Franciscan Missionary Network

Timeline

1. 1210–1310Italy and Iberia · Southern EuropeFranciscan friars entered cities as itinerant beggars and preachers, establishing monasteries and networks of tertiaries (Third Order), combining the spread of the Gospel with charitable relief.
2. 1311–1320Papal court at Avignon · FranceDuring this period the Franciscans' Spirituals and Conventuals fiercely debated the holding of property and the ideal of poverty, and the papacy intervened repeatedly in arbitration to maintain the unity of the global network.
3. 1314–1330Dadu and Persia · AsiaFranciscan friars entered the Mongol khanates and China overland; John of Montecorvino established a diocese in Dadu, and the friars' travel accounts provided Europe with first-hand intelligence about the Far East, expanding the map of Catholic global preaching.