WHI-Chap20-St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi was a reformer during the 1,100s-1,200s in Italy who tried to change the church, not destroy it. He believed the church had become too materialistic and secular. He began an order of mendicants, priests who gave up all possessions and traveled, preaching and begging wherever they went. These mendicant, known as Francisian friars, also worked to persuade heretics to return to the church and were most popular in cities. St. Francis of Assisi and his mendicants illustrate the need for change in the church.