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78-501: The current main town was in ancient times a suburb of the hill town in the same comune now known as Civita di Bagnoregio . In ancient times this was called Novempagi and Balneum Regium , whence the medieval name of Bagnorea . During the barbarian invasions of Italy, between the sixth and ninth centuries, the city was taken several times by the Ostrogoths and the Lombards . Charlemagne

156-488: A beggar and itinerant preacher . One of the most venerated figures in Christianity, Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on 16 July 1228. He is commonly portrayed wearing a brown habit with a rope tied around his waist, featuring three knots symbolizing the three Franciscan vows of poverty , chastity , and obedience . In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the sultan al-Kamil and put an end to

234-559: A French mother, Pica di Bourlemont, about whom little is known except that she was a noblewoman originally from Provence . Indulged by his parents, Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man. As a youth, Francis became a devotee of troubadours and was fascinated with all things Transalpine . He was handsome, witty, gallant, and delighted in fine clothes. He spent money lavishly. Although many hagiographers remark about his bright clothing, rich friends, and love of pleasures, his displays of disillusionment toward

312-518: A ceasefire that lasted four weeks. Probably during this interlude Francis and his companion crossed the Muslims' lines and were brought before the Sultan, remaining in his camp for a few days. Reports give no information about what transpired during the encounter beyond noting that the Sultan received Francis graciously and that Francis preached to the Muslims. He returned unharmed. No known Arab sources mention

390-576: A few small huts or cells. This became the first monastery of the Second Franciscan Order, now known as Poor Clares . For those who could not leave their affairs, Francis later formed the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance , a fraternity composed of either laity or clergy whose members neither withdrew from the world nor took religious vows . Instead, they observed the principles of Franciscan life in their daily lives. Before long,

468-495: A military expedition against Perugia and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada. He spent a year as a captive, during which an illness caused him to re-evaluate his life. However, upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life. In 1205, Francis left for Apulia to enlist in the army of Walter III, Count of Brienne . A strange vision made him return to Assisi and lose interest in worldly life. According to hagiographic accounts, thereafter he began to avoid

546-493: A mill of the 16th century; the remains of the house where St. Bonaventure was born and the door of Santa Maria, with two lions holding a human head between their paws, in memory of a popular revolt of the inhabitants of Civita against the Orvieto family of Monaldeschi. In 2005 there was a proposal for the gullies of Civita to become a site of community interest. Thanks to its evocative geographical position and its medieval buildings,

624-452: A plague epidemic, which in 1449 hit the whole territory around Bagnoregio, the cross talked to a pious woman, who went every day before the venerated image asking with her prayers for the end of that agony. One day, while the woman was praying to Christ, she heard a voice that reassured her, saying that the Lord had fulfilled her prayers and that the pestilence would end. And indeed, after a few days,

702-529: A tower, situated close to the Ebro River within the city of Logroño as a gift to Saint Francis, where he established the first Spanish convent of his Order there. Although the convent met its demise in the 19th century, the remnants of its walls remain. In the late spring of 1212, he set out for Jerusalem, but was shipwrecked by a storm on the Dalmatian coast, forcing him to return to Italy. On 8 May 1213, he

780-432: A vision of a seraph, a six-winged angel on a cross. This angel gave him the gift of the five wounds of Christ." Suffering from these stigmata and from trachoma , Francis received care in several cities ( Siena , Cortona , Nocera ) to no avail. He began to go blind and the bishop of Ostia ordered that his eyes be operated on which meant cauterizing the eyes with hot irons. Francis claims to have felt nothing at all when this

858-519: A welcoming and friendly environment even to those who succeed us." The same Pope wrote on the occasion of the World Day of Peace, 1 January 1990, that Francis "invited all of creation – animals, plants, natural forces, even Brother Sun and Sister Moon – to give honour and praise to the Lord. The poor man of Assisi gives us striking witness that when we are at peace with God we are better able to devote ourselves to building up that peace with all creation which

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936-472: A year Francis had eleven followers. The brothers lived a simple life in the deserted leper colony of Rivo Torto near Assisi. They spent much of their time wandering through the mountainous districts of Umbria , making a deep impression upon their hearers by their earnest exhortations. In 1209 he composed a simple rule for his followers ("friars"), the Regula primitiva or "Primitive Rule", which came from verses in

1014-462: Is also an Etruscan chamber tomb. The Etruscans made Civita (whose original name is unknown) a flourishing city, thanks to its strategic position favourable for trade and thanks to its proximity to the most important communication routes of the times. Many traces of the Etruscan period are still suggestive spots: the so-called Bucaione , for example, is a deep tunnel that goes through the lowest part of

1092-406: Is also much admired for its architecture spanning several hundred years. Civita di Bagnoregio owes much of its unaltered condition to its relative isolation; the town was able to withstand most intrusions of modernity as well as the destruction brought by two world wars . The population today is 11 people, but due to several bed-and-breakfasts the village gets busy in the summer months. The town

1170-556: Is an outlying village of the comune of Bagnoregio in the Province of Viterbo in central Italy . It lies 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) east of the town of Bagnoregio and about 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of Rome . The only access is a footbridge from the nearby town, with a toll introduced in 2013. Because of the toll, communal taxes were abolished in Civita and nearby Bagnoregio. Due to its unstable foundation that often erodes, Civita

1248-473: Is due to the streams, to atmospheric agents but also to deforestation . Civita, which is inhabited by only 16 people, is situated in a solitary area and it is reachable only by a reinforced concrete pedestrian bridge built in 1965. The bridge is generally restricted to pedestrians, but to meet the requirements of residents and workers the Municipality of Bagnoregio issued a statement that these people may cross

1326-603: Is famously known as "the dying city". It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Civita is situated in the valley of the badlands ( Valle dei Calanchi ), a region east of Lake Bolsena and west of the Tiber Valley , in the municipality of Bagnoregio. It consists of two main valleys: the Fossato del Rio Torbido and the Fossato del Rio Chiaro. Originally these places might have been easier to reach and were crossed by an ancient road that linked

1404-541: Is important in understanding Francis' character, his affinity for the Eucharist and his respect for the priests who carried out the sacrament. He preached: "Your God is of your flesh, He lives in your nearest neighbour, in every man." He and his followers celebrated and even venerated poverty, which was so central to his character that in his last written work, the Testament, he said that absolute personal and corporate poverty

1482-519: Is inseparable from peace among all peoples." In 2015, Pope Francis published his encyclical letter Laudato Si' about the ecological crisis and "care for our common home, which takes its name from the Canticle of the Sun , which Francis of Assisi composed. It presents Francis as "the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically". This inspired

1560-635: Is said to have included it in the Patrimonium Petri , and the Emperor Louis I to have added it to the Papal States in 822. It is famous as the birthplace (more specifically Civita di Bagnoregio ) of the philosopher Bonaventure in the early 13th century. Writer Bonaventura Tecchi also hailed from Bagnoregio. This Lazio location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Civita di Bagnoregio Civita di Bagnoregio

1638-523: Is situated. Bagnoregio continues as a small but prosperous town, while the older site became known in Italian as La città che muore ("The Dying Town"). Civita di Bagnoregio has only recently been experiencing a tourist revival. CNN in January 2020 associated the "over-tourism" with the mayor deciding to charge a minor fee for entry, which increased publicity and subsequently attendance. CNN also noted that

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1716-790: The Mameluke Sultan in 1333 with regard to certain Holy Places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem , and (so far as concerns the Catholic Church) jurisdictional privileges from Pope Clement VI in 1342. The growing order of friars was divided into provinces ; groups were sent to France, Germany, Hungary, and Spain and to the East. Upon receiving a report of the martyrdom of five brothers in Morocco , Francis returned to Italy via Venice . Cardinal Ugolino di Conti

1794-578: The Waldensians decades earlier. Though a number of the pope's counsellors considered the mode of life proposed by Francis to be unsafe and impractical, following a dream in which he saw Francis holding up the Lateran Basilica , he decided to endorse Francis's order. This occurred, according to tradition, on 16 April 1210, and constituted the official founding of the Franciscan Order . The group, then

1872-406: The "First Rule" or "Rule Without a Papal Bull " ( Regula prima , Regula non bullata ), which again asserted devotion to poverty and the apostolic life. However, it also introduced a greater institutional structure, though this was never officially endorsed by the pope. Brother Peter was succeeded by Brother Elias as Vicar of Francis. Two years later, Francis modified the "First Rule", creating

1950-746: The "Lesser Brothers" ( Order of Friars Minor also known as the Franciscan Order or the Seraphic Order ), were centred in the Porziuncola and preached first in Umbria, before expanding throughout Italy. Francis was later ordained a deacon, but not a priest. From then on, the new order grew quickly. Hearing Francis preaching in the church of San Rufino in Assisi in 1211, the young noblewoman Clare of Assisi sought to live like them. Her cousin Rufino also sought to join. On

2028-691: The "Second Rule" or "Rule With a Bull", which was approved by Pope Honorius III on 29 November 1223. As the order's official rule, it called on the friars "to observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience without anything of our own and in chastity". In addition, it set regulations for discipline, preaching, and entering the order. Once the rule was endorsed by the pope, Francis withdrew increasingly from external affairs. During 1221 and 1222, he crossed Italy, first as far south as Catania in Sicily and afterwards as far north as Bologna . While he

2106-536: The Bible. The rule was "to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps." He then led eleven followers to Rome to seek permission from Pope Innocent III to found a new religious order. Upon entry to Rome, the brothers encountered Bishop Guido of Assisi, who had in his company Giovanni di San Paolo , the Cardinal Bishop of Sabina . The Cardinal, who was the confessor of Pope Innocent III,

2184-459: The Christian doctrine that the world was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption because of human sin. As someone who saw God reflected in nature, "St. Francis was a great lover of God's creation ..." In the Canticle of the Sun he gives God thanks for Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth, all of which he sees as rendering praise to God. Many of

2262-496: The Kingdom of God is at hand. Francis was inspired to devote himself to a life of poverty. Having obtained a coarse woollen tunic, the dress then worn by the poorest Umbrian peasants, he tied it around himself with a knotted rope and went about exhorting the people of the countryside to penance, brotherly love, and peace. Francis's preaching to ordinary people was unusual as he had no license to do so. His example attracted others. Within

2340-749: The Muslim world had far-reaching consequences, long past his own death, since after the fall of the Crusader Kingdom , it would be the Franciscans, of all Catholics, who would be allowed to stay on in the Holy Land and be recognized as " Custodians of the Holy Land " on behalf of the Catholic Church . At Greccio near Assisi, around 1220, Francis celebrated Christmas by setting up the first known presepio or crèche ( Nativity scene ). His nativity imagery reflected

2418-646: The Third Order – now titled the Secular Franciscan Order – grew beyond Italy. Determined to bring the Gospel to all peoples and let God convert them, Francis sought on several occasions to take his message out of Italy. In approximately 1211, a captain of the Medrano family held the lordship of the castle and town of Agoncillo , situated near the city of Logroño , in the region of La Rioja , Spain. Medrano's son

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2496-473: The Tiber Valley to Lake Bolsena. The morphology of this region was caused by erosion and landslides . The territory is made up of two different formations of rocks, different in chronology and constitution. The most ancient formation is that of clay; it comes from the sea and forms the base layer which is particularly subject to erosion. The top layers are made up of tuff and lava material. The fast erosion

2574-404: The ancient town of Civita, nowadays instead, Porta Santa Maria (known as Porta Cava , as well) is the main gateway of the city. It is also possible to enter the town of Civita from the badlands valley through a tunnel carved into the rock. The layout of the whole town is of Etruscan origin, based on a cardo and decumanus orthogonal street system according to the Etruscan and Roman use, while

2652-556: The apostolic letter "Licet Commissa". Pope Pius also mentioned the two saints in the laudative discourse he pronounced on 5 May 1949, in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva . Francis is the patron of animals and ecology. As such, he is the patron saint of the Laudato Si' Movement , a network that promotes the Franciscan ecological paradigm as outlined in the encyclical Laudato Si'. He

2730-450: The birds." The birds surrounded him, intrigued by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away. He is often portrayed with a bird, typically in his hand. Another legend from the Fioretti tells that in the city of Gubbio , where Francis lived for some time, was a wolf "terrifying and ferocious, who devoured men as well as animals" . Francis went up into the hills and when he found

2808-490: The birth of the Laudato Si' Movement , a global network of nearly 1000 organizations promoting the Laudato Si' message and the Franciscan approach to ecology. It is a popular practice on his feast day, 4 October, for people to bring their pets and other animals to church for a blessing. Francis' feast day is observed on 4 October. A secondary feast in honour of the stigmata received by Francis, celebrated on 17 September,

2886-401: The bishop and the municipal government were forced to move to Bagnoregio because of a major earthquake that accelerated the old town's decline. At that time, the area was part of the Papal States . In the 19th century, Civita di Bagnoregio's location was turning into an island and the pace of the erosion quickened as the layer of clay below the stone was reached in the area where today's bridge

2964-491: The bridge by bike or by motorcycle at certain times. The reason for its isolation is the progressive erosion of the hill and the nearby valley which creates the badlands; this process is still ongoing and there is the danger that the village could disappear. This is why Civita is also known as "The Dying Town". Civita di Bagnoregio was founded by the Etruscans more than 2,500 years ago. Formerly there were five city gates to access

3042-537: The city and gives access to badlands valley directly from the town. In the past, many chamber tombs were visible. They were dug at the base of Civita's cliff and nearby tuff walls and, over the centuries, they were destroyed by several rockfalls. Indeed, the Etruscans themselves had to face problems of seismic activity and instability, like the earthquake of 280 BC. When the Romans arrived in 265 BC, they took up and carried on

3120-494: The city consuls by his father. The latter, not content with having recovered the scattered gold from San Damiano, sought also to force his son to forego his inheritance by way of restitution. In the midst of legal proceedings before the Bishop of Assisi , Francis renounced his father and his patrimony . Some accounts report that he stripped himself naked in token of this renunciation, and the bishop covered him with his own cloak. For

3198-420: The coins on the floor. In order to avoid his father's wrath, Francis hid in a cave near San Damiano for about a month. When he returned to town, hungry and dirty, he was dragged home by his father, beaten, bound, and locked in a small storeroom. Freed by his mother during Bernardone's absence, Francis returned at once to San Damiano, where he found shelter with the officiating priest, but he was soon cited before

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3276-572: The conflict of the Fifth Crusade . In 1223, he arranged for the first live nativity scene as part of the annual Christmas celebration in Greccio . According to Christian tradition, in 1224 Francis received the stigmata during the apparition of a Seraphic angel in a religious ecstasy . Francis is associated with patronage of animals and the environment . It became customary for churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of

3354-551: The course of two years, he embraced the life of a penitent , during which he restored several ruined chapels in the countryside around Assisi, among them San Pietro in Spina (in the area of San Petrignano in the valley about a kilometre from Rivotorto , today on private property and once again in ruin); and the Porziuncola , the little chapel of St. Mary of the Angels in the plain just below

3432-503: The entire architectural cladding is of medieval and Renaissance origin. There are numerous traces of Etruscan civilisation in Civita, especially in the San Francesco Vecchio area: a little Etruscan necropolis was found in the cliff located in the area below Belvedere di San Francesco Vecchio . The cave of St Bonaventure (where it is said that Saint Francis healed the little Giovanni Fidanza, who later became Saint Bonaventure )

3510-1091: The feast of the Stigmata remains in the General Calendar. Francis is honoured with a Lesser Festival in the Church of England , the Anglican Church of Canada , the Episcopal Church USA , the Old Catholic Churches , the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America , and other churches and religious communities on 4 October . On 13 March 2013, upon his election as Pope, Archbishop and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Francis of Assisi, becoming Pope Francis . At his first audience on 16 March 2013, Pope Francis told journalists that he had chosen

3588-491: The forsaken country chapel of San Damiano , just outside Assisi, in which the Icon of Christ Crucified said to him, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My church which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." He took this to mean the ruined church in which he was presently praying, and so he sold some cloth from his father's store to assist the priest there. When the priest refused to accept the ill-gotten gains, an indignant Francis threw

3666-562: The fourth of October, which became World Animal Day . He was noted for his devotion to the Eucharist . Along with Catherine of Siena , he was designated patron saint of Italy. He is also the namesake of the city of San Francisco . September 17 is the feast of Francis' stigmatization. Francis ( Italian : Francesco d'Assisi ; Latin : Franciscus Assisiensis ) was baptized Giovanni by his mother. His surname, di Pietro di Bernardone, comes from his father, Pietro di Bernardone. The latter

3744-492: The latter half of 1220. Drawing on a 1267 sermon by Bonaventure , later sources report that the Sultan secretly converted or accepted a death-bed baptism as a result of meeting Francis. Whatever transpired as a result of Francis’ and al-Kamil’s meeting the Franciscans have maintained a presence in the Holy Land almost uninterruptedly since 1217 and remain there today (see Custody of the Holy Land ). They received concessions from

3822-439: The menace of the predator. On 29 November 1979, Pope John Paul II declared Francis the patron saint of ecology . On 28 March 1982, John Paul II said that Francis' love and care for creation was a challenge for contemporary Catholics and a reminder "not to behave like dissident predators where nature is concerned, but to assume responsibility for it, taking all care so that everything stays healthy and integrated, so as to offer

3900-452: The name in honor of Francis of Assisi, and had done so because he was especially concerned for the well-being of the poor. The pontiff recounted that Cardinal Cláudio Hummes had told him, "Don't forget the poor", right after the election; that made Bergoglio think of Francis. It is the first time a pope has taken the name. On 18 June 1939, Pope Pius XII named Francis a joint patron saint of Italy along with Catherine of Siena with

3978-448: The next couple of months, Francis wandered as a beggar in the hills behind Assisi. He spent some time at a neighbouring monastery working as a scullion . He then went to Gubbio , where a friend gave him, as an alms, the cloak, girdle, and staff of a pilgrim. Returning to Assisi, he traversed the city, begging stones for the restoration of St. Damiano. These he carried to the old chapel, set in place himself, and so at length rebuilt it. Over

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4056-498: The night of Palm Sunday , 28 March 1212, Clare clandestinely left her family's palace. Francis received her at the Porziuncola and thereby established the Order of Poor Clares. He gave Clare a religious habit , a garment similar to his own, before lodging her, her younger sister Caterina, and other young women in a nearby monastery of Benedictine nuns until he could provide a suitable monastery. Later he transferred them to San Damiano, to

4134-568: The only town in Italy without communal taxes. The town is noted for its striking position on top of a plateau of friable volcanic tuff overlooking the Tiber river valley. It is in constant danger of destruction as the edges of the plateau collapse due to erosion , leaving the buildings to crumble as their underlying support falls away. As of 2004 , there were plans to reinforce the plateau with steel rods to prevent further geological damage. The city

4212-459: The plague was over, at the same time as the death of the pious woman. Events Cinema and television Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( c. 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi , was an Italian mystic , poet, and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans . Inspired to lead a Christian life of poverty, he became

4290-585: The pope laid the foundation stone for the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. Francis was buried on 25 May 1230, under the Lower Basilica, but his tomb was soon hidden on orders of Brother Elias, in order to protect it from Saracen invaders. His burial place remained unknown until it was rediscovered in 1818. Pasquale Belli then constructed a crypt for the remains in the Lower Basilica. It was refashioned between 1927 and 1930 into its present form by Ugo Tarchi. In 1978,

4368-415: The rainwater drainage and the stream containment works that were first started by the Etruscans. Civita (or City) was the birthplace of Saint Bonaventure , who died in 1274. The location of his boyhood house has long since fallen off the edge of the cliff. By the 16th century, Civita di Bagnoregio was beginning to decline, becoming eclipsed by its former suburb Bagnoregio. At the end of the 17th century,

4446-526: The remains of Francis were examined and confirmed by a commission of scholars appointed by Pope Paul VI , and put into a glass urn in the ancient stone tomb. In 1935, Dr. Edward Frederick Hartung concluded that Francis contracted trachoma while in Egypt and died of quartan malaria . This data was published in the Annals of Medical History . Francis set out to replicate Christ and literally carry out his work. This

4524-402: The scene in traditional paintings. He used real animals to create a living scene so that the worshipers could contemplate the birth of the child Jesus in a direct way, making use of the senses, especially sight. Both Thomas of Celano and Bonaventure , biographers of Francis, tell how he used only a straw-filled manger (feeding trough) set between a real ox and donkey . According to Thomas, it

4602-424: The sports and feasts of his former companions. A friend asked him whether he was thinking of marrying, to which he answered: "Yes, a fairer bride than any of you have ever seen", meaning his "Lady Poverty". On a pilgrimage to Rome, he joined the poor in begging at St. Peter's Basilica . He spent some time in lonely places, asking God for divine illumination . He said he had a mystical vision of Jesus Christ in

4680-467: The stories that surround the life of Francis say that he had a great love for animals and the environment. The Fioretti ("Little Flowers") is a collection of legends and folklore that sprang up after his death. One account describes how one day, while Francis was travelling with some companions, they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters

4758-506: The town attracts many tourists, and several times it has been used as a movie set. In January 2021, the mayor of Bagnoregio submitted a proposal to UNESCO to designate Civita a World Heritage Site . On Good Friday , the Holy Crucifix is laid on a coffin in the church of San Donato to be transported in the centuries-old "Processione del Venerdì Santo di Bagnoregio" ("Good Friday Procession of Bagnoregio"). The legend narrates that during

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4836-484: The town had more feline inhabitants than its 12-human residents. The only access is a footbridge from the nearby town, with a €1.50 toll introduced in 2013 and increased in August 2017 to €3 on weekdays and €5 on Sundays and public holidays. Civita had 40,000 visitors in 2010 and was estimated to attract 850,000 visitors in 2017. Due to the toll, communal taxes were abolished in Civita and nearby Bagnoregio, making Bagnoregio

4914-558: The town. This later became his favorite abode . By degrees he took to nursing lepers , in the leper colonies near Assisi. One morning in February 1208, Francis was taking part in a Mass in the chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, near which he had by then built himself a hut. The Gospel of the day was the "Commissioning of the Twelve" from the Book of Matthew. The disciples were to go and proclaim that

4992-479: The visit. Such an incident is alluded to in a scene in the late 13th-century fresco cycle, attributed to Giotto, in the upper basilica at Assisi. According to some late sources, the Sultan gave Francis permission to visit the sacred places in the Holy Land and even to preach there. All that can safely be asserted is that Francis and his companion left the Crusader camp for Acre , from where they embarked for Italy in

5070-519: The walled city of Damietta . He was accompanied by Friar Illuminatus of Arce and hoped to convert the Sultan of Egypt or be martyred in the attempt. The Sultan, al-Kamil , a nephew of Saladin , had succeeded his father as Sultan of Egypt in 1218 and was encamped upstream of Damietta. A bloody and futile attack on the city was launched by the Christians on 29 August 1219, following which both sides agreed to

5148-412: The wolf, he made the sign of the cross and commanded the wolf to come to him and hurt no one. Then Francis led the wolf into the town, and surrounded by startled citizens made a pact between them and the wolf. Because the wolf had "done evil out of hunger", the townsfolk were to feed the wolf regularly. In return, the wolf would no longer prey upon them or their flocks. In this manner Gubbio was freed from

5226-506: The world that surrounded him came fairly early in his life, as is shown in the "story of the beggar". In this account, he was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for alms . At the conclusion of his business deal, Francis abandoned his wares and ran after the beggar. When he found him, Francis gave the man everything he had in his purse. His friends mocked him for his charity; his father scolded him in rage. Around 1202, he joined

5304-406: Was beautiful in its simplicity, with the manger acting as the altar for the Christmas Mass. Some modern commentators and animal rights advocates have mistakenly portrayed Francis as a vegetarian. However, historical records indicate that he did consume meat, and his earliest biographers make no mention of him adhering to a meatless diet. Francis's favourite dish was shrimp pie. Francis preached

5382-413: Was done. In the end, he was brought back to a hut next to the Porziuncola. Here he spent his last days dictating his spiritual testament. He died on the evening of Saturday, 3 October 1226, singing Psalm 141, "Voce mea ad Dominum" . On 16 July 1228, he was declared a saint by Pope Gregory IX (the former cardinal Ugolino di Conti, a friend of Francis and Cardinal Protector of the Order). The next day,

5460-400: Was given the use of the mountain of La Verna (Alverna) as a gift from Count Orlando di Chiusi, who described it as "eminently suitable for whoever wishes to do penance in a place remote from mankind". The mountain would become one of his favourite retreats for prayer. During the Fifth Crusade in 1219 Francis went to Egypt where a Crusader army had been encamped for over a year besieging

5538-424: Was immediately sympathetic to Francis and agreed to represent Francis to the pope. After several days, the pope agreed to admit the group informally, adding that when God increased the group in grace and number, they could return for an official audience. The group was tonsured . This was important in part because it recognized Church authority and prevented his following from accusations of heresy, as had happened to

5616-514: Was in France on business when Francis was born in Assisi , a small town in Italy. Upon his return, Pietro took to calling his son Francesco ("Free man" or "Frenchman"), possibly in honour of his commercial success and enthusiasm for all things French. Francis of Assisi was born c.  1181 , one of the children of an Italian father, Pietro di Bernardone dei Moriconi, a prosperous silk merchant, and

5694-705: Was inserted in the General Roman Calendar in 1585 (later than the Tridentine calendar ) and suppressed in 1604, but was restored in 1615. In the New Roman Missal of 1969, it was removed again from the General Calendar, as something of a duplication of the main feast on 4 October, and left to the calendars of certain localities and of the Franciscan Order. Wherever the Tridentine Missal is used, however,

5772-573: Was placed on the World Monuments Fund 's 2006 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites, because of threats it faces from erosion and unregulated tourism. Inside the village there are several medieval houses; the church of San Donato, which overlooks the main square and inside which the holy wooden crucifix is kept; Alemanni Palace, home of the Geological and Landslides Museum; the Bishop's Palace,

5850-591: Was praying on the mountain of Verna, during a forty-day fast in preparation for Michaelmas (29 September), Francis is said to have had a vision on or about 13 September 1224, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross , as a result of which he received the stigmata . Brother Leo, who had been with Francis at the time, left a clear and simple account of the event, the first definite account of the phenomenon of stigmata. "Suddenly he saw

5928-577: Was suffering from a mysterious and untreatable ailment. In 1211, Saint Francis of Assisi roamed those very paths of Agoncillo. In a saintly manner, he visited Medrano's Agoncillo castle , placed his mystical hands upon the ailing Medrano boy, and miraculously healed him, securing the Medrano lineage in Agoncillo. As a result, the Medrano family are distinguished by their devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi. The Medrano family generously donated some land, including

6006-592: Was the essential lifestyle for the members of his order. He believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his "brothers" and "sisters", and even preached to the birds and supposedly persuaded a wolf in Gubbio to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf. His deep sense of brotherhood under God embraced others, and he declared that "he considered himself no friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died". Francis's visit to Egypt and attempted rapprochement with

6084-426: Was then nominated by the pope as the protector of the order. Another reason for Francis' return to Italy was that the Franciscan Order had grown at an unprecedented rate compared to previous religious orders, but its organizational sophistication had not kept up with this growth and had little more to govern it than Francis' example and simple rule. To address this problem, Francis prepared a new and more detailed Rule,

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