33 moments

1. Birth at Assisi

   1181-01-01 · Assisi, Umbria, Italy

   

   Francis was born in Assisi, the Umbrian town that remained the central setting of his early life and Franciscan movement. The source gives 1181; its biographical text characterizes the year as circa 1181.

2. Captivity after the Perugian expedition

   1202-01-01 · Collestrada, Perugia, Umbria, Italy

   Francis joined the military expedition against Perugia and was captured at Collestrada, beginning a year of captivity that later biographers link to his re-evaluation of life. The source dates the event approximately; coordinates represent Collestrada.

3. Return to Assisi after captivity

   1203-01-01 · Assisi, Umbria, Italy

   

   After roughly a year held captive, Francis returned to his home town and resumed his earlier social life.

4. Departure for Apulia

   1205-01-01 · Apulia, Italy

   

   Francis left for Apulia intending to enlist in the army of Walter III, Count of Brienne; a vision reportedly caused him to turn back toward Assisi. Coordinates are a representative point for the historical region of Apulia, not a documented enlistment site.

5. Prayer at San Damiano

   1205-01-01 · San Damiano, Assisi, Umbria, Italy

   

   At the dilapidated chapel of San Damiano outside Assisi, Francis entered to pray in the episode traditionally associated with his call to repair the church. The page attributes the account and date to Franciscan sources.

6. Renunciation and departure for Mount Subasio

   1206-01-01 · Mount Subasio, Umbria, Italy

   Following the dispute with his father before the bishop of Assisi, Francis left for the woods of Mount Subasio after renouncing his former possessions. Coordinates are a representative point on Mount Subasio because the cited account does not identify a precise site.

7. Journey to Rome for approval of the Rule

   1209-01-01 · Rome, Lazio, Italy

   Francis led eleven followers to Rome to seek papal permission for the new religious order, an essential step in the order's recognition. The precise year of the Roman approval is sometimes given as 1209 or 1210; this source places the journey after the 1209 rule.

8. Residence at Rivotorto

   1209-01-01 · Rivotorto, Assisi, Umbria, Italy

   

   Francis lived in a stone hovel at Rivotorto during the austere early phase of his brotherhood. The source supplies a 1209–1211 residence span; this card records its beginning year.

9. Preaching at San Rufino

   1211-01-01 · Assisi Cathedral (San Rufino), Assisi, Umbria, Italy

   Francis preached in Assisi's church of San Rufino, where Clare of Assisi heard him and was moved to adopt a similar religious life.

10. Reception of Clare at the Portiuncula

    1212-01-01 · Portiuncula, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Umbria, Italy

    

    Francis received Clare of Assisi at the Portiuncula, an act associated with the establishment of the Poor Clares. The surrounding source passage dates Clare's departure from home to 28 March 1212; this card retains year precision.

11. Offer of La Verna at San Leo

    1213-05-08 · San Leo, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

    

    Count Orlando offered Mount La Verna to Francis as a hermitage during a meeting at San Leo, creating the basis for Francis's later retreats there. The source is a Franciscan chronology; coordinates mark San Leo, the stated meeting place.

12. Attendance at the Fourth Lateran Council

    1215-11-01 · Rome, Lazio, Italy

    Francis was in Rome during the Fourth Lateran Council, situating him in the papal city during a major Church council. The source supports month-level precision only.

13. Portiuncula indulgence at Perugia

    1216-01-01 · Perugia, Umbria, Italy

    

    Francis obtained the Portiuncula Indulgence from Pope Honorius III while the pope was at Perugia. The source supplies summer 1216 but not a narrower date.

14. Meeting with Cardinal Hugolin at Florence

    1217-01-01 · Florence, Tuscany, Italy

    When Francis set out for France after the Pentecost chapter, Cardinal Hugolin met him in Florence and persuaded him to remain in Italy. The source dates the event to May 1217; this card uses year precision.

15. Arrival at the Crusader camp at Damietta

    1219-01-01 · Crusader camp near Damietta, Egypt

    Francis went to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade while the Crusader army was besieging Damietta. Coordinates represent Damietta; the exact location of the Crusader camp is not specified.

16. Meeting Sultan al-Kamil's camp

    1219-01-01 · Sultan al-Kamil's camp near Damietta, Egypt

    Francis and Friar Illuminatus crossed the Muslim lines and spent several days in Sultan al-Kamil's camp during a ceasefire at Damietta. The source says this probably occurred during the 1219 ceasefire. Coordinates are a representative point upstream of Damietta because the camp's exact site is unspecified.

17. Embarkation for Acre and Damietta

    1219-06-24 · Port of Ancona, Marche, Italy

    

    Francis sailed from Ancona for the eastern Mediterranean, commencing the journey that took him to the Fifth Crusade's siege of Damietta. Coordinates mark the modern port area of Ancona.

18. Departure from Acre

    1220-01-01 · Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem (present-day Israel)

    After the Egyptian mission, Francis and his companion left the Crusader camp for Acre and embarked from there for Italy. The source supports only latter-half-of-1220 precision.

19. Return to Italy via Venice

    1220-01-01 · Venice, Veneto, Italy

    

    Francis returned to Italy through Venice after learning of the deaths of five Franciscan brothers in Morocco. The principal biography links the Venetian return to Francis's response to reports from Morocco; the chronology source places the landing in spring or summer 1220.

20. Southern Italian journey to Catania

    1221-01-01 · Catania, Sicily, Italy

    During an extensive Italian journey, Francis traveled south to Catania in Sicily. The source associates the Catania and Bologna journeys with 1221–1222; this card uses the first stated year.

21. Preaching in Bologna

    1222-08-15 · Piazza Maggiore, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

    Francis preached in the square before Bologna's public palace on the Feast of the Assumption, an episode recorded by Thomas of Split. The Italian source identifies the Assumption Day sermon; coordinates mark Piazza Maggiore, the traditional civic center and a defensible representative point for the stated square.

22. Composition of the Second Rule at Fonte Colombo

    1223-01-01 · Sanctuary of Fonte Colombo, Rieti, Lazio, Italy

    

    Francis composed the Second Rule at Fonte Colombo before its discussion by the Franciscan chapter and papal approval later that year. The source gives early 1223 rather than a specific date.

23. Christmas celebration at Greccio

    1223-12-01 · Greccio, Lazio, Italy

    At Greccio, Francis devised and presented the living Nativity scene that became central to the town's Franciscan memory. The source supports month precision; it does not require assigning the event to Christmas Day.

24. Forty-day retreat at La Verna

    1224-08-01 · La Verna, Chiusi della Verna, Tuscany, Italy

    

    Francis withdrew to La Verna for a forty-day fast before Michaelmas; the retreat is associated in the source tradition with the stigmata. The source says August 1224; it reports the stigmata tradition separately.

25. Return to the Portiuncula after La Verna

    1224-10-01 · Portiuncula, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Umbria, Italy

    

    After the La Verna retreat, Francis returned toward the Portiuncula through several towns of central Italy. The source gives an October–early-November interval; date is recorded at month precision.

26. Illness and residence at San Damiano

    1225-03-01 · San Damiano, Assisi, Umbria, Italy

    

    During a visit to Clare at San Damiano, Francis's eye illness worsened and he remained in a cell there. The preceding source sentence dates the stay to March 1225 and identifies San Damiano.

27. Eye treatment at Fonte Colombo

    1225-07-01 · Sanctuary of Fonte Colombo, Rieti, Lazio, Italy

    

    Francis went from Rieti to Fonte Colombo for medical treatment; the source records a cauterization of his temples there during July and August. The source places the move in early July 1225 and notes the treatment occurred across July–August.

28. Reception at Rieti

    1225-07-01 · Rieti, Lazio, Italy

    Francis was welcomed at Rieti by Cardinal Hugolin and the papal court while seeking treatment for his worsening condition. The source supports early-July precision; this card uses month precision.

29. Return via Cortona

    1226-01-01 · Cortona, Tuscany, Italy

    Francis returned toward the Portiuncula by way of Cortona after the Siena treatment. The source gives May or June 1226; the card uses year precision because the month is uncertain.

30. Treatment at Siena

    1226-04-01 · Siena, Tuscany, Italy

    

    In the last year of his life, Francis was in Siena for additional medical treatment.

31. Final stay at the bishop's palace

    1226-08-01 · Bishop's Palace, Assisi, Umbria, Italy

    As his health deteriorated, Francis was taken to the bishop's palace in Assisi after traveling through Nottiano. The source dates this to late August or early September 1226; August is used as the earliest supported month and remains approximate.

32. Return to the Portiuncula before death

    1226-09-01 · Portiuncula, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Umbria, Italy

    

    Knowing death was near, Francis insisted on being carried back to the Portiuncula, the early Franciscan center near Assisi.

33. Death at the Portiuncula

    1226-10-03 · Portiuncula, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Umbria, Italy

    Francis died in his cell near the Portiuncula chapel at sunset on 3 October 1226.