Franciscan Mendicant Order

Timeline

1. 1209–1223Assisi · AssisiFrancis and his early companions gathered followers around a life of absolute poverty and itinerant preaching, receiving verbal approval from Pope Innocent III in 1210; in 1223 Honorius III issued the bull Solet annuere formally confirming the order's rule.
2. 1220–1250Europe · EuropeIn the first half of the 13th century Franciscan friars established preaching houses in France, Germany, England, Italy, and Iberia, preaching in towns and countryside. Through a popular spirituality movement they influenced urban poor and noble donors, and the order's membership grew rapidly.
3. 1241–1250Lyon · LyonIn 1245 Pope Innocent IV convened a council at Lyon, and Franciscan friars such as John of Plano Carpini were ordered on embassies to the Mongol khans' court; at the same time fierce disputes erupted within the order over holy poverty and the use of property, with papal intervention ruling around 1250.
4. 1250Europe · EuropeIn the later 13th century the Franciscans gradually established study houses in university towns, with scholastic theology and the spiritual tradition developing side by side; the order split into different branches, but its mission and charitable networks continued to shape the Catholic Church's global reach.