Francis & Dominic: The Rise of the Mendicant Orders

Week 9: Francis and Dominic - Poverty and City Life: Tutorial Discussion Post            

By: Paul and Amber

Paul's thoughts,

In Celano's account of St. Francis' life, it can be at times hard to read it like you would a modern biography, giving a very one-eyed look at his life. But this is in part because it was written shortly after his death, and as a new saint. However, it gives a good insight into his life, or his perceived life, giving an ideal look at a saint, possibly the ideal look of a man in the Christian sense. Francis is portrayed as fanatically Christian in this. He and his followers practiced mortification of their bodies, and placed themselves in stress positions to keep from falling out of concentration or asleep during prayer. However, the other view you get of Francis is of an intensely loving man, loving of everyone and thing around him, in a very evangelical Christian sense, trying to preach to everyone and everything. This includes an Egyptian Sultan during a Crusade and animals.

In Celano's text, there is a large focus on Francis' relationship with the natural world, and in particular, birds. He writes about Francis’ famed way with animals, reporting that they would listen to him preaching the gospels and also that they would be calm around him, as if actually listening. It's explained that he acted and believed it was as important as if he was preaching to people, seeing animals as other creatures of God, reasoning that they too should be able to listen to the word of God. I thought this was actually a very modern idea, like the early animal rights movement but with a heavily Christian motivation.

Le Goff’s article mainly focuses on Francis’ life and the increasing urbanisation of the period. In it he argues that the urbanism helped to make Francis’ order possible, allowing his preaching and lifestyle, and making them able to reach a large audience in the towns and cities. However, this was also a danger as similar movements, like the Waldensians, had been accused of heresy by the Papacy as a result mainly of ‘taking over one of the monopolies of the clergy, namely preaching’.

St Francis preaching to the birds - by Giotto

St Dominic

Amber's thoughts

Both Saint Francis (1181 – 1226) and Saint Dominic 1170 – 1221) were

born during a time of prosperity for Medieval Europe.  With a massive

increase in population, land clearances and advancement in farming

were beginning to make life in Western Europe a little easier.  Groups

of people were beginning to form villages that usually centred around

a church or castle and the urbanisation movement began.  These new

urban villages were centres for culture, the economy and politics but

these people also needed a change from the sometimes uneducated and

unmotivated teachings of the church and this is where the Franciscan

and Dominican orders emerged.

The Franciscans

St. Francis preached the rewards and virtues of a religious life and

soon gained followers.  They were to live among the people and own no

possessions as he insisted on complete poverty.  The Franciscans sought

to imitate the life of Christ and this appealed to many lay people.

His charismatic manner and appreciation of the natural world and

equality within the human world also appealed to many lay people and

attracted women followers such as a St. Clare of Assisi.  Although at

the time it was not seen a right for women to travel around the

countryside a preach St. Francis did not believe in these social

restrictions and gave them the same rule as the men.  Although he was

not successful and the women who followed him were confined and made

to follow St. Benedict’s Rule.

The Dominicans

Dominic Guzman a Spanish priest started the Dominican order.  They

were an order that revolved around education and the control of Cathar

Heresy and travelled from town to town engaging Cathar leaders in

public debate. They formed a base in Toulouse and followed the Rule of

St. Augustine.  Then in 1217 St. Dominic gave orders to his followers

to travel through Europe and infiltrate the Universities.  Unlike the

Franciscan order women who wanted to follow The Dominicans were

subject to strict enclosure in accordance to St. Dominic’s beliefs.