A mendicant order of friars established by St. Francis of Assisi in 1209 to minister to the ill and the needy. The rule of the order was confirmed in 1223 by Pope Honorius III. In 1212, St. Claire joined St. Francis and, in 1215, he established a convent and placed her as its superior, thus granting her the opportunity to found the Order of the Poor Claires, the female counterpart to the Franciscans. In 1221, St. Francis also established the tertiaries (Brothers and Sisters of Penance), composed of lay individuals who embraced the Franciscan life without giving up marriage and family ties. The Franciscans contributed greatly to the development of Renaissance art. Their Church of San Francesco in Assisi is filled with frescoes by leading masters, including Cimabue, Giotto, and Simone Martini. Santa Maria dei Frari in Venice boasts works by the likes of Titian, and San Francesco in Borgo di Sansepolcro features the work of Sassetta. In Florence, the Franciscans built the Church of Santa Croce where the works of Taddeo Gaddi, Maso di Banco, Giotto, Filippo Brunelleschi, Desiderio da Settignano, and Bernardo Rossellino remain.
Historical dictionary of Renaissance art. Lilian H. Zirpolo. 2008.