Francis of Assisi Founds a Brotherhood of Poverty

Born around 1181 in the central Italian town of Assisi, Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone grew up within a wealthy merchant household. His father, Pietro di Bernardone, traded in prosperous textiles such as silk, and the family indulged the young man with fine clothes and worldly luxuries. That comfortable life shifted following his participation in a military clash against Perugia around 1202. Captured at Collestrada, Francis spent a year imprisoned, during which an illness prompted him to reconsider his priorities. Although he briefly resumed his former pastimes after his release, subsequent spiritual encounters led him away from secular ambitions.

Francis's turn toward religious devotion began to strain his domestic ties. After a visionary experience at the deteriorating chapel of San Damiano outside Assisi, he took cloth from his father's shop to sell for funds to assist the local priest. The priest rejected the money, and an angry Bernardone pursued legal measures against his son before the municipal authorities and the Bishop of Assisi. In the presence of the bishop, Francis made a total break from his family, renouncing his patrimony and his father. He embraced a life of rigorous penitence, nursing local lepers and begging for stones to restore neglected chapels, including San Damiano and the Porziuncola.