Franciscan Order

Franciscan Order. The Order of Friars Minor was founded by St Francis of Assisi in 1209 when he gave his followers their first rule, now lost. This rule was recast in 1221 and brought into its final form in 1223, when Honorius III confirmed it by bull (whence it is known as ‘Regula bullata’). Its distinguishing feature is insistence on complete poverty not only for individual friars but corporately for the Order. With the spread of the Order two factions developed: the ‘Spirituals’ (q.v.), who insisted on a literal interpretation of the rule, and the majority who preferred a more moderate view. In 1317–18 the question was decided against the stricter party by two bulls of John XXII which allowed the Order corporate ownership of property. Many of the Spirituals fled, and during the 14th cent. laxity increased. A return to poverty was brought about by the ‘Observants’ (q.v.), who gained ecclesiastical recognition in 1415 when the Council of Constance granted their French province separate provincials and in 1443 Eugenius IV provided them with a separate Vicar General; in 1517 they were seperated from the ‘Conventuals’ and declared the true Order of St Francis. Another reform led to the establishment of the Capuchins, whose rule was drawn up in 1529. In the 17th and 18th cents. reform parties sprang up again. Of these the chief were the ‘Reformati’, the Recollects, and the Discalced, who lived according to their own statutes though remaining under the same General. At the end of the 19th cent. the Order gained new vigour by the reunion of its different branches, confirmed in 1897.

To the Franciscan friars are attached a Second Order of contemplative nuns (the Poor Clares) and a Third Order (q.v.), now divided into Regular and Secular Tertiaries.

In the C of E a group inspired by Franciscan ideals settled near Cerne Abbas in Dorset in 1921. In 1931 they took vows and were constituted a religious community. There are also small Anglican communities for women.