Franciscan Spirituality
St. Francis’ spiritual message (he was born in 1181 and died in 1226) is centred on poverty and it was already largely widespread in the years right after his death (he became saint in 1228). The friars argued for more than a century about the different interpretations of the Franciscan Rule they were supposed to take into consideration. Those who wanted a strict and literal application of the Rule (Spiritual Friars) were opposed to those who were looking for a happy medium (Conventual Friars). The dispute ended with the division of the order and the reformation of the observancy, in 1334.