| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Combat | ATK 15 DEF 45 SPR 99 SPD 70 INT 65 |
| Rank | Mendicant founder / Stigmatist / Patron of Italy and ecology |
| Domain | Apostolic poverty, creation theology, peace-making, animal welfare |
| Alignment | Holy / Mendicant |
| Weakness | Physically frail; suffered from trachoma, malaria, and stigmata-related wounds; nearly went blind; died at 44 |
| Key Act | Stripped naked in the town square of Assisi to renounce his merchant father's wealth (~1208). Founded the Order of Friars Minor on a rule of total poverty. Met with Sultan al-Kamil of Egypt during the Fifth Crusade (1219) -- a remarkable inter-religious encounter. Received the stigmata on Mount La Verna in 1224 -- the first recorded case in Christian history. Composed the *Canticle of the Sun* praising "Brother Sun" and "Sister Moon" |
| Source | Bonaventure's *Major Legend*; Thomas of Celano; the *Fioretti*; also entered in [Saints.md](Saints.md#st-francis) |
“Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” — attributed to Francis (apocryphal in this exact form, but consistent with his teaching)
The medieval saint who reads as if he had been beamed in from somewhere else entirely. Francesco di Bernardone, son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, gave away everything, embraced lepers, preached to birds, and effectively reinvented apostolic poverty as a viable medieval vocation. Within a generation his order had thousands of friars; within his own lifetime he had to retreat from its administration because the institution was already departing from his ideal. Stigmata, the Canticle of the Sun, the live nativity scene at Greccio (~1223 — he invented it), and a deep, joyful theology of creation. Pope Francis took his name in 2013, making explicit the program: a poor church for the poor.
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