02Knights Templar - Julian Emperor

SAINTS
has been overemphasised and does not accurately reflect his
teachings and beliefs. St Francis was the son of a successful
and wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi called Pietro di
Bernardone. He was born on 26 September 1181 when his father
was away from home and working in France. His mother
Pica Bourlemont was French and came from Provence. She is
said to have had ambitions for her son to become an important
figure within the Church and originally had him baptised
as John after St John the Baptist. When his father returned
from France, he insisted that he be renamed Francesco, meaning
‘the Frenchman’.This apparently was to acknowledge his
mother’s nationality and Pietro’s absence in France at the time
of his birth.
Although his father was keen for him to join his business, St
Francis showed little interest and reputedly spent much time
reading as a young man. Early in life he gained a reputation for
having a disdain for riches, giving away his money to beggars,
much to his father’s annoyance. His friends were also the sons
of wealthy businessmen and the nobility and, in 1201, he took
part in fighting between his hometown of Assisi and Perugia.
He was captured by the Perugians and spent a year as a prisoner.
He became ill and returned to Assisi in 1203. Following
the fighting, he is said to have followed an increasingly spiritual
path, helping to nurse lepers and begging for the poor.
St Francis claimed to have undergone a crucial turning
point in his life when visiting the dilapidated Church of San
Damiano of Assisi.Whilst he was regarding a crucifix within
the church it appeared to him that the Byzantine icon of
Christ on the cross spoke to him, saying:
Francis, go and repair my house, which you see is falling
down.
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