in Ecclesiastical History, are religious of the order of St Francis, founded by him in the year 1209. Francis was the son of a merchant of Assisi, in the province of Umbria, who, having led a dissolute life, was reclaimed by a fit of sickness, and afterwards fell into an extravagant kind of devotion, Franciscans that looked less like religion than alienation of mind.

Soon after this, viz. in the year 1208, hearing the passage repeated, Mat. x. 9. 10. in which Christ addresses his apostles, Provide neither gold, nor silver, &c. he was led to confide a voluntary and absolute poverty as the essence of the gospel, and to prescribe this poverty as a sacred rule both to himself and to the few that followed him. This new society, which appeared to Innocent III. extremely adapted to the present state of the church, and proper to restore its declining credit, was solemnly approved and confirmed by Honorius III. in 1223, and had made considerable progress before the death of its founder in 1226. Francis, through an excessive humility, would not suffer the monks of his order to be called frateres, i.e. brethren or friars, but fraterni, i.e. little brethren, or friars-minor, by which denomination they still continue to be distinguished. They are also called gray friars, on account of the colour of their clothing, and cordeliers, &c. The Franciscans and Dominicans were zealous and active friends to the papal hierarchy, and, in return, were distinguished by peculiar privileges and honourable employments. The Franciscans, in particular, were invested with the treasure of ample and extensive indulgences; the distribution of which was committed to them by the popes, as a means of subsistence, and a rich indemnification for their voluntary poverty. In consequence of this grant, the rule of the founder, which absolutely prohibited both personal and collective property, so that neither the individual nor the community were to possess either fund, revenue, or any worldly goods, was considered as too strict and severe, and dispensed with soon after his death. In 1231, Gregory IX. published an interpretation of this rule, mitigating its rigour; which was farther confirmed by Innocent IV. in 1245, and by Alexander IV. in 1247. These milder operations were zealously opposed by a branch of the Franciscans called the spirituals; and their complaints were regarded by Nicholas III. who, in 1279, published a famous constitution, confirming the rule of St Francis, and containing an elaborate explanation of the maxims it recommended, and the duties it prescribed. In 1287, Matthew of Aqua Sparta, being elected general of the order, discouraged the ancient discipline of the Franciscans, and indulged his monks in abandoning even the appearance of poverty; and this conduct inflamed the indignation of the spiritual or austere Franciscans; so that from the year 1290 seditions and schisms arose in an order that had been so famous for its pretended disinterestedness and humility. Such was the enthusiastic frenzy of the Franciscans, that they impiously maintained, that the founder of their order was a second Christ, in all respects similar to the first; and that their institution and discipline were the true gospel of Jesus. Accordingly, Albizi, a Franciscan of Pila, published a book in 1383, with the applause of his order, entitled, The book of the Conformities of St Francis with Jesus Christ. In the beginning of this century, the whole Franciscan order was divided into two parties; the one embracing the severe discipline and absolute poverty of St Francis, were called spirituals; and the other, who insisted on mitigating the austere injunctions of their founder, were denominated brethren of the community. These were long, loose, and good habits, with large hoods; the former were clad in a straight, coarse, and short dress, pretending that this dress was enjoined by St Francis, and that no power on earth had a right to alter it. Neither the moderation of Clement V. nor the violence of John XXII. could appease the tumult occasioned by these two parties; however, their rage subsided from the year 1329. In 1368 these two parties were formed into two large bodies, comprehending the whole Franciscan order, which subsists to this day; viz. the conventual brethren, and the brethren of the observance or observation, from whom sprung the cappuchins and recollects. The general opinion is, that the Franciscans came into England in the year 1224, and had their first house at Canterbury, and their second at London; but there is no certain account of their being here till King Henry VII. built two or three houses for them. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the conventual Franciscans had about 55 houses, which were under seven custodians or wardenships; viz. those of London, York, Cambridge, Bristol, Oxford, Newcastle, and Worcester.