Stephanie Boer, Rebekah Clarke, Tom Grant and Anne Warburton
Around
the 13th century in Europe there was a massive population increase, which
started a large growth in the economy and the agrarian society. This led to the
development of towns as urban, economic, political and cultural centers.
Due to the increased participation of the laity in religious life, and a
demand for greater access to scripture, the church underwent what is known as
the Gregorian reforms. This was an aspiration for a return to the original
sources to achieve the true apostolic lifestyle. These reforms led to the
formation of new religious orders, including the Franciscans and
Dominicans.
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| Francis of Assisi by Margaritone of Arezzo |
The
Franciscan Order started with Saint Francis of Assisi, when he heard the call
to Jesus’ apostles to “Possess neither gold, nor silver, nor money; were to
have neither bread nor staff; were to have neither shoes nor two tunics; but
were to preach the kingdom of God and penance.”
The Franciscans lived a life of poverty, earning subsistence through labour or alms. They lived amongst the people, not cloistered from the world. The Franciscans inspired the laity that salvation was possible without living the ascetic life in a monastery.
The Franciscans lived a life of poverty, earning subsistence through labour or alms. They lived amongst the people, not cloistered from the world. The Franciscans inspired the laity that salvation was possible without living the ascetic life in a monastery.
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| The Perugia Altarpiece: Side Panel Depicting St. Dominic |
When
Dominic first appealed to the pope to recognise the existence of the order his
request was denied, as the members of the Fourth Lateran Council had come to
the decision that too many new religious groups already existed, and that
instead Dominic and his followers should adopt existing rule. He chose the Rule
of St. Augustine, whose order of discipline and spiritual life he already
followed. Dominicans were recognised as their own rule a year later in 1216.
Dominic
is said to have wanted, 'on a journey or wherever he was, [...] to be always
preaching or talking or arguing about god', thus inspiring the more education
focussed way of religious life.
What were
the main factors that led to the creation of the Franciscan and Dominican
Orders?
Were they
successful in their aim to emulate the life of Christ?
I think that the main factors that led to the creation of the Franciscan Order was the urban disquiet with the riches of the Church, as well as the sheer charisma of Francis. His seeing of God in the natural world was also very appealing to a broad range of people.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Dominican Order, the main factors leading to its creation were the growing threat of heretics against the Church, with Dominic believing that the best way to counter this was to similarly preach on foot between towns and make religion more accessible and relatable.
In terms of their aim to emulate Christ, I believe that at the start both tried very hard, but as time passed some of the ideals were lost, especially with the Church trying to control the Franciscan Order more and make it more orthodox, allowing them to own property in common.
According to Solcum the pursuit of an apostolic life, and the creation of the Franciscan movement, originated from the inspiration of a priest reading from the Gospel of St. Matthews: “As you go preach the message... ‘Freely you have received, freely give.’ Do not keep gold or silver or money in your girdles, nor wallet for your journey”. This then coupled with Francis’ charismatic personality and adoration of the natural world subsequently inspired those around him to “model... the earthly experiences of Jesus” or “to pursue the imitation of Christ”.
ReplyDeleteThe Dominican’s followed very similar principles to the Franciscan’s yet differed in several ways. Its origins, once again according to Solcum, came in an attempt by the pope to control Cathar Heresy. For Dominic and his bishop Diego of Osma, this involved the employment of an apostolic lifestyle, similar to Francis to “engage Cathar leaders in public debate” as they travelled from town to town.
In comparing the two movements I believe that the Franciscan movement was more effective in pursuing the imitation of Christ, simply because of the institutionalised nature of the Dominican movement. The Franciscan method was more linked to an appreciation of the natural world and its subjects, opposing the riches of the church, were as the Dominican’s initially aimed to support the current religious institution.
Both orders started as a reaction to urbanisation, towns began to become the centres of power in the kingdoms, and monasteries lost relevance to people as they moved to the urban sprawls. As a result, new religions orders were created in order to accommodate this change in setting.
ReplyDeleteThe Franciscan’s movement was founded by Francis of Assisi who through a revelation of Christ, believed it was his duty to eschew wealth and power and instead preach the message “the kingdom of Heaven is at hand”. The Franciscan way was popular as it was a means of imitating Christ through their actions, living just within their means and doing manual labour in order to live. They were somewhat successful in emulating Christ, as apart from the obvious physical activity they undertook, the Franciscans made themselves accessible among the community, helping the poor and sick, just as Christ had done, being seen as opposed to the Church that seemed to be withdrawn from the community.
The Dominican’s had very similar aims to that of the Franciscans, by unburdening themselves of wealth and the obsession that wealth can bring; they solely dedicated themselves to the education of scripture and giving charity to the poor. Where the Franciscans began with no real form or organization or governance, the Dominicans organized the structure of the movement from the beginning. Dominicans imitation of Christ didn’t seem to be as complete as the Franciscan’s, they focussed more on education and the spread of scripture, while the Franciscan’s had a greater focus on charity and beholding beauty in the natural world.
As noted by Tor above, both orders developed in response to the economic and demographic changes that were taking place in late medieval Europe. These Mendicant orders attempted to reconcile the traditional ideal of Christian asceticism with the increasingly urban, industrial medieval reality. The notion of fuga mundi was cast aside in favour of an apostolic/ascetic life in the midst of urban society: preaching to, working for and accepting alms from the communities they circulated within.
ReplyDeleteMany were drawn to this life of self imposed poverty out of a desire to emulate the "earthly experience of Jesus as described in the gospels" (Slocum). In regards to the second question, the degree to which this emulation was successful varied. As Erica noted, the ascetic/apostolic ideal was compromised as time passed. Intervention by the Church played a part in this, as did the increasing tendency for members of both orders to attend universities. The latter was divisive enough to warrant a split in the Franciscan order: those who did not strictly observe the rule of poverty, and those "pure Franciscans" who did. Slocum also notes the irony that despite their dedication to "abandon[ing] the tradition of isolation and segregation from society", both the Dominican and the Franciscan movements gave birth to orders of strictly cloistered women. The freedom to follow in the footsteps of Christ was reserved for the men of the Mendicant orders.
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