Francis of Assisi founds his order
1209
A cloth merchant's son who had stripped naked in the Assisi piazza to renounce his inheritance gathered eleven companions and walked to Rome. Innocent III, wary but curious, verbally approved their rule of absolute poverty. The Franciscans set out barefoot along the Italian roads, preaching repentance to peasants and lepers in a voice the institutional church had nearly forgotten how to use.
In context
Also in 1209 (3 other events on record)
- Massacre at Beziers in Languedoc · Europe · War
- Cambridge scholars flee Oxford to found a university · Europe · Culture
- Mongol campaign subdues the Uighurs · Central Asia · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Religion
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.