Saint Francis Of Assisi Research Paper

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Saint Francis of Assisi was born in 1181 in Assisi, Italy to Pietro and Pico di Bernadone. His father was a wealthy textile merchant, and had an intense love for all things French. When Pietro returned from a business trip in 1181, he was outraged to find that his wife Pica had named their newborn son Giovanni. He renamed Giovanni to Francesco, or “Frenchy”, which was later shortened to Francis. Saint Francis was baptized at the Cathedral of San Rufino on March 28, 1182 on Easter Vigil on Holy Sunday, as was tradition of that time. As a child, Francis was extremely extroverted and vain and was disgusted by the lepers and the ill. He was also the leader of a societas iuvenum (a boy’s club), and was extremely fond of drinking alcohol and throwing constant parties. Francis also likely attended the hospital of San Gregorio for education.

At his time of birth, there were extreme tensions between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. This caused Italy to be divided between the two groups and caused intense fighting among neighboring cities. Saint Francis was an extremely greedy man at that time, and used the war to his advantage. He joined a military campaign for wealth and honor at the age of 19. His hometown of Assisi had declared battle against the neighboring town of Perugia which opened up a path for Francis to gain
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Calling themselves the “Lesser Poor”, Francis’s religious group traveled around the world, converting people to Christianity. Although they faced many difficulties, Francis’s order, later called the “Franciscan Order”, persevered and spread the Catholic Faith. Finally, on November 29, 1223, the pope approved the Franciscans as an official religious group. The Franciscan Order traveled throughout the Mediterranean, including the cities of Rome and Egypt. Francis was also the first to create and celebrate the Nativity in 1223 in the city of

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