Saint · High medieval
Saint Francis of Assisi
- Period
- 1181/82–1226
- Feast day
- 4 October
- Associated region
- Assisi, Italy
Overview
Founder of the Franciscans, remembered for radical poverty and love of creation.
Key timeline
3 events
- c. 1206
Conversion
- 1209–1210
Rule approved orally
By Pope Innocent III.
- 1226
Death
Life
The son of a cloth merchant, Francis renounced his inheritance around 1206 and gathered followers committed to poverty and preaching. In 1219 he met Sultan al-Kamil in Egypt during the Fifth Crusade.
Principal written sources
- His writings, including the Canticle of the Creatures and the Testament
- Thomas of Celano, Lives
- Bonaventure, Major Legend
Full timeline
- c. 1206
Conversion
- 1209–1210
Rule approved orally
By Pope Innocent III.
- 1224Traditional
Stigmata reported
- 1226
Death
- 1228
Canonised
Tradition
Canonised in 1228, two years after his death. Pope John Paul II named him patron of ecology in 1979.
- Feast day
- 4 October
- Venerated in (starting dataset)
- Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran.
- Patronage and roles (starting dataset)
- Animals, Ecology, Italy, Franciscans
- Places
- Assisi · La Verna · Damietta, Egypt (1219)
Legends
Accounts in the starting dataset
The source workbook lists these under “Confirmed Miracle / Key Event”. The Atlas does not treat them as confirmed: each is labelled by the kind of evidence behind it.
TraditionalReported by contemporaries
“Receiving the Five Wounds of Christ (Stigmata) on Mt. La Verna (1224)”
His earliest biographers and Brother Elias report the stigmata; their nature is a matter of faith and debate.
LegendLater legend
“Taming ferocious wolf of Gubbio to live peacefully among villagers”
Told in the Little Flowers (Fioretti), 14th century.
Sources
About the image · Attributed image
Saint Francis of Assisi, by Antoniazzo Romano (Antonio di Benedetto Aquilio) (ca. 1480–81). A later work of art, shown as a depiction and not as a likeness: earlier images of Francis survive; this is a later work.
Antoniazzo Romano (Antonio di Benedetto Aquilio), Saint Francis of Assisi. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. 2017.714 (Gift of Dinko Podrug, Nena Ilic-Podrug, and Iva Podrug, 2017), ca. 1480–81. Public domain (CC0), The Met Open Access; rights checked 21 October 2026. Source
Editorial status
Editorial draft. Built from the starting workbook with editorial corrections and framing. It has not yet been checked against independent sources.
References
Workbook linkNot yet checked
britannica.com (opens in a new tab)
Link supplied in the source workbook (“Top 100 Saints”, row 64). It has not been checked to confirm that it supports every claim in that row.
Original workbook record
Imported unchanged from “Top 100 Saints”, row 64. Values here are the starting dataset, not verified facts; where the Atlas differs, the reason is noted below.
- #
- 56
- Saint / Title
- Saint Francis of Assisi
- Primary Traditions Veneration
- Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran
- Feast Day(s)
- Oct 4
- Era / Lived
- 1181 – 1226 AD
- Origin / Region
- Assisi, Italy
- Patronage & Major Roles
- Animals, Ecology, Italy, Franciscans
- Confirmed Miracle / Key Event 1
- Receiving the Five Wounds of Christ (Stigmata) on Mt. La Verna (1224)
- Confirmed Miracle / Key Event 2
- Taming ferocious wolf of Gubbio to live peacefully among villagers
- Key Contribution / Historical Significance
- Founder of Franciscan Order; received stigmata and embraced absolute evangelical poverty.
- Reference Link
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Francis-of-Assisi
Editorial notes on this record
- Confirmed Miracle / Key Event 2: Wolf of Gubbio is a 14th-century legend.