime. Under Bonagratia (1279-83) and his immediate successors Arlotto da Prato (1285-86), and Matthew of Acquasparta (1287-89), a learnedtheologian andphilosopher who becamecardinal in 1288 and rendered notable service to theChurch, the Spiritual movement broke out in the Province ofAncona, under the leadership of Pietro Giovanni Olivi, who, after the General Chapter ofStrasburg (1282), caused the order considerable trouble. The general, Raimondo Gaufredi (Geoffrey) of Provence (1289-95), favoured the Spirituals and denounced the lax interpretations of the Community, i.e. the majority of the order who opposed the minority, termed Spirituals or Zelanti. Raimondo even ventured to revise the general constitutions at the General Chapter ofParis in 1292, whereupon, having refused the Bishopric of Padua offered him byBoniface VIII, he was compelled by thepope to resign his office. Giovanni Minio of Muravalle, in theMarch of Ancona, a master oftheology, was elected general by the Chapter of Anangi (1294), and although createdCardinal-Bishop of Porto (Portuensis) in 1302, continued to govern the order until Gonzalves of Valleboa (1304-13), Provincial of Santiago,Spain, was elected to succeed him by the Chaper ofAssisi.

In his encyclical of 1302, Giovanni Minio had inculcated the rule of poverty, and forbidden both the accumulation ofproperty and vested incomes. Gonzálvez followed the same policy (12 February, 1310), and the Chapter of Padua (1310) made the precept still more rigorous by enjoining the "simple use" (usus pauper) and withdrawing the right of voting at the chapter fromconvents which did not adopt it. Theusus pauper had indeed been a source of contention from 1290, especially in Provence, where some denied that it was binding on the order. These dissensions led to theMagna Disputatio atAvignon (1310-12), to whichClement V summoned the leaders of the Spirituals and of the Community or Relaxati. Clement laid the strife by his bull andDecretal "Exivi di Paradiso", issued at the third and last session of the Council of Vienne, 5 May, 1312. The prescriptions contained in theFranciscan Rule were divided into those which bound under pain of mortal, and those which bound under pain of venialsin. Those enjoining the renunciation ofproperty and the adoption of poverty were retained: theFranciscans were entitled only to theusus (use) of goods given to them, and wherever the rule prescribed it, only to theusus pauper orarctus (simple use). All matters concerning theFranciscan habit, and all the storehouses and cellars allowed in cases of necessity, were referred to the discretion of the superiors of the order.

The Spirituals of Provence andTuscany, however, were not yet placated. At the General Chapter of Barcelona (1313), aParisian master oftheology, Alexander of Alessandria (Lombardy), was chosen to succeed Gonzálvez, but died in October, 1314. The General Chapter ofNaples (1316) electedMichael of Cesena, a moderate Conventual. The commission appointed by this chapter altered the generalstatutes of the rule of poverty. The Spirituals immediately afterwards rekindled theproperty strife, butJohn XXIIIinterdicted and suppressed their peculiar notions by the Constitution "Quorumdam exigit" (7 October, 1317), thus completely restoring the official unity of the order. In 1321, however, the so-called theoretical discussion on poverty broke out, the inquisitor, John of Belna, aDominican, having taken exception to the statement thatChrist and the Apostles possessedproperty neitherin communi norin speciali (i.e. neither in common nor individually). The ensuing strife degenerated into a fierce scholastic disputation between theFranciscans and theDominicans, and, as thepope favoured the views of the latter, a very dangerous crisis seemed to threaten the Minorites. By the Constitution "Ad conditorem canonum" (8 December, 1322)John XXII renounced the title of theChurch to all the possessions of thefriars Minor, and restored the ownership to the order. This action, contrary to the practice and expressed sentiments of his predecessors, placed the Minorites on exactly the same footing as the other orders, and was a harsh provision for an order which had laboured so untiringly in the interests of theChurch. In many other ways, however, John fostered the order. It will thus be readily understood why the members inclined to laxity joined the disaffected party, leaving but few advocated of John's regulations. To the dissenting party belongedGerardus Odonis (1329-42), the general, whose election atParis in 1329 John had secured in the place of his powerful opponentMichael of Cesena.Odonis, however, was supported only by the minority of the order in his efforts to effect the abolition of the rule of poverty. The deposed general and his followers, the Michaelites (cf.FRATICELLI), were disavowed by the General Chapter ofParis, and the order remained faithful to theHoly See. The constitutions prescribed byBenedict XII, John's successor, in hisBull of 28 November, 1336, and the name "Constitutiones Catarcenses" or "Benedictinae"), contained not a single reference to the rule of poverty. Benedict died in 1342, and on the preferment ofGerardus Odonis to the Patriarchate of Antioch, Fortanerio Vassalli was chosen general (1343-47).

Under Guillaume Farinier (1348-57) the Chapter ofMarseilles resolved to revive the oldstatues, a purpose which was realized in the general constitutionspromulgated by the General Chapter ofAssisi in 1354 ("Constitutiones Farineriae or guilemi"). This code was based on the "Constitutioners Narboneses" (1260), and theBulls "Exiit" and "Exivi", but the edicts ofJohn XXII, beingpromulgated by thepope over and above the chapter, still continued in force. The great majority of thefriars accommodated themselves to these regulations and undertook the care and proprietorship of their goods, which they entrusted tofratres procuratores elected from among themselves. The protracted strife of the deposed general (Michael of Cesna) with thepope, in which the general was supported with conspicuous learning by some of the leading members of the order and encouraged by the German emperor Louis IV (theBavarian), for reasons of secular andecclesiastical polity, gave great and irresistible impulse to laxity in the order, and prejudiced the founder's ideal. It wasJohn XXII who had introduced Conventualism is the later sense of the workd, that is, community of goods, income andproperty as in otherreligious orders, in contradiction to Observantism or the strict observance of the rule, a movement now strong within the order, according to which the members were to hold nopropertyin communi and renounce all vested incomes and accumulation of goods. TheBull "Ad conditorem", so significant in the history of the order, was only withdrawn 1 November, 1428, byMartin V.

Meanwhile the development of Conventualism had been fostered in many ways. In 1348 the Black Death swept devastatingly over Europe, emptying town andcloister. The wealth of the order increased rapidly, and thousands of new brothers were admitted without sufficiently close examination into their eligibility. The liberality of the faithful was also, if not a source of danger for the Minorites, at least a constant incitement to depart to some extent from the rule of poverty. This liberality showed itself mainly in gifts of realproperty, for example in endowments forprayers for the dead, which were then usually founded with real estate. In the fourteenth century also began the landwars and feuds (e.g. the Hundred Years War inFrance), which relaxed every bond of discipline and good order. The current feelings ofanarchic irresponsibility were also encouraged by theGreat Western Schism, during which men quarreled not only concerning obedience to thepapacy, to which there were three claimants since theCouncil of Pisa, but also concerning obedience to the generals of the order, whose number tallied with the number of thepopes.

Guillaume Farinier was namedcardinal in 1356, but continued to govern the order until the election of Jean Bouchier (de Buco) in 1357. John having died in 1358, mark ofViterbo was chosen to succeed him (1359-66), it being deemed desirable to elect an italian, the preceding four generals having been French, Mark was raised to thecardinalate in 1366, and was succeeded by Thomas of Farignano (1367-72), who becamePatriarch of Grado in 1372, andcardinal in 1378. Leonardo Rossi of Giffone (1373-78) succeeded Thomas as general, and supported Clemens VII during theschism. This action gave umbrage toUrban VI, who deposed him and named Ludovico Donato his successor. Ludovico was also chosen in 1379 by the General Chapter ofGran inHungary at which, however, only twelve provinces were represented, was namedcardinal in 1381, but was executed in 1385 with some othercardinals for participating in a conspiracy againstUrban VI. His third successor, Enrico Alfieri (1387-1405), could only bewail the privileges subversive of discipline, by means of which the claimants to thepapacy sought to bind their supporters more closely to themselves. Alfieri's successor, Antonio de Pireto (1405-21), gave his allegiance to theCouncil of Pisa andAlexander V (1409-15), a man of no great importance. With the election ofMartin V (1417-31) by theCouncil of Constance, unity was restored in the order, which was then in a state of the greatest confusion.

The Observance (Regularis Observantia) had meanwhile prepared the ground for a regeneration of the order. At first no uniform movements, but varying in different lands, it was given a definite character bySt. Bernardine of Siena andSt. John Capistran. InItaly as early as 1334 Giovanni de Valle had begun at San Bartolomeo de Brugliano, near Forligno, to live in exact accordance with the rule but without that exemption from the order, which was later forbidden byClement VI in 1343. It is worthy of notice that Clement, in 1350, granted this exemption to thelay brotherGentile da Spoleto, a companion of Giovanni, butGentile gathered together such a disorderly rabble, including some of theheretical Fraticelli, that the privilege was withdrawn (1354), he was expelled from the order (1355), and cast intoprison. Amongst his faithful adherents was Paoluccio Vagnozzi of Trinci, who was allowed by the general to return to Brugliano in 1368. As a protection against the snakes so numerous in the district, wooden slippers (calepodia, zoccoli) were worn by the brothers, and, as their use continued in the order the Observants were long known as theZoccolanti orlignipedes. In 1373 Paoluccio's followers occcupied ten small houses in Umbria, to which was soon added San Damiano atAssisi. They were supported byGregory XI, and also, after some hesitation, by the superiors of the order. In 1388, Enrico Alfineri, the general appointed Paoluccio commissary general of his followers, whom he allowed to be sent into all the districts of Italy as an incentive to the rest of the order. Paoluccio died on 17 September, 1390, and was succeeded by John of Stroncone (d. 1418). In 1414, this reform possessed thirty-four houses, to which the Porziuncola was added in 1514.

In the fourteenth centry there were three Spanish provinces: that ofPortugal (also called Santiago), that ofCastile, and that ofAragon. Although houses of the reformers in which the rule was rigidly observed existed in each of these provinces about 1400, there does not appear to have been any connection between the reforms of each province — much less between these reforms and the Italian Observance — and consquently the part played by Peter of Villacreces in Silos and Aguilera has been greatly exaggerated.

Independent also was the Reform or Observance inFrance, which had its inception in 1358 (or more accurately in 1388) in thecloister at Mirabeau in the province of Touraine, and thence spread throughBurgundy, Touraine, and Franconia. In 1407Benedict XIII exempted them from alljurisdiction of theprovincials, and on 13 May, 1408, gave them avicar-general in theperson of Thomas de Curte. In 1414 about two hundred of their number addressed a petition to theCouncil fo Constance, which thereupon granted to thefriars of thestricta observantia regularis a special provincial vicar in every province, and avicar-general over all, Nicholas Rodolphe being the first to fill the last-mentioned office. Angelo Salvetti, general of the order (1421-24), viewed these changes with marked disfavour, butMartin V's protection prevented him from taking any steps to defeat their aim. Far more opposed was Salvetti's successor, Antonio de Masso (1424-30). The ranks of the Observants increased rapidly inFrance andSpain in consequence of the exemption. The Italian branch, however, refused to avail themselves of any exemption from the usual superiors, the provincial and the general.

InGermany the Observance appeared about 1420 in the province of Cologne at themonastery of Gouda (1418), in the province of Saxony in the Mark of Brandenburg (1425); in the upper German province first at the Heidelbergmonastery (1426). Cloisters of the Observants already existed in Bosnia,Russia,Hungary, and even in Tatary. In 1430Martin V (1417-31) summoned the whole order, Observants andConventuals, to the general Chapter ofAssisi (1430), "in order that our desire for a general reform of the order may be fulfilled." William ofCasale (1430-42) was elected general, but theintellectual leader ofAssisi was St. John Capistran. Thestatuespromulgated by this chapter are called the "Constitutiones Martinianae" from the name of thepope. They cancelled the offices of general and provincial vicars of the Observants and introduced a scheme for the general reform of the order. All present at the chapter had bound themselves onoath to carry out its decisions, but six weeks later (27 July, 1430) the general was released from hisoath and obtained fromMartin V theBrief "Ad statum" (23 August, 1430), which allowed theConventuals to holdproperty like all other orders. ThisBrief constituted the Magna Charta of theConventuals, and henceforth any reform of the order on the lines of the rule was out of the question.

The strife between the Observants and theConventuals now broke out with such increased fury that even St. John Capistran laboured for a division of the order which was however still longer opposed by St. Bernadine ofSiena. Additional bitterness was lent to the strife when in many instance princes and towns forcibly withdrew the ancient Fraciscanmonasteries from theConventuals and turned them over to the Observants. In 1438 the general of the order namedSt. Bernardine of Siena, firstVicar-General of the Italian Observants, an office in which Bernardine was succeeded by St. John Capistran in 1441. At the General Chapter of Padua (1443),Albert Berdini of Sarteano, an Observant, would have been chosen general in accordance with the papa; wish had not his election been opposed by St. Bernardine. Antonio de Rusconibus (1443-50) was accordingly elected, and, until the separation in 1517, no Observant held the office of general. In 1443 Antonio appointed two vicars-general to direct the Observants — for the cismontanefamily (i.e. forItaly, the East,Austria-Hungary, andPoland) St. John Capistran, and for the ultramontane (all other countries, including afterwards America) Jean Perioche of Maubert. By the so-called Separation bull ofEugene IV, "Ut sacra ordinis minorum" (11 January, 1446), outlined by St. John Capistran, the office of thevicar-general of the Observants was declared permanent, and made practically independent of the minister general of the order, but the Observants might not hold a general chapter seperate from the rest of the order. After thecanonization in 1450 ofBernardine of Siena (d. 1444), the first saint of the Observants, John Capistran with the assistance of thezealouscardinalNicholas of Cusa (d. 1464), extended the Observance so greatly inGermany, that he could henceforth disregard the attacks of the lax and time-serving sections of the order. At the Chapter of Barcelona, in 1451, the so-called "Statuta Barchnionensia" werepromulgated. Though somewhat modifies these continued in force for centuries in the ultramontanefamily.

The compromise essayed by St. James of the March in 1455 was inherently hopeless, although it granted to the vicars of the Observantsactive voting power at the general chapters. On this compromise was based the "Bulla concordiae" ofCallistus III (2 February, 1456), whichPius II withdrew (11 October, 1458). The Chapter ofPerugia (1464) elected as general Francesco della rovere (1464-69), who was elevated to thecardinalate in 1468, and later electedpope under the title ofSixtus IV (1471-84).Sixtus granted various privileges to the Fransicans in hisBull "Mare magnum" (1474) and his "Bulla aurea" (1479), but was rather more kindly disposed towards theConventuals, to whome he had belonged. The generals Francesco Nanni (1475-99), to whomSixtus gave the sobriquet of Samson to signalize his victory in a disputation on the Immaculate Conception, and Egidio Delfini (1500-06) displayed a strong bias in favour of the reform of theConventuals, Edigio using as his pleas the so-called "Constitutiones Alexandrinae" sanctioned byAlexander VI in 1501. Hiszeal was far surpassed inSpain by that of the powerful Minorite, Francisco Ximenes de los Cisneros, who expelled from thecloisters allConventuals opposed to the reform. AtParis, Delfini won the large house of studies to the side of the reformers. TheCapitulum generalissimum atRome in 1506 was expected to bring about the union of the various branches, but the proposed plan did not find acceptance, and thestatutes, drawn up by the chapter and published in 1508 under the title "Statuta Iulii II", could not bridge the chasm separating the parties. After long deliberations had taken place under generals Rainaldo Graziani (1506-09), Philip of Bagnacavallo (1509-11), and BernardinoPrato da Chieri (1513-17), the last general of the united order,Leo X summoned on 11 July, 1516, acapitulum generalissimum to meet at Rome on the feast of Pentecost (31 May), 1517. This chapter first suppressed all the reformed congregations and annexed them to the Observants; declared the Observants an independent order, thetrue Order of St. Francis, and separated them completely from theConventuals. The General of the Observants received the title ofMinister Generalis totius ordinis Fratrum Minorum, with or without the additionregularis Observantiae, and was entrusted with the ancient seal of the order. His period of office was limited to six years, and he was to be chosen alternately from thefamilia cismontana and thefamilia ultramontana — a regulation which has not been observed. For the otherfamily aCommissarius generalis is always elected. In processions, etc., the Observants take precedence of theConventuals.

Second period (1517-1909)

Christoforo Numai of Friuli was elected first General of the Reformed Order ofFranciscans (Ordo Fratrum Minorum), but was raised a month later to thecardinalate. Francesco Lichetto (1518-20) was chosen as his successor by the Chapter ofLyons (1518), where the deliberations centered around thenecessary rearrangement of the order in provinces and thepromulgation of new general constitutions, which were based on thestatutes of Barcelona (1451, cf.supra). Lichetto and his successors — Paul of Soncino (1520-23), who died in 1523, and Francisco de Angelis Quiñones (1523-28), aSpaniards, diligently devoted themselves to establishing the Observance on a firm basis. Quinones was namedcardinal in 1528, and the new general, Paolo Pisotti (1529-33), unfortunately disregarding the ideal of his predecessors and failing entirely to grasp the significance of the reforms afoot at the time (for example that of theCapuchins), was deposed in 1533. In 1547 the Chapter ofAssisi prescribed gray as the colour of theFranciscan habit, in accordance with the custom of the Observants and forbade the wearing inbeards. At the General Chapter of Salamanca (1554), Clemente Dolera of Moneglia, the general in officepromulgated newstatutes for the cismontanefamily. On the preferment of Clemente to thecardinalate in 1557, Francesco Zamora, his successor (1559-65), defended at theCouncil of Trent the order's rule of poverty, which was then sanctioned by the council for the Observants andCapuchins. Under Luigi Pozzo (Puteus), the next general (1565-71), the SpanishConventuals were united with the Observants by command of thepope, and a general reunion of the separated branches of the order seemed imminent. The two succeeding generals, Christophe de Cheffontaines, aFrenchman (1571-79), and Francisco Gonzaga (1579-87), laboured industriously for the rigorous observance and the rule of poverty, which was rather loosely interpreted, especially inFrance. Gonzaga reformed the greatconvent of studies atParis and, in 1581, was appointed, in opposition to his wishes,Bishop ofCefalù (Sicily) and afterwards ofMantua, where he died in the odour ofsanctity, in 1620. The process for hisbeatification is pending atRome. Francis ofToulouse (1587-93) and Bonaventura Secusi ofCaltagirone (Sicily, 1593-1600) were employed frequently on embassies by thepopes, and revised the constitutions of the order, in which however, the alterations were too frequent. Finally at the Chapter ofSegovia in 1621, the minister general, Benignus ofGenoa (1618-25), approved the "Statuta Segoviensia" for the ultramontanefamily, with suitable additions both for the French and for the German-Belgian nation. Thereafter the latter nation adhered most perseveringly to the principles of thesestatutes; that their consistency in this respect hasproved a source of prosperity, vigour, and inner strength is universally known.

About this period the so-calledCounter-Reformation was bursting into vigorous life in the North and the order entered on a new period of strenuous vitality. TheReformation had dealt a terrible blow to theFranciscans in these parts, annihilating in many instances entire provinces. Supported now by the emperor and theCatholic princes, they advance to regain their old position and to found newcloisters, from which they could minister to their flocks. To bring into subjection the four rather lax French provinces which were known as theProvinciae confaederatae and were thenceforward always too much inclined to shelter themselves behind the government, the general, Bernardine of Sena (Portugal, 1625-33), obtained fromUrban VIII theBull of 1 October, 1625. The French, indeed, justly complained that the general of the order was always chosen fromItaly or fromSpain. The privilege usurped by the Spanish kings, of exerting a certain influence in the election and indeed securing that the general should be alternately aSpaniards and an Italian (but one from the Crown lands ofSpain), was in contradiction to all Fraciscanstatutes andlaws. The Spanish generals, furthermore resided usually atMadrid, instead of atRome, and most of the higher offices were occupied bySpaniards — an anomalous situation which aroused great resentment amongst thefriars of other nations, especiallyFrance and inItaly, and continued until 1834. This introduction of national politics into the government of the oderproved as noxious to the interests of the Friars Minor as the established churches of the eighteenth century did to the cause ofChristianity.

Generals Juan Merinero ofMadrid (1639-45), Giovanni Mazzara ofNaples (1645-48), and Pedro Mancro (1651-55) tried without success to give definitestatutes to the cismontanefamily, while the "Constitutiones Sambucanae", drawn up by General Michele Buongiorno of Sambuca (1658-64) at the order of the general chapter, did not remain long in force. Ildefonso Salizanes (1664-70) and Francesco Maria Rhini (1670-74) were both raised to the episcopate. José Ximenes Samaniego (1676-82)zealously eradicated abuses which had crept into the order especially inSpain andFrance, and died asBishop ofPlacencia inSpain (1692). Ildefonso Biezma (1702-16) and José García (1717-23) were appointed bypapal Briefs. The next general was the famousLorenzo Cozza (1723-27) who, as Custos of the Holy Land, had obviated aschism of theMaronites. He was createdcardinal byBenedict XIII. At the Chapter ofMilan (1729), Juan Soto was elected general (1729-36), and during his period of office had thestatutes of the order collected, rearranged, and then published in 1734. Raffaello de Rossi (1744-50) gave the province (otherwise known as the custody) of the Holy Land its definitive constitution. From 1700 to 1723 no general chapter could be held in consequence of the continuous state of unrest caused by thewars and other dissensions. These disputes made their appearance even in the order itself, and were fanned to a flame by the rivalry between the nations and between the different reform branches, the most heated contention being between the Observants and the Reformanti. The domestic discipline of the order thus became very slack in certain districts, although the personale of thefriars Minor was at this time unusually high.Benedict XIII vainly endeavoured in 1727 to cement a union between the various branches (Observants, Reformanti, Recollects, and Discalced). The general chapter of 1750, at whichBenedict XIV presided and warmly praised the order, elected Pedro Joannetio of Molina (1750-56) — the only Discalced who has been general. Clemente Guignoni of Palemo followed (1756-62), and then Joannetio was elected general for the second time (1762-68), this occurrence being absolutely unique in the history of the order. Paschale Frosconi (1768-91) ofMilan tried in vain on several occasions to hold a general chapter. During his long period of office, theSpaniards endeavoured to break away from the order (1774), and theevil effect of Gallicanism andFebronianism were being already universally felt, kings and princes suppressing many of thecloisters or forbidding intercourse withRome. In 1766 Louis XV established inFrance theCommission des Reguliers, which, presided over by Cardinal de Brienne and conducted with the greatest perfidy, brought about in 1771 a union between theConventuals and the French Observants. The former had but three provinces with forty-eightmonasteries, while the latter had seven provinces and 287monasteries. The French Observants, however, were always somewhat inclined towards laxity, particularly in regard to the rule of poverty, and had obtained in 1673 and 1745 apapal Brief, which allowed them to retain real estate and vested incomes. TheFrench Revolution brought about the annihilation of the order inFrance.

InBavaria (1769) and many other German principalities, spiritual and secular, the order was suppressed, but nowhere more thoroughly than in the Austrian andBelgian states ofJoseph II and in the Kingdom of the two Sicilies (1788) then ruled by Ferdinand IV. On the death of Pasquale (1791)Pius VI appointed as general aSpaniards, Joachim Compan;y (1792-1806). In 1804, theSpanishFranciscans effected, with the assistance of the King ofSpain, their complete separation from the order, although the semblances of unity was still retained by the provision ofPius VII, that the general should be chosen alternately from theSpaniards and the other nation, and that, during his term of office, the other division of the order should be governed by an autonomousvicar-general. During 1793 and 1794 the order was extinct inFrance andBelgium; and from 1803 in most districts inGermany; from 1775 on, it was sadly reduced inAustria, and also inItaly, where it was suppressed in 1810. The devastation of the order and the confusion consequent on it were deplorable. The generals appointed by thepope, Ilario Cervelli (1806-14), Gaudenzio Patrignani (1814-17), Cirillo Almeda y Brea (1817-24), and Giovanni Tecca of Capistrano (1824-30), ruled over but a faction of the order, even though prospects were somewhat brighter about this period. In 1827, Tecca published thestatutes which had been drawn up in 1768. Under the Spanish general, Luis Iglesias (1830-34), the formal separation of Spanish Fraciscans from the main body of the order was completed (1832), but in 1833 most of theirmonasteries were destroyed during thePeasants' War and the revolution. The general Bartolomé Altemir (1834-38) was banished fromSpain, and died atBordeaux in 1843, Giuseppe Maria Maniscalco of Alessandira (1838-44) being named his successor byGregory XVI. Thepope also appointed the two succeeding generals, Luigi di Loreta (1844-50) and two succeeding generals, Luigi di Loreta (1844-50) and Venanzio di Celano (1850-56). The former, in 1849, named Giuseppe ArésoCommissary of the Holy Land. In 1851, Aréso opened the firstmonastery at Saint-Palais.

About this period Benigno da Valbona introduced the Reformati intoFrance, and in 1852 founded their firstmonastery atAvignon, while Venanzio as general laboured indefatigably for the resuscitation of the Observants in the same country, founding new missions and raising the standard of studies. InRussia andPoland, however, manymonasteries were suppressed in 1831 and 1842, a general strangulation being afterwards effected by the ukase of 1864. In 1856, at the general chapter in the Ara Coceli atRome, under the personal presidency ofPope Pius IX, Bernardino Trionfetti of Montefranco was elected general (1856-62). Themonasteries ofItaly were suppressed by thePiedmontese in 1866, during the generalship of Raffaello Lippi of Ponticulo (1862-69) and in 1873 their fate was shared by the houses of the previously immune Roman province. Bowed with grief and years, the general abdicated (1869), and, as a general chapter was impossible,Pius IX preferred one of the Reformanti Bernardino del Vago of Portogruaro (Portu Romatino) to the generalship (1869-89). This general did much to raise the status of the order, and founded, in 1880, an official organ for the whole order (the "Acta Ordinis Minorum"), which contains the official decrees, decision, and publications and also many works on canon law andascetic theology for the discipline of the order. During his term of office thePrussianKulturkampf expended the majority of the GermanFranciscans (1875), most of whom settled in North America, and theFrenchmonasteries were suppressed (1880), the scatteredFranciscans reassembling inItaly. The Ara Coelimonastery, the ancient seat of the general's curia, having been sized by the Italian Government to make room for the national monument of Victor Emmanuel, the general wasobliged to establish a new mother-house. The new Collegio di S. Antonio near the Lateran was made the seat of the minister general; it is also an international college for the training of missionaries andlectors (i.e. professors for theschools of the order). Bernardino also founded the Collegio di S. Bonaventura at Quaracchi, nearFlorence, which contains the printing press of the order, and is principally intended for the publication of the writings of the greatFranciscan scholars, and other learned works. On the retirement of Bernardino in 1889, Luigi Canali ofParma was elected general (1889-97) and prepared the way for the union of the four reform branches of the order at the General Chapter ofAssisi in 1895. The reunion is based on the constitutions which were drawn up under the presidency of Aloysius Lauer and approved on 15 May, 1897.Leo XIII completed the union by hisBull "Felicitate quâdam" of 4 October, which removed every distinction between the branches, even the difference of name, and consequently there exists today one single, undivided Order of Friars Minor (Ordo Fratrum Minorum, O.F.M.). On the resignation of Canali as general,Leo XIII, appointed Aloysius Lauer (4 Oct., 1897) of Katholisch-Willenroth (province of Kassel,Prussia), who introduced the principles of the union gradually but firmly, as it involved many changes, especially inItaly andAustria. On his death (21 August, 1901) Aloysius was succeeded asvicar-general by David Fleming, anIrish friar attached to the English province. At the general chapter of 1903, Dionysius Schuler, of Schlatt, in Hobenzollern, who belonged, like Father Lauer, to the province ofFulda (Thuringia) and had laboured in theUnited States from 1875, was elected general. He also devoted himself to the complete establishment of the union, and prepared the way for the general reunion of theSpanishFranciscans with the order. At the General Chapter (or more correctly speaking theCongregatio media) ofAssisi on 29 May, 1909, the order celebrated the seventh centenary of its glorious foundation.

At present (1909) the order of Friars Minor includes among its members:(1) twocardinals: José Sebastiao Neto,Patriarch ofLisbon; created in 1883 (resigned in 1907); Gregorio Aguirre y García,Archbishop ofBurgos, created in 1907; (2) sixarchbishops, includingBurgos, created in 1907; (2) sixarchbishops, including Monsignor Diomede Falconio, apostolic Delegate to theUnited States since 1907; (3) thirty-twobishops and oneprelatenullius (of Santarem inBrazil); (4) three prefects Apostolic.

The reform parties

First period (1226-1517)

AllFranciscan reforms outside of the Observants were ordered to be suppressed bypapaldecree in 1506, and again in 1517, but not with complete success. The Clareni are dealt with underANGELO CLARENO DA CINGOLI; the Fraticelli and Spirituals under their respective headings. The so-called Caesarines, or followers ofCaesar of Speyer (c. 1230-37), never existed as a separate congregation. The Amadeans were founded by Pedro João Mendez (also called Amadeus), a Portuguese nobleman, who laboured inLombardy. When he died, in 1482, his congregation had twenty-eight houses but was afterwards suppressed byPius V. The Caperolani, founded also inLombardy by the renowned preacherPietro Caperolo returned in 1480 to the ranks of the Observants. The Spiritual followers of Anthony of Castelgiovanni and Matthias ofTivoli flourished during the period 1470-1490; some of theirideas resembled those of Kaspar Waler in the province ofStrasburg, which were immediately repressed by the authorities. Among the reforms inSpain were that of Pedro de Villacreces (1420) and thesect calleddella Capucciola of Felipe Berbegal (1430), suppressed in 1434. More important ws the reform of Juan de la Puebla (1480), whose pupil Juan de Guadalupe increased the severities of the reform. His adherents were known asGuadalupenses, Discalced,Capuciati, orFratres de S. Evangelio, and to them belonged Juan Zumárraga, the firstBishop of Mexico (1530-48), andSt. Peter of Alcántara (d. 1562 cf. below). The Neutrales were waveringConventuals inItaly who accepted the Observance only in appearance. Founded in 1463, they were suppressed in 1467. This middle position between the Observants andConventuals was also taken by the Matinianists, or Martinians, and the Reformati (Observants)sub ministris orde Communiate. These took as their basis the decrees of the Chapter ofAssisi (1430), but wished to live under provincialministers. They existed mostly inGermany andFrance, and in the latter country were called Coletani, for what reason it is not quite clear (cf.SAINT COLETTE). To this party belonged Boniface of Ceva, a sturdy opponent of the separation of theConventuals from the Observants.

Second period (1517-1897)

Even within the pale of the Regular Observance, which constituted from 1517 the main body of the order, there existed plenty of room for various interpretations without prejudicing the rule itself, although the debatable area had been considerably restricted by the definition of its fundamental requirements and prescriptions. TheFranciscan Order as such had never evaded the main principles of the rule, has never had them abrogated or been dispensed from them by thepope. The reforms since 1517, therefore, have neither been in any sense a return to the rule, since the Order of Friars Minor has never deviated from it, nor have they been a protest against a universal lax interpretation of the rule on the part of the order, as was that of the Observants against theConventuals. The later reforms may be more truly described as repeated attempts to draw nearer to the exalted ideal of St. Francis. Frequently, it istrue, these reforms dealt only with externals — outward exercises ofpiety, austerities in the rule of life, etc., and these were in many cases gradually recast, mitigated, had even entirely disappeared, and by 1897 nothing was left but the name. TheCapuchins are treated in a separate article; the other leading reforms within the Observance are the Discalced, the Reformati, and the Recollects. The Observants are designated by the simple addition ofregularis observantiae while these reformed branches add to the general titlestrictoris observantiae, that is, "of the stricter Observance."

(1) The Discalced

Juan de la Puebla has been regarded as the founder of the Discalcedfriars Minor, since the province of the Holy Angels (de los Angelos), composed of his followers, has ever remained a province of the Observants. The Discalced owe their origin rather to Juan de Guadelupe (cf. above). He belonged indeed to the reform of Juan de la Puebla, but not for long, as he received permission fromAlexander VI, in 1496, to found a hermitage with six brothers in the district ofGranada, to wear theFranciscan habit in its original form, and to preach wherever he wished. These privileges were renewed in 1499, but the Spanish kings, influenced by the Observants of the province, obtained their withdrawal. They were again conferred, however, by apapal Brief in 1503, annulled in 1507, while in 1515 thesefriars were able to establish the custody of Estremadura. The union of 1517 again put an end to their separate existence, but in 1520 the province of St. Gabriel was formed from this custody, and as early as 1518 the houses of the Discalcedfriars inPortugal constituted the province de la Pietade. The dogged pertinacity of Juan Pasqual, who belonged now to the Observants and now to theConventuals, according to the facilities afforded him to pursue theideas of the oldEgyptianhermits, withstood every attempt at repression. After much difficulty he obtained apapal Brief in 1541, authorizing him to collect companions, whereupon he founded the custody of Sts. Simon and Jude, or custody of the Paschalites (abolished in 1583), and a custody of St. Joseph. The Paschalites won a strong champion inSt. Peter of Alcántara, the minister of the province of St. Gabriel, who in 1557 joined theConventuals. As successor of Juan Pasqual and Commissary General of the Reformed Conventual Friars inSpain, Peter founded the poor and diminutive hermitage of Pedroso inSpain, and in 1559 raised the custody of St. Joseph to the dignity of a province. He forbade even sandals to be worn on the feet, prescribed complete abstinence from meat, prohibitedlibraries, in all of which measures he far exceeded the intentions ofSt. Francis of Assisi. From him is derived the name Alcantarines, which is often given to the Discalced Friars Minor. Peter died in October, 562, at a house of the Observants, with whom all the Spanish reforms had entered into union in the preceding spring. The province of St. Joseph, old peculiariities. In 1572 the members were first called inpapal documentsDiscalceati orExcalceati, and 1578 they were namedFratres Capucini de Observantiâ. Soon other provinces followed their example and in 1604 the Discalcedfriars petitioned for avicar-general, a definitor general, although many were opposed to the appointment. On Gregory's death (8 July, 1623) his concessions to the Discalcedfriars were reversed byUrban VIII, who, however, in 1642 recognized their province as interdependent. They were not under the juridiction of the ultramontane commissary general, and received in 1703 their ownprocurator general, who was afterwards chosen (alternately) for them and the Recollects. They never had generalstatutes, and, when such were prepared in 1761, by Joannetio, a general from their own branch, the provinces refused to accept them. The Discalced gradually established houses in numerous provinces inSpain, America, thePhilippines, the East Indies and theKingdom of Naples, which was at this period under Spanish rule. The first houses established inNaples were handed over bySixtus V to the ReformedConventuals in 1589. In addition to the above, a house inTuscany and another inLondon must be mentioned. This branch was suppressed in 1897.

(2) The Reformati

The proceeding of the general Pisotti against the houses of the Italian Recollects led some of thefriars of the Stricter Observance under the leadership of Francis ofJesi and Bernardine ofAsti to approachClement VII, who by theBull "In suprema" (1532) authorized them to go completely barefoot and granted them a separate custody under the provincial. Both these leaders joined theCapuchins in 1535. The Reformati ate cooked food only twice in the week, scourged themselves frequently, and recited daily, in addition to the universally prescribed choir-service, theOffice of the Dead, the Office of the Blessed Virgin, the Seven Penitential Psalms, etc., which far exceeded the Rule of St. Francis, and could not be maintained for long. In 1579Gregory XIII released them entirely from thejurisdiction of theprovincials and almost completely from that of the general, while inRome they were given the renownedmonastery of S. Francesco a Ripa. In the same year (1579), however, the general, Gonzaga, obtained the suspension of thedecree, and the new Constitutions promulgated by Bonaventure ofCaltagirone, general in 1595, ensured their affiliation with the provinces of the order. AlthoughClement VIII approved thesestatutes in 1595, it did not deter him, in 1596, from reissuingGregory XIII'sBrief of 1579, and granting the Reformati their ownprocurator. At the suit of twolay brothers, in 1621,Gregory XV not only confirmed this concession, but gave the Reformati their ownvicar-general, general chapter, and definitors general. Fortunately for the order, these concessions were revoked in 1624 byUrban VIII, who, however, by hisBull "Injuncti nobis" of 1639 raised all the custodies of the Reformati inItaly andPoland to the dignity of provinces. In 1642 the Reformati drew up their ownstatutes; these were naturally composed in Italian, sinceItaly was always the home of this branch of the Friars Minor. In 1620 Antonio Arrigoni a Galbatio was sent by the Reformati intoBavaria, and, despite the opposition of the local Observants, succeeded in 1625 in uniting into one province of the Reformati themonasteries of the Archduchy ofBavaria, which belonged to the Upper German (Strasburg) province. The new province thenceforth belonged to the cismontanefamily. Arrigoni also introduced in 1628 the reform into the province of St. Leopold in the Tyrol, intoAustria in 1632, and intoBohemia in 1660, and succeeded in winning these countries entirely over to his branch, Carinthia following in 1688. After many disappointments, the two Polish custodies were raised to the status of provinces of the Reformati in 1639. In the course oftime, the proximity of houses of the Reformati and the Observants gave rise to unedifying contentions and the rivalry, especially inItaly. Among the heroic figures of the Reformati,St. Pacificus of San Severino calls for special mention. St. Benedict of San Fidelfo cannot be reckoned among the Reformati, as he died in a retreat of the Recollects; nor shouldSt. Leonard of Port Maurice, who belonged rather to the so-calledRiformella, introduced into the Roman Province by Bl. Bonaventure of Barcelona in 1662. The principal house of theRiformella was that of S. Bonaventura on the Palatine. St. Leonard founded two similarmonasteries inTuscany, one of which was that of Incontro near Florence. These were to serve as places of religious recollection and spiritual refreshment forpriests engaged in mission-work among the people. Like the Discalced, the Reformati ceased to have a separate existence in 1897.

(3) The Recollects (Recollecti)

(a) The foundation of "recollection-houses" inFrance, where they were badly needed even by the Observants, was perhaps due to Spanish influence. After the bloody religiouswars, which exercised an an enervating effect on the life of thecloister, one house of this description was founded at Cluys in 1570, but was soon discontinued. The general of the order, Gonzaga, undertook the establishment of such houses, but it was Franz Dozieck, a formerCapuchin, who first set them on a firm basis. He was the firstcustos of these houses, among which that of Rabastein was the most conspicuous. Italian Reformanti had meanwhile been invited to Nevers, but had to retire owing to the antipathy of the population. In 1595 Bonaventure ofCaltagirone, as general of the order, published specialstatutes for these French houses, but with the assistance of the Government, which favoured the reforming party, the houses obtained in 1601 the appointment of a special commissary Apostolic. The members were called theRécollets — sinceRéformés was the name given by the French to theCalvinists — and also theCordeliers, the ancient name for both the Observants andConventuals. As regards the interpretation of the rule, there were rather important differences between the Cordelier-Observants and the Récollets, the interpretation of the latter being much stricter. From 1606 the Récollets had their own provinces, amongst them being that of St-Denis (Dionysinus) a very important province which undertook the missions inCanada and Mozambique. They were also thechaplains in the French army and won renown as preachers. The French kings, beginning withHenry IV,honoured and esteemed them, but kept them in too close dependence on the throne. Thus thenotoriousCommission des Réguliers (1771) allowed the Récollets to remain inFrance without amalgamating with theConventuals. At this period the Récollets had 11 provinces with 2534cloisters, but all were suppressed by theRevolution (1791).

(b) Recollection-houses are, strictly speaking, thosemonasteries to whichfriars desirous of devoting themselves toprayer and penance can withdraw toconsecrate their lives to spiritual recollection. From the very inception of the order the so-called hermitages for which St. Francis made special provision served for this object. These always existed in the order and were naturally the first cloisters of which reformers sought to obtain possession. This policy was followed by the Spanish Discalced, for example in the province of S. Antonio inPortugal (1639). They had vainly endeavoured (1581) to make themselves masters of the recollection-houses of the province ofTarragona, where their purpose was defeated by Angelo do Paz Martial Bouchier had in 1502 prescribed the institution of these houses in every province of the Spanish Observants, they were found everywhere, and from them issued theCapuchins, the Reformati, and the Recollects. The specific nature of theseconvents was opposed to their inclusion in any province, since even the care ofsouls tended to defeat their main object of seclusion and sequestration from the world. The general chapter of 1676ordained the foundation of three or four suchconvents in every province — a prescript which was repeated in 1758. Theritiri (ritiro, a house in which one lives in retirement), introduced into the Roman Province of the Observants towards the end of the seventeenth century, were also of this class, and even today such houses are to be found amongFranciscanmonasteries.

(c) The Recollects of the so-called German-Belgian nation have nothing in common with any of the above-mentioned reforms. The province of St. Joseph inFlanders was the only one constituted of several recollection-houses (1629). In 1517 the old Saxon province (Saxonia), embracing over 100monasteries, was divided into the Saxon province of the Observants (Saxonia S. Curcis) and the Saxon province of theConventuals (Saxonia S. Johannis Baptistae). The province of Cologne (Colonia) and the Upper German or Strasburg (Argentia) province were also similarly divided betwen the Observants and theConventuals. The proposed erection of aThuringian province (Thuringia) had to be relinquished in consequence of the outbreak of theReformation. The Saxon province was subsequently reduced to the singlemonastery of Halberstadt, which contained in 1628 but onepriest. The province of Cologne then took over the Saxon province, whereupon both took on a rapid and vigorous growth, and the foundation of the Thuringian Province (Fulda) became possible in 1633. In 1762 the last-named province was divided into the Upper and the Lower Thuringian provinces. In 1621 the Cologne province had adopted thestatutes of the recollection-houses for all itsmonasteries, although it was not until 1646 that thefriars adopted the nameRecollecti. This example was followed by the other provinces of this nation and in 1682 this evolution inGermany,Belgium,Holland,England, andIreland, all of which belonged to this nation, was completed without any essential changes in theFranciscan rule of life. The Recollects preserved in general very strict discipline. The charge is oftenunjustly brought against them that they have produced nosaints, but his istrue only ofcanonizedsaints. That there have been numeroussaints amongst thefriars of this branch of theFranciscan Order iscertain, although they have never been distinguished bycanonization — a fact due partly to the sceptical and fervourless character of the population amongst which they lived and partly to the strict discipline of the order, which forbade and repressed all that singles out for attention the individual friar.

The German-Belgian nation had a special commissary general, and from 1703 a generalprocurator atRome, who represented also the Discalced. They also frequently maintained a special agent atRome. WhenBenedict XIII sanctioned their nationalstatutes in 1729, he demanded the relinquishment of the name of Recollects and certain minor peculiarities in their habit, but in 1731 the Recollects obtained fromClement XII the withdrawal of these injunctions. In consequence of the effects of theFrench Revolution onGermany and the Imperial Delegates' Enactment (1803), the province of Cologne was completely suppressed and the Thuringian (Fulda) reduced to twomonasteries. TheBavarian and Saxon provinces afterwards developed rapidly, and theircloisters, in spite of theKulturkampf, which drove most of thePrussianFranciscans to America, where rich harvest awaited their labours, bore such fruit that the Saxon province (whosecloisters are, however mostly situated in Rheinland andWestphalia), although it has founded three new provinces in North America andBrazil, and the custody ofSilesia was separated from it in 1902, is still numerically the strongest province of the order, with 615 members. In 1894 the custody ofFulda was elevated to the rank of a province. TheBelgian province was re-erected in 1844, after theDutch had been already some time in existence. The separate existence of the Recollects also ceased in 1897.

Great Britain andIreland.--TheFranciscans came toEngland for the first time in 1224 underBlessed Agnellus of Pisa, but numbers ofEnglishmen had already entered the order. By their strict and cheerful devotion to their rule, the firstFranciscans became conspicuous figures in thereligious life of the country, developed rapidly their order and enjoyed the highest prestige at court, among the nobility, and among the people. Without relaxing in any way the rule of poverty, they devoted themselves mostzealously to study, especially atOxford, where the renownedRobert Grosseteste displayed towards them a fatherly interest, and where they attained the highest reputation as teachers ofphilosophy andtheology. Their establishments inLondon and Oxford date from 1224. As early as 1230 theFranciscan houses ofIreland were united into a separate province. In 1272, the English province had 7 custodies, theIrish 5. In 1282, the former (Provincia Angliae) had 58convents, the later (Provincia Hiberniae) 57. In 1316 the 7 English custodies still contained 58convents, while inIreland the custodies were reduced to 4 and theconvents to 30. In 1340, the number of custodies and houses in ireland were 5 and 32 respectively; about 1385, 5 and 31. In 1340 and 1385, there were still 7 custodies inEngland; in 1340 the number ofmonasteries had fallen to 52, but rose to 60 by 1385. UnderElias of Cortona (1232-39)Scotland (Scotia) was separated fromEngland and raised to the dignity of a province, but in 1239 it was again annexed to the English province. When again separated in 1329,Scotland received with its sixcloisters only the title ofvicaria. At the request of James I ofScotland, the first Observants from the province of Cologne came to the country about 1447, under the leadership ofCornelius von Ziriksee, and founded seven houses. About 1482 the Observants settled inEngland and founded their firstconvent at Greenwich. It was the Observants who opposed mostcourageously theReformation inEngland, where they suffered the loss of all their provinces. TheIrish province still continued officially but its houses were situated on the Continent atLouvain,Rome,Prague, etc. where fearless missionaries and eminent scholars were trained and the province was re-established in spite of the inhuman oppression of the government ofEngland. By the decision of the general chapter of 1625, the direction of thefriars was carried on fromDouai, where the EnglishFranciscans had aconvent, but in 1629 it was entrusted to the general of the order. The first chapter assembled atBrussels on 1 December, 1630.John Gennings was chosen first provincial, but the then bruited proposal to re-establish the Scottishconvents could not be realized. The new province inEngland, which, like theIrish, belonged to the Recollects, gave many glorious and intrepidmartyrs to the order and theChurch. In 1838, the English province contained only 9friars, and on its dissolution in 1840, theBelgian Recollects began the foundation of new houses inEngland and one at Killarney inIreland. On 15 August, 1887, the English houses were declared an independent custody, and on 12 February, 1891, a province of the order. At the present day (1909) the English province comprises inEngland andScotland 11convents with 145friars, their 11parishes containing some 40,000Catholics; theIrish Province comprises 15convents with 139 brothers.

Statistics of the order (1260-1909)

The Order of St. Francis spread with a rapidity unexpected as it was unprecedented. At the general chapter 1221, where for the last time all members without distinction could appear, 3000friars were present. The order still continued its rapid development, andElias of Cortona (1232-39) divided it into 72 provinces. On the removal of Elias the number was fixed at 32; by 1274 it had risen to 34, and it remained stable during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. To this period belongs the institution of thevicariae, which, with the exception of that ofScotland, lay in the Balkans,Russia, and the Far East. It has been often stated that about 1300 theFranciscans numbered 200,000 but his is certainly an exaggeration. Although it is not possible to arrive at the exact figure, there can scarcely have been more than 60,000 to 90,000friars at this period. In 1282 thecloisters were about 1583 in number. In 1316 the 34 provinces contained 197 custodies and 1408convents; in 1340, 211 custodies and 1422convents; in 1384, 254 custodies and 1639convents. The Observants completely altered the conformation of the order. In 1455 they alone numbered over 20,000; in 1493, over 22,400 with more than 1200convents. At the division of the order, in 1517, they formed the great majority of thefriars, numbering 30,000 with some 1300 houses. In 1520 theConventuals were reckoned at 20,000 to 25,000. The division brought about a complete alteration in the strength and the territories of the various provinces. In 1517 theConventuals still retained the 34 provinces as before, but many of them were enfeebled and attenuated. The Observants, on the other hand, founded 26 new provinces in 1517, retaining in some cases the old names, in other cases dividing the old territory into several provinces.

TheReformation and the missionary activity of the Minorites in the Old, and especially in the New, World soon necessitated wide changes in the distribution, number, and extent, of the provinces. The confusion was soon increased by the inauguration of the three great reformed branches, the Discalced, the Reformati, and the Recollects, and, as these, while remaining under the one general, formed separate provinces, the number of provinces increased enormously. They were often situated in the same geographical or political districts, and were, except in the Northern lands, telescoped into one another in a most bewildering manner — a condition aggravated in the south (especially inItaly andSpain) by an insatiate desire to found as many provinces as possible. TheFrench Revolution (1789-95), with its ensuingwars and other disturbances, made great changes in the conformation of the order by the suppression of a number of provinces, and further changes were due to the secularization andsuppression of monasteries which went on during the nineteenth centry. The union of 1897 still further reduced the number of provinces, by amalgamation all theconvents of the same district into one province.

The whole order is now divided into twelve circumscriptions, each of which embraces several provinces, districts, or countries.

The total figures for the order are consequently (4 October, 1908), 81 provinces 1413convents and 16,894Franciscans. In 1905 theFranciscans numbered 16,842 and theirconvents 1373. For the second last decade of the nineteenth century the lowest figures are recorded, the figures announced at the general chapter of 1889 being: Observants 6228, Reformati 5733, Recollects 1621, Discalced 858 — that is a total of 14,440Franciscans. That only the Recollects had increased since 1862 may be seen from the figures for that year: Observants 10,200, Reformati, 9889, Recollects and Discalced together 1813 — a total of 21,902 Minorites. The year 1768 gives the highest figures — about 77,000 in 167 provinces. In 1762, the Observants had 87 provinces, 2330convents, and 39,900 members; the Reformati 19,000 members with 37 provinces and 800convents; the Recollects 11,000 members, 490convents; 22 provinces; the Disclaced 7000 members 430convents, 20 provinces. Total, 76,900 Minorites, 4050cloisters, 166 provinces. In 1700 the total was 63,400 Minorites, 3880convents, and 154 provinces; about 1680, 60,000 Minorites, 3420convents, and 151 provinces.

The various names of the Friars Minor

The official name,Fratres Minores (Ordo Fratrum Minorum — O.F.M.), or Friars Minor, was variously translated into the popular speech of theMiddle Ages. InEngland the Friars Minor were commonly known as the Grey Friars from the colour of their habit. This name corresponds to theGrabrodrene ofDenmark and Scandinavia. InGermany they were usually known as theBaarfüsser (Baarfuozzen, Barvuzen, Barvoten, Barfüzzen, etc.), that is, Barefooted (wearing only sandals). InFrance they were usually called theCordeliers from their rope-girdle (corde, cordelle) but were also known as theFrères Menous (fromFratres Minores). After the fifteenth century the term was applied to both theConventuals and the Observants, but more seldom to the Récollets (Recollects). Their popular name inItaly was theFrati Minori or simply theFrati. The Observants were long known in that country as theZoccolanti, from their foot-wear.

The habit

The habit has been gradually changed in colour and certain other details. Its colour, which was at first grey or a medium brown, is now a dark brown. The dress, which consists of a loose sleeved gown, is confined about the loins by a white cord, from which is hung, since the fifteenth century, theSeraphic rosary with its seven decades. A long or short under-habit of the same or a different colour and trousers are also worn. Shoes are forbidden by the rule, and may be worn only in case of necessity; for these sandals are substituted, and the feet are bre. Around the neck and over the shoulders hangs the cowl, quite separate from the habit, and under it is the shoulder-cape ormozetta, which is round in front and terminates in a point at the back. TheFranciscans wear no head-dress, and have the greattonsure, so that only about three finger-breadths of hair remain, the rest of the scalp being shaved. In winter they wear about their necks between the cowl and the habit the round mantle which almost reaches the knees.

The constitution of the order

(See RULE OF ST. FRANCIS).

During the lifetime of St. Fracis ofAssisi, everything was directed and influenced by his transcendentpersonality. The duration of offices was not defined, and consequently the constitution was at first juridically speaking, absolute. From 1239, that is after the experiences of the order underElias of Cortona, the order gradually developed a monarchical constitution. The chapter of definitors for the whole order (thirteenth century), the chapter of custodies in each province, thediscretus sent by the subordinateconvents to the provincial chapter, etc. are institutions which have long ceased to exist. To the past also belongs the custody in the sense of a union of severalconvents within a province. Today a custody signifies a fewcloisters constituting a province which has not yet been canonically erected.

The present constitution is as follows: The whole order is directed by the minister general, elected by the provincialministers at the general chapter, which meets every twelve years. At first his term of office was indefinite, that is, it was for life; in 1517 it was fixed at six years; in 1571, at eight; in 1587, again at six; and finally the twelve-year period of office was settled on byPius IX in 1862. The general resides at the Collegio S. Antonio, Via Merulana,Rome. The order is divided into provinces (that is, associations of theconvents in one country or district), which prescribe and define the sphere of activity of the variousfriars within their sphere ofjurisdiction. Several provinces together form a circumscription of which there are twelve in the order. Each circumscription sends one definitor general, taken in turn from each province, toRome as one of the counsellors to the minister general. These definitors are elected for six years at the general chapter and at thecongregatio intermedia (also called frequently, by an abuse of the term, a general chapter), summoned by the general six years after his election. The general chapter and thecongregatio intermedia may be convened by the general in any place. The provinces of the order are governed by theprovincials (ministri provinciales), who are elected every three years at the Provincial chapter and constitute the general chapter. Their term of office, like that of the general, was first undefined; from 1517 to 1547 it was three years; from 1547 to 1571, six years; from 1571 to 1587, four years; since 1587, three years. While in office, the provincial holds every year (or every and a half) the intermediate chapter (capitulum intermedium), at which the heads of all theconvents of the province are chosen for a year or a year and a half. The local superiors of houses (conventus) which contain at least six religious, are called guardians (earlier wardens); otherwise they receive the titlepraeses or superior. The provincial has to visit his own province and watch over the observance of the rule; the general has to visit the whole order, either personally or by means of visitors specially appointed by him (vistatores generales). The individualconvents consist of the Fathers (Patres), i.e. theregularpriests, theclerics studying for thepriesthood (fratres clerici) and thelay brothers engaged in the regular service of the house (fratres laici). Newly received candidates must first make a year'snovitiate in aconvent specially intended for this end. Convents, which serve certain definite purposes are called colleges (collegia). These must not, however, be confounded with the Seraphic colleges, which are to be found in modern times in most of the provinces, and are devoted to the instruction of youthful candidates in the humanities, as a preparation for thenovitiate, where the students first receive the habit of the order. No friar,convent, or even the order itself can possess any realproperty. (Cf. RULE OF ST. FRANCIS.)

Theduties of the individual Fathers vary; according as they hold offices in the order, or are engaged aslectors (professors) of the differentsciences, as preachers, in giving missions or in other occupations within or, with the permission of the superiors, without the order. Thecardinal-protector, introduced in the order by St. Francis himself, exercises the office andrights of a protector at theRoman Curia, but has no power over the order itself.

General sphere of the order's activity

As areligious order in the service of theCatholicChurch, and under her care and protection, theFranciscans were, according to the express wish of their founder, not only to devote themselves to their own personal sanctification, but also to make their apostolate fruitful ofsalvation to the people in the world. That the former of these objects has been fulfilled is clearly indicated by the number of Friars Minor who have beencanonized andbeatified by theChurch. To these must be added the army offriars who have in the stillness of retirement led a life of virtue, known it its fullness toGod alone, a mere fraction of whose names fill such volumes at the "Martyrologium Fraciscanum" of Father Arthur do Monstier (Paris, 1638 and 1653) and the Menologium trium ordinum S.P. Fracisci of Fortunatus Hüber (Munich, 1688), containing the names of the thousands ofmartyrs who have laid down their lives for the Faith inEurope and elsewhere under theheathen andheretic.

Like all human institutions, the order at times fell below its first perfection. Such a multitude of men, with their human infirmities and ever-changingduties, could never perfectly translate into action the exalted ideals of St. Francis, as the moresupernatural and sublime theideas, the ruder is their collision with reality and the more allowance must made for the feebleness of man. That an aspiration after the fundamental glorious ideal of their founder has ever distinguished the order is patent from the reforms ever arising in its midst, and especially from the history of the Observance, inaugurated and established in the face of such seemingly overwhelming odds. The order was established to minister to all classes, and theFranciscans have in every age discharged the spiritual offices of confessor and preacher in the palaces of sovereigns and in the huts of the poor. Underpopes, emperors, and kings they have served as ambassadors and mediators. One hundred have already been nominated to theSacred College of Cardinals, and the number ofFranciscans who have been appointedpatriarchs,archbishops, andbishops, is at least 3,000. Thepopes elected from the Observants are:Nicholas IV (1288-92);Alexander V (1409-10).Sixtus IV (1471-84) was a Conventual of the period before the division of the order.Sixtus V (1585-90) andClement XIV (1769-74) were chosen from theConventuals after the division. Thepopes have often employed the Minorites aslegates andnuncios, e.g. to pave the way for and carry through the reunion of the Greeks, Tatars,Armenians,Maronites, and other schismatics of the East. Many Minorites have also been appointed grand penitentiaries, that is, directors of thepapal penitentiaries, and have served and still serve inRome as Apostolic penitentiaries and as confessors to thepope himself or in the principalbasilicas of the city. Thus the Observants are in charge of the Lateran Basilica inRome. As inquisitors againstheresy, theFranciscans were in the immediate service of theApostolic See.

Observing a much stricter rule of poverty and renunciation of the world than all other orders, theFranciscans exercised during theMiddle Ages a most salutary social influence over the enslaved and unprivileged classes of the population. The constant model of a practical poverty was at once consoling and elevating. The vast contributions of theirmonasteries towards the maintenance of the very poor cannot be indicated in rows of figures, nor can their similar contributions of today. They also exerted a wide social influence through their third order (see THIRD ORDER). They tended thelepers, especially inGermany; the constantly recurring pests and epidemics found them ever at their post, and thousands of their number sacrificed their lives in the service of the plague-stricken populace. They erected infirmaries and foundinghospitals. The Observants performed most meritorious social work especially inItaly by the institution ofmontes pietatis (monti de Pieta), in the fiteenth century, conspicuous in this work beingBl. Bernardine of Feltre with the renowned preacher. InEngland they fought with Simon de Montfort for the liberty of the people and the ideal of universal brotherhood, which St. Francis had inculcated in sermon and verse, and to their influence may be partly traced the birth of theidea of popular government inItaly and elsewhere inEurope.

The preaching activity of the order

St. Francis exercised great influence through his preaching, and his example has beenzealously followed by his order throughout the centuries with conspicuous success, evident not only in popular applause but in the profound effects produced on the lives of the people. At first all thefriars were allowed to deliver simple exhortations and, with the permission of St. Francis, dogmatic and penitential sermons. This privilege was restricted in 1221, and still further in 1223, after which year only specially trained and testedfriars were allowed to preach. TheFranciscans have always been eminently popular preachers, e.g.Berthold of Ratisbon, a German who died in 1272;St. Anthony of Padua (d. 1231); Gilbert ofTournai (d. about 1280); Eudes Rigauld,Archbishop ofRouen (d. 1275); Leo Valvassori of Perego, afterwardsBishop ofMilan (1263); Bonaventure ofJesi (d. about 1270);Conrad of Saxony (or ofBrunswick) (d. 1279); Louis, the so-called Greculus (c. 1300);Haymo of Faversham (d. 1244); Ralph of Rosa (c. 1250). The acme ofFranciscan preaching was reached by the Observants in the fifteenth century, especially inItaly andGermany. Of the many illustrious preachers, it will be sufficient to mention St. Bernadine ofSiena 9d. 1444); St. John Capistran (d. 1456); St. James of the March (d. 1476);Bl. Albert Berdini of Sarteano (d. 1450); Anthony ofRimini (d. 1450); Michael of Carcano (Milan) (d. 1485);Bl. Pacificus of Ceredano (d. 1482);Bl. Bernardine of Feltre (d. 1494); Bernardine of Busti (d. 1500); Bl. Angelo Carletti di Chivasso (d. 1495); Andrew ofFaenza (d. 1507). InGermany we find: John ofMinden (d. 1413); Henry of Werl (d. 1463); John of Werden (d. 1437); author of the renowned collection of sermons "Dormi secure"; John Brugman (d. 1473); Dietrich Coelde of Münster (d. 1515); Johann Kannermann (d. about 1470); a preacher on the Passion; Johann Kannegieser, "the trumpet of Truth" (d. about 1500); Johann Gritasch (d. about 1410); Johann Mader; Johann Pauli (d. about 1530); whose work Schimpf und Ernst was a long favourite among the German people; Heinrich Kastner; Stephan Fridolin (d. 1498). InHungary: Pelbart of Temesvar (d. about 1490). InPoland: Bl. Simon of Lipnica (d. 1482); Bl. John of Dukla (d. 1484); Bl. Ladislaus of Gienlnow (d. 1505). InFrance: Oliver Maillard (d. 1502); Michel Minot (d. about 1522); Thomas surnamed Illyricus (d. 1529); Jean Tisserand (d. 1494); Etienne Brulefer (d. about 1507). The following illustrious Spanishtheologians and preachers of the sixteenth century were Friars Minor: Alphonsus de Castro (d. 1558); Didacus de Estella (d. 1575); Luis de Carvajeal (d. about 1500); John of Carthagena (d. 1617);St. Peter of Alcántara (d. 1562). RenownedItalianFranciscans were: Saluthio (d. about 1630);St. Leonard of Port Maurice (d. 1751); Bl. Leopold of Gaiches (d. 1815); Luigi Parmentieri of Casovia (d. 1855); Luigi Arrigoni (d. 1875),Archbishop ofLucca, etc. Other well-known FrenchFranciscans were Michel Vivien (seventeenth century), Zacharie Laselve etc, and of theGermans mention may be made of Heinrich Sedulius (d. 1621), Fortunatus huever (d. 1706) and Franz Ampferle (d. 1646). Even today the Friars Minor have amongst their number many illustrious preachers, especially inItaly.

Influence of the order on the liturgy and religious devotions

St. Francis prescribed for his order the abridgedBreviary then reserved for theRoman Curia. As this and theMissal were revised by the general,Haymo of Faversham, at the command ofGregory IX, and theseliturgical books have by degrees, since the time ofNicholas III (1277-80), been universally prescribed or adopted, the order in this alone has exercised a great influence. TheBreviary of General Quiñonez (1523-28) enjoyed a much shorter vogue. To theFranciscan Order theChurch is also indebted for the feast of St. Joseph (19 March) and that of theBlessed Trinity. The activity of theFranciscans in promoting devotion to the Immaculate Conception, sinceScotus (d. 1308) defended thisdoctrine, is well known. St. Francis himself laboured earnestly to promote the adoration ofOur Lord in the Blessed Eucharist, and Cherubino ofSpoleto founded a sodality to accompany theBlessed Sacrament to the houses of the sick. In 1897Leo XIII declared Paschal Baylon (d. 1592) patron of eucharistic leagues. TheChristmas crib was introduced and popularized by the order to which — especially toSt. Leonard of Port Maurice (d. 1751) — is also due the spreading of the devotion known as "the Stations of the Cross." The ringing of the Angelus morning, noon, and evening, was also inaugurated by theFranciscans, especially bySt. Bonaventure and Bl. Benedict of Alrezzo (d. about 1520).

Franciscan missions

St. Francis devoted himself to missionary labours from 1219 to 1221, and devoted in his rule a special chapter (xii) to missions. In every part of the world, theFranciscans have laboured with the greatest devotion, self-sacrifice, enthusiasm and success, even though, as the result of persecutions andwars, the result of their toil has not always been permanent. The fourfriars sent toMorocco in 1219 underBerard of Carbio weremartyred in 1220. Electus soon shared their fate, and in 1227 Daniel with six companions wasput to death at Ceuta. Thebishops ofMorocco were mostlyFranciscans orDominicans. In 1420 the Observants founded aconvent at Ceuta, and here St. John of Prado died at the stake in 1632. This mission was entrusted to the province of S. Diego in 1641, and to the province of Santiago (Galicia,Spain) in 1860, after it had been constituted aprefecture Apostolic in 1859. In Oran, Libya,Tunis,Algiers, as well as throughoutEgypt,Franciscans have laboured since the thirteenth century, and signalized their exertions by a glorious array ofmartyrs in 1288, 1345, 1358, 1370, 1373, etc. This mission was under thejurisdiction of that in the Holy Land. In 1686 UpperEgypt was separated, and became in 1697 an independentprefecture Apostolic. LowerEgypt continued its connection with the Holy Land until 1839, when both (with Aden, which was again separated in 1889) were formed into avicariate Apostolic, in which state they still remain. In LowerEgypt there are now sixteenmonasteries, controllingparishes andschools. In UpperEgypt, from which theCopts were separated in 1892, are eightmonasteries withparishes connected.

In 1630 theCongregation of Propaganda sent Fathers Mark of Scalvo and Edward ofBergamo to Tripoli, and in 1643 appointed Paschal Canto, aFrenchman,Prefect Apostolic of Barbary — an office which still exists. The activity of this mission, like the others in these countries, is not so much directed to the conversion ofMohammedans as to the support and help of theCatholic settlers.Abyssinia (Ethiopia, Habech) was first visited byJohn of Montecorvino (c. 1280). Later, Bl. Thomas of Florence was sent thither by Albert of Sarteano, andSixtus IV, after the other missions had failed, sentGirolamo Tornielli. Many missionaries wereput to death, and in 1687 a special prefecture was instituted for the conversion of theCopts. This was reinstituted in 1815, and in 1895 a specialhierarchy was erected for the same object. In 1700 Father Krump undertook the foundation of a new mission inEthiopia, when in 1718 three missionaries were stoned to death.

The twoGenoese ships which circumnavigated Africa in 1291 had two Minorites on board. Others accompaniedVasco da Gama. In 1446 theFranciscans visited Cape Verde where Roger, aFrenchman,zealously preached the Gospel. In 1459 they reached Guinea, of which Alphonsus of Bolano was namedPrefect Apostolic in 1472. They thence proceeded to the Congo, where theybaptized a king. In 1500 they went to Mozambique under Alvarez of Coimbra. The French Recollects laboured here during the seventeenth century, but since 1898 the PortugueseFranciscans have had charge of the mission. At the beginning of the sixteenth century Friars Minor settled in Melinda and on the Island of Socotra nearAden. In 1245 John of Plano Carpinis (Piano di Carpine) was sent byInnocent IV to the Great Khan in Tatary and penetrated thence intoMongolia. By order ofLouis IXWilliam of Rubruck (Rubruquis) proceeded thence throughArmenia and Central Asia to Karakoram. The accounts of the travels of the last-mentioned historical and geographical renown. In 1279Nicholas III sent fiveFranciscans toChina, among them John of Montercorvino, who preached on the outward journey inArmenia,Persia, andEthiopia and on his return journey in the same countries and inIndia. Having converted thousands and translated theNew Testament and the Psalms into Chinese, he completed in 1299 a beautiful church in Peking. In 1307Clement V appointed himArchbishop of Cambalue and primate of the Far East and gave him six suffraganbishops, only three of whom reached Peking (1308). (SeeCHINA, Vol. III, 669-70.) From 1320 to 1325Odoric of Pordenone laboured inPersia,India, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Canton,Tibet, andChina. In 1333John XXII dispatched twenty-sevenFranciscans toChina, Giovanni Marignola of Florence following them in 1342. In 1370 William ofPrato was sent asarchbishop to Peking with twenty fellow-Minorites. The appearance of the Ming dynasty in 1368 brought about the ruin of all the missions. On 21 June, 1579,Franciscans from thePhilippines penetrated toChina once more, but the real founder of the new mission inChina was Antonio de S. Maria (d. 1669), who was sent toChina in 1633, and later laboured in Cochin-China and Korea.China was also visited in 1661 by Bonaventura Ibañez (d. 1691) with eightfriars. HenceforwardFranciscan missions toChina were constant. In 1684 came the Italian fathers under the renowned Bernardino della Chiesa (d. 1739), including Basilio Rollo da Gemona (d. 1704) and Carlo Orazio da Castorano. At the beginning of the eighteenth century theItalianFranciscans began missions in the interior ofChina — first in Shen-si, then in Shan-si, Shan-tung, etc.; numbers weremartyred, particularly towards the close of the century. Despite the edict ofpersecution, Ludovico Besi began in 1839 a new mission to Shan-tung. TheFranciscans continued to work persistently in most of the districts inChina, where, in spite ofpersecution, they now hold nine of the thirty-eight vicariates. Every land, almost every province, ofEurope and many divisions of America are represented inChina by one or more missionaries. Of the 222Franciscans at present (beginning of 1909) labouring there, 77 areItalians, 27Dutch, 25 Germans, 25Belgians, 16 French.

The first missionaries reached thePhilippines in 1577 and founded the province of St. Gregory. Their leaders were Pedro de Alfaro (1576-79), Pablo a Jesu (1580-83), andSt. Peter Baptist (1586-91), the firstFranciscanmartyr inJapan. From thePhilippines they extended their field of labour toChina,Siam, Formosa,Japan, Borneo. In thePhilippines their activity was tireless; they foundedconvents, town, andhospitals; instructed the natives in manual labour — the planting of coffee and cocoa, the breeding of silk-worms, weaving; and planned streets, bridges, canals, aqueducts, etc. Among the best known Fraciscan architects may be included Lorenzo S. Maria (d. 1585), Macimo Rico (d. 1780), and a Joseph Balaguer (d. 1850). Here as elsewhere they studied the languages and dialects of the natives, and even to the present day continue to compile much sought after and highly prized grammars, dictionaries, etc. The occupation of thePhilippines by theUnited States brought many alterations, but the missions are still under the province of S. Gregorio inSpain.

On 26 May, 1592,St. Peter Baptist set out fromManila forJapan with some associates, erected in 1594 a church andconvent in Meaco, but on 5 February, 1597, sufferedmartyrdom on the cross with twenty five companions, of whom three wereJesuits. The missions of theFranciscans were thus interrupted for a time, but were repeatedly renewed from thePhilippines, and as often the list ofmartyrs added to (e.g. in 1616, 1622, 1628, 1634, etc.). In 1907 someFranciscans again settled at Sappora on the Island of Yezo, thus forming a connecting link with the traditions of the past.

In 1680 Australia was visited byItalianFranciscans, who also preached inNew Zealand, but in 1878 the missions were transferred to theIrishFranciscans. From 1859 to 1864, Patrick Bonaventure Geoghegan wasBishop ofAdelaide, and was succeeded by anotherFranciscan, Luke Bonaventure Sheil (1864-72).

In NorthernEurope, which in the thirteenth century was not yet completelyconverted toChristianity, theFranciscans established missions inLithuania, where thirty-six were butchered in 1325. The firstBishop ofLithuania was Andreas Vazilo. During the fifteenth century John, surnamed "the Small", and Blessed Ladislaus of Gielniow laboured most successfully in this district. InPrussia (now the provinces of West and East Prussia), Livonia, and Courland (where the Minorite Albert wasBishop of Marienwerder (1260-90) and founded the town of Reisenburg), as well as in Lapland, the inhabitants of which were stillheathens, theReformation put an end to the labours of the Friars Minor. Their numerous houses inDenmark,Sweden, andNorway, which formed the province ofDenmark (Dania, Dacia), and the provinces ofEngland,Scotland, and to some extent those ofHolland andGermany, were also overthrown. After the year 1530, theFranciscans could work in these lands only as missionaries, in which capacity they laboured there from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century and still continue to a certain extent.

A few words may here be devoted to those Friars minor who stood forth as fearless defenders of the Faith in the Northern countries during theReformation period. TheFranciscans andDominicans supplied the greatest number and the most illustrious champions of theChurch, and comparatively few yielded to temptation orpersecution and deserted their order and their Faith. As in the case of the scholars, artists, missionaries, and holy men of the order, only a few names can be mentioned here. Among the hundreds of names from Great Britain may be cited: John Forest ofLondon, burned at the stake in 1538, Godfrey Jones (d. 1598),Thomas Bullaker (d. 1642),Henry Heath (d. 1643),Arthur Bell (d. 1643), Walter Colman (d. 1645) whose heroism culminated in every case in death. Similarly inIreland we findPatrick O'Hely (d. 1578),Cornelius O'Devany (d. 1612), Boetius Egan (d. 1650), etc. Among the most distinguishedDanish defenders of the Faith isNikolaus Herborn (Ferber), mockingly called "Stagefyr" (d. 1535); inFrance, Christophe de Cheffontaines (d. 1595) and François Feuradent; inGermanyThomas Murner (d. 1537), Augustin von Alfeld (d. 1532),Johannes Ferus (Wild) (d. 1554), Konrad Kling, (d. 1556), Ludolf Manann (d. 1574), Michael Hillebrand (d. about 1540),Kaspar Schatzgeyer (d. 1527), Johann Nas (d. 1590), etc. Between 1520 and 1650 more than 500 Minorites laid down their lives for theChurch.

On the Black and Caspian Seas theFranciscans instituted missions about 1270. The followingFranciscans laboured in GreaterArmenia: James of Russano in 1233; Andrew ofPerugia in 1247; Thomas of Tolentino in 1290. King Haito (Ayto) II of LesserArmenia, and Jean de Brienne, Emperor of Constantinople, both entered theFranciscan Order.Franciscans were inPersia about 1280, and again after 1460. About this time Louis of Bologna went throughAsia andRussia to rouse popular sentiment against theTurks. TheFranciscans were in FurtherIndia by 1500, and toiled among the natives, theSt. Thomas Christians, and the Portuguese, who made over to them the mosque ofGoa seized in 1510. The order had colleges andschools inIndia long before the arrival of theJesuits, who first came under theFranciscanArchbishop ofGoa, João Albuquerque (1537-53).

Since 1219 theFranciscans have maintained a mission in the Holy Land, where, after untold labours and turmoil and at the expense of hundreds of lives, they have, especially since the fourteenth century, recovered the holy places dear toChristians. Here they built houses for the reception ofpilgrims, to whom they gave protection and shelter. Friars from every country compose the so-called custody of the Holy Land, whose work in the past, interrupted by unceasing persecutions and massacres, constitutes a bloody but glorious page in the history of the order. In the territory of the Patriarchate ofJerusalem, reinstituted in 1847, theFranciscans have 24convents, and 15parishes; inSyria (the Prefecture Apostolic ofAleppo), to which also belongPhoenicia andArmenia, they have 20convents and 15parishes, while in LowerEgypt they occupy 16convents and 16parishes. As all these (with numerousschools) are included in the custody of the Holy Land, the total for the mission is: 58convents, 46parishes, and 942 religious. TheCatholics ofLatin Rite in these districts number 74, 779; ofOriental Rites 893.

Under the greatest difficulties and frequently with small fruit, in consequence of the recurrent devastating wars and insurrections, theFranciscan missionaries have laboured in south-easternEurope. Albania,Montenegro, Bosnia, andBulgaria received many Minorites in the thirteenth century, about which period many of the order occupied thearchiepiscopal See of Antivari, and in 1340, Peregrinus of Saxony was nominated firstBishop of Bosnia. In these districts the Fraciscans worked earnestly to reconcile the schismatics withRome.Nicholas IV, himself aFranciscan, sent missionaries of the order to Servia in 1288, and another mission followed (1354) under Friar Bartholomew,Bishop of Trau (Tragori). In 1389, Bajazet I destroyed almost all these missions, while those which were re-established in 1402 fell into the hands of theTurks, who definitely took possession ofServia in 1502. In 1464 thecourageousFranciscan Angelus Zojedzodovic, obtained from Mohammed II a charter of toleration forCatholics, and progress was also made by theFranciscan missions inBulgaria, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Podolia. In BlackRussia Nikolaus Melsat of Crosna with twenty-fivefriars began a mission about 1370, Moldavia being visited about the same time by Anthony ofSpalato (and later by Fabian of Bachia and James of the March), but their work was interrupted in 1460 by theTurks, who in 1476 cast 40,000Christians from these districts intoprison.Boniface IX transferred theepiscopal see to Bakau,Benedict XIV to Sniatyn. At the beginning of the seventeenth century Bishop Bernardino Quirino wasmurdered by theTurks, and, on the death of the lastbishop (Bonaventura Berardi) in 1818, the mission in Moldavia and Rumania was entrusted to theConventuals, who still retain it.

TheFranciscans were settled in Constantinople as early as the thirteenth century. In 1642 this and the subordinate missions were united into aprefecture Apostolic, from which the Prefecture ofRhodes was separated in 1897. The former now occupies sevenconvents, while the latter has seven churches and houses. In 1599, theconvents of the Albanian mission were erected into a province, which, on 9 October, 1832, was divided into five prefectures Apostolic (Epirus,Macedonia,Servia,Pulati, and Kastrati), which are almost entirely worked byFranciscans, and were on 31 January, 1898, placed by the general, Aloysius Lauer, under a commissary general, with the authority of a provincial. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was separated from the Bosnian province in 1847 and elevated to the rank of a province in 1892, theFranciscans were the first missionaries andpastors, and these countries are still almost entirely under the spiritual guidance of the order, practically all thebishops having beenFranciscans. When it was proposed in 1886 to erect a see atAntivari inMontenegro, Simon Milinovic of theFranciscan Order was designatedArchbishop ofAntivari andPrimate of Servia. In Montenegro the Friars Minor administer ten of the elevenparishes.

According to the statistics of 4 October, 1907, the present condition of theFranciscan missions, which ae distributed over the five continents, is as follows: Total number of Friars Minor, 4689, including 2535priests, 620clerics, 1396lay brothers, and 138novices. These are assisted in their work by 12,572Franciscan sisters, chiefly members of theThird Order of St. Francis.

Cultivation of the sciences

The order has always devoted itself diligently to the cultivation ofsciences, and, although St. Francis is to be numbered rather amongst the divinely enlightened than among the academically trained, he was neither a declared enemy nor a despiser of learning. to qualify themselves for the tasks assigned in ever-increasing numbers to their rapidly spreading order — which was revered by rich and poor, was employed bypopes and kings on missions of every description, and was to labour for the social betterment of every section of the community — theFranciscans were early compelled to take advantage of every possible source of scientific culture, and, within thirty or forty years after their founder's death, they shared with theDominicans the most prominent place in the revival of learning. This place has been retained for centuries with distinction and brilliancy, especially in the domain oftheology andphilosophy. A list ofFranciscan scholars and their works would fill volumes, while many of their writings have exercised an abiding influence in the realms ofscience, on thereligious life of the people, and on the wholehuman race. Mention may be made of only a few of the eminent dogmatic and moraltheologians,philosophers, writers on ethics, historians, linguists, philologists, artists, poets, musicians, geographers, etc., whom the order has produced. FormerlyFranciscans lectured in manyuniversities, e.g.parish,Oxford, Bologna, Cambridge,Cologne,Toulouse, Alcalá, Salamanca, Erfurt,Vienna, Heidelberg,Fulda. We may here mention;Alexander of Hales (d. 1245);John of Rupella (La Rochelle) (d. 1245);Adam of Marsh (Marisco) (d. 1258); John Peckman,Archbishop ofCanterbury (d. 1292); Cardinal Matthew of Acquasparta (d. 1302); Johannes Guallensia (John ofWales) (d. about 1300);Richard of Middleton (de Mediavilla) (d. about 1305);John Duns Scotus (d. 1308), the most subtle of allScholastics;William of Occam (d. 1349); William Vorrillon (Vorilongus) (d. 1464); Nicolas d Orbellis (d. 1465); Monaldus (d. about 1290); John of Erfurt (d. about 1310);Nicholas of Lyra (d. about 1340); the most influentialexegete of theMiddle Ages;David of Augsburg, mystic (d. 1272); Artesanus ofAsti (c. 1317), author of the famous "Summa Casuum", called the "Artesana";Nicholas of Osimo (d. about 1450);Pacificus of Ceredano (d. 1482), author of the "Summa Pacifica"; Baptista Trovamala de Salis (c. 1485), author of the "Baptistiniana", also called the "Rosella"; Angelo Carletti di Chivasso (d. 1495), author of the "Summa Angelica"; Dietrich (Theodore) Coelde (d. 1515), author of the "Christenespiegel"; Francesco Lichetti (d. 1520); François Feuardent (d. 1612), controversialist andexegete;Luke Wadding (d. 1658);Florence Conry (d. 1629); Anthony Hickey (Hyquaeus) (d. 1641); Pierre Marchant (d. 1661); William Herinex (d. 1678); Friedrich Stummel (d. 1682);Patritius Sporer (d. 1683); Benjamin Eubel (d. 1756);Anacletus Reiffenstuel (d. 1703); DeGubernatis (d. about 1689); Alva y Astorga (d. 1667); Jean de la Haye (d. 1661);Lorenzo Cozza (d. 1729); Amadus Hermann (d. 1700);Claude Frassen (d. 1711); François Assermet (d. 1730); Jerome of Montefortino (d. about 1740);Luca Ferraris (d. about 1750); Giovanni Antonio Bianchi (d. 1758); Sigmund Neudecker (d. 1736); Benedetto Bonelli (d. 1773); Kilian Kazenberger (d. about 1729); Vigilus Greiderer (d. 1780); Polychronius Gassmann (d. about 1830); Hereculanus Oberrauch (d. 1808); Ireneo Affò (d. 1797); Sancatntonio Cimarosto (d. 1847); Adalbert Waibel (d. 1852); Chiaro Vascotti (d. 1860); Gabriele Tonini (d. about 1870); Antonio Maria ofVicenza (d. 1884); Melchior Stanislaus of Cerreto (d. 1871); Petrus von Hötzl (d. 1902 asBishop ofAugsburg); Bernard van Loo (d. 1885); Fidelis a Fanna (d. 1881); Ignatius Jeiler (d. 1704);Marcellino da Civezza (d. 1906).

TheFranciscans did not, like other orders, confine themselves to any particularScholasticschool (system). They were more attached to the teachings ofDuns Scotus, perhaps, than to the School of St. Bonaventure, but there was no official compulsion in the matter.

Among the many naturalists, artists, and poets of the order may be mentioned:Thomas of Celano (d. about 1255), author of the "Dies Irae"; Giacomino ofVerona (c. 1300), a precursor ofDante; St. Bonaventure (d. 1274);Jacopone of Todi (d. 1306), author of the "Stabat Mater"; John Brugman (d. 1473); Gregor Martic (d. 1905); the Croatian poet. Among the musicians:Julian of Speyer (d. about 1255); Bonaventure ofBrescia (fifteenth century); Pietro Canuzzi; Luigi Grossi of Viadana (d. 1627); Domenico Catenacci (d. about 1791); David Moretti (d. 1842); Petrus Singer (d. 1882). Among the naturalists may be mentioned:Roger Bacon (d. 1294); the so-called Schwarzer (Black) Berthold (c. 1300), the reputed discoverer of gunpowder; Luca Pacioli (d. about 1510); Elektus Zwinger (d. 1690); Charles Plumier (d. 1704).

For writers on the history of the order, the reader may be referred to the bibliography, since the vast majority of the books cited have been written byFranciscans. In recent times — to some extent since 1880, but mainly since 1894 — the investigation of the history of the Friars Minor, especially during the first centuries succeeding the foundation of the order, has aroused a keen and widespread interest in the leading civilized lands and among scholars of everyreligious denomination andbelief.

Saints andbeati of the order

The number of Friars Minor who have beencanonized orbeatified, is — even if we exclude here as throughout this article, the members of the other orders of St. Francis (Conventuals,Poor Clares, Tertiaries andCapuchins) — extraordinarily high. In this enumeration we further confine ourselves to those who are officiallyvenerated throughout theChurch, or at least throughout the whole order, with canonical sanction. These exceed one hundred in number, the names, dates of decease, and feast of the best-known being as follows.

Saints

Beati

To these might be added long lists of Blessed, who enjoy a cultus sanctioned by theChurch, but whose cultus is only local, i.e. limited to their native or burial-places or to thedioceses with which they were connected. If these be included in the reckoning, the number ofsaints and beati in all the orders of St. Francis exceeds 300.

At the present time (1909), thepostulatura of the order atRome, whose office is to collect evidence concerning the candidates forbeatification and canonization, is urging the cause of about ninety members of the First, Second, and Third orders of St. Francis. This list includes some names belonging to later and even recent times, and it will thus be seen that the Order of Friars Minor never ceases to produce members whoseholiness entitles them to the highestecclesiasticalhonour — that of the altar. That the spirit ofJesus Christ, which St. Francis laboured so intermittently to revive in the world and instilled into his institutions still lives in his order to the glorification of the Divine Name, the great efficiency of the Friars Minor in our day is sufficientproof.

SEE BIBLIOGRAPHY.

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