Franciscan order 271York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982); William W. Kibler and
Grover A. Zinn, eds. Medieval France: An Encyclopedia
(New York: Garland, 1995); Lynette R. Muir, Society in
Medieval France: The Mirror and the Image, 1100–1500
(London: Macmillan, 1985).
Franciscan order (Ordo fratrum minorum, Order of
friars minor) FRANCISof Assisi was the founder of the
Franciscan order, which included groups of mendicant
friars, convents of NUNS, and a third order for the LAITY.
The only early sources for the beginnings of the order in
the early 13th century are the texts of the Rules of 1221
and of 1223 and the brief writings attributed to Francis
himself. Francis of Assisi probably did not intend to
found a religious order but rather to establish a group of
penitents, lay and clerical, informally united to lead an
apostolic life in imitation of Christ and to serve their
neighbors in religious ways while leading lives of poverty.
The first description we have of the Friars Minor was that
of JAMESde Vitry, who saw their new way of life during
his stay in Italy in 1216.