St. Francis of Assisi lived in poverty.
St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), the founder of the Franciscan order, was born in central Italy. After being captured as a prisoner of war, he decided to renounce his materialistic ways and devote himself to helping the poor. He founded his order, the Franciscans, in 1209. According to his rule, neither his order nor its individual members were allowed to possess any wealth. There are many interesting facets of the Franciscan order in the Middle Ages that would make good term paper topics.
The Idea of Extreme Poverty
Franciscans work and pray.
The Franciscan Friars preached to the people and subsisted on the donations of the faithful. St. Francis wanted to return to the way of life of the Apostolic Fathers. The idea of poverty became a very quarrelsome issue for the Franciscans, who were divided in two groups on this contentious matter--the Conventuals and the Spirituals. After St. Francis's death, the order almost split over the idea of poverty. For a term paper, compare and contrast the beliefs on poverty of the Conventual and Spiritual Franciscans.
St. Clare
St. Clare (1194-1253) was born to nobility and was educated. She was so inspired by the teachings of St. Francis that she gave away all her possessions to lead a life of radical evangelical poverty. Her family tried but was unable to stop her. She founded the Poor Clares and became the abbess of the separate community of Franciscan nuns. A good topic for a term paper would be to examine whether more noble women joined the poor religious orders, given her example. Did her actions create new roles for women in the Church?
Franciscans in the Universities
The Franciscans became well-known for their scholarly activity in the universities of England and France. They taught theology, philosophy and the sciences. Bishop Robert Grossteste was a scientist and teacher at Oxford University, where he founded a Franciscan school. He was not himself a Franciscan. A term paper topic could examine how Franciscans came to be scholars at Oxford University. How did Grossteste become involved with the Franciscans and why did he arrange for them to go to Oxford?
First Franciscan Missions
The Franciscans went to the Holy Land in 1217 and North Africa in 1219 during the Crusades. When the Mongols penetrated Poland and Hungary in 1222, Pope Innocent IV named a Franciscan friar to be his personal envoy to the Great Khan to negotiate peace with dialogue and coexistence. Many Franciscans were martyred during this time period. For a term paper, write about one of these early missions and how it was conducted. What approach did they use?
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