02Knights Templar - Julian Emperor

SAINTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES
who experiences it and one that should be counted a great
privilege and a miracle.
It is interesting to note that the best-known stories linked
to the life of St Francis are primarily derived from posthumous
folklore and myths. Many are recounted in the collection
of tales about St Francis called the ‘Fioretti’ or the ‘little
flowers’. They detail his great love of the natural world, the
environment and the creatures that live within it. Most famously,
of course, St Francis is said to have preached to the
birds, creating an image that has been a popular subject for
many artists over the centuries since his death. He is said to
have been on a journey with a small group of friends when
they noticed a number of trees filled with birds that were
singing loudly. According to the legend the saint told those
who accompanied him that he was going to preach to his ‘sisters
the birds’.The birds were said to be drawn by the sermon
that he gave and listened intently to him. He told them that
God loved and blessed them and that they, like people, should
seek always to praise God.
According to the Fioretti, St Francis also once miraculously
tamed a wolf that was terrorising the city of Gubbio. It
had been eating their livestock and had even killed people
from the city. St Francis decided to resolve this difficult situation
and went to find it in the nearby hills. It is said that when
St Francis came across the wolf he had a miraculous power
over it and ordered it to lie still before him. Instead of killing
it or banishing it, the saint was said to have showed compassion
and pity and recognised that the wolf had killed because
it was hungry.Therefore he took the wolf back to the city and
asked the people to feed the animal regularly. In return for
this the wolf would no longer attack them or their livestock.
A well-known piece of writing by St Francis is the‘Canticle of
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