The Basilica of St Francis

The Franciscans

  • After the death of St. Francis, the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor split between the Spirituals (who sought a radical new interpretation of Saint Francis’ Rule and that soon became the heretical sect known as the Fraticelli, excommunicated by Pope John XXII in 1318) and the Conventuals (who, by definition, preferred to live together in convents, which by then had become a point of reference . . .