FRANCIS 



FRANCIS 



During his absence in Palestine, 

 his vicars joined with other not- 

 ables in a policy which tended to 

 bring the Franciscans into line with 

 the older orders. At this news he 

 suddenly returned (summer of 

 1220), but was unable entirely to 

 check the movement, which had 

 considerable support from the 

 papal court. Recognizing his own 

 want of strictly business qualities, 

 he resigned the direction of the 

 Order to Pietro dei Cattani as vicar- 

 general, and from this time forward 

 could only protest against the for- 

 malism which was creeping steadity 

 into his Order. The rest of his life 

 was spent in missionary journeys 

 about Italy, and in remote her- 

 mitages where he gave himself up 

 increasingly to the contemplation 

 of Christ's passion. At one of these 

 (La Vernia, Sept., 1224) he is said 

 to have miraculously received the 

 Stigmata, or five wounds of Christ. 

 He died Oct. 3, 1226. See Assisi. 

 illus. 



Bibliography. The Mirror of Per- 

 fection, ascribed to Leo of Assisi, 

 Eng. trans. S. Evans, 1898 ; 

 The Little Flowers of St. Francis, 

 Eng. trans. T. W. Arnold, 1908; 

 Lives, Paul Sabatier, Eng. trans. 

 L. S. Houghton, 1894 ; Thomas 

 of Celano, Eng. trans. A. G. Ferrers 

 Howell, 1908 ; J. Jorgensen, Eng. 

 trans. T. O'Conor Sloane, 1912 ; 

 Father Cuthbert, 1912 ; A Guide to 

 Franciscan Studies, A. G. Little, 1920. 



Francis OF PAOLA (c. 1416- 

 1507). Saint and founder of the 

 Order of Friars Minims. Born at 

 Paolo, of poor parents, when 15 

 years old he became a hermit. Being 

 soon joined by others, he founded 

 an order in 1436. Their first 

 monastery was built in 1454, and 

 the new order was authorised by 

 Pope Sixtus IV in 1474. Other 

 monasteries were founded in Italy, 

 Sicily, France, and Germany, be- 

 fore Francis's death at Plessis-les- 

 Tours, April 2, 1507. 



Francis DE SALES (1567-1622). 

 Saint and writer. Born of a noble 

 family at Annecy, Savoy, Aug. 21, 

 im^^HE >;?i 1567, he was 

 educated at 

 Paris and 

 Padua. He 

 was a great 

 champion of 

 the Roman 

 Catholic faith, 

 had several 

 friendly but 

 fruitless d i s - 

 cussions with 

 Beza, and won many Protestants to 

 his own church, especially by his 

 preaching in the Calvinist province 

 of Chablais, 1594-98, and in Paris, 

 1602. In Sept., 1602, he became 

 bishop of Geneva. In 1610 he 

 founded the order of Nuns of the 



Francis de Sales, 

 French saint 



S. Francis of Assisi, when dying, carried upon a litter to bless the town 

 ol Assisi. From a painting by L. Benonville 



Visitation. He was a man of saintly 

 life. His Introduction to the 

 Devout Life, 1609, is translated 

 into many languages, and highly 

 esteemed by Christian people gener- 

 ally. He died at Lyons, Dec. 28, 

 1622. was canonised in 1665, and 

 adopted as the patron saint of 

 writers and journalists in 1923, 

 See works, ed. H. B. Mackey (An- 

 necy), 1892, etc. ; Lives, H. L. Lear, 

 1871, M. M. M. Scott, 1913 ; The 

 Spirit of St. Francis de Sales, J. 

 P. Camus, ed. Archbp. of West- 

 minster, 1910. 



Francis I (1708-65). German 

 king and Roman emperor. The son 

 of Leopold, duke of Lorraine, and, 



eai^^Bnmsa^aBHe!^ through his 



mother, a 

 grandson of 

 Philip, duke 

 of Orleans, he 

 was born 

 Dec. 8, 1708. 

 Related to the 

 Hapsburgs, he 

 was educated 

 in the court cir- 

 cle at Vienna, 

 and a marriage w a s arranged be- 

 tween him and the future empress, 

 Maria Theresa. In 1729 he became 

 duke of Lorraine, but in 1735 he ex- 

 changed that duchy for Tuscany, of 

 which he became grand duke when 

 the last Medici ruler died in 1737, 

 having in the meantime (1736) 

 been married to Maria Theresa. In 

 1740 his father-in-law, the emperor 

 Charles VI, died, and the war of the 

 Austrian succession began. In the 

 struggle against Frederick the 

 Great, Maria, not her husband, was 

 the dominant figure, and her efforts 

 resulted in 1745 in the election of 

 Francis as emperor. He died at 

 Innsbruck, Aug. 18, 1765, having 

 been merely the assistant of his 

 wife. From the pair the existing 

 Hapsburgs are descended, hence 

 the family is known as Hapsburg- 

 Lorraine. See Maria Theresa. 



Francis I, 

 German king 



Francis II (1768-1835). Em- 

 peror of Austria and last ruler of 

 the Holy Roman Empire. Born in 

 , Florence, Feb. 

 5 12, 1768, he 

 was educated 

 there and in 

 Vienna. His 

 father, hither- 

 to grand duke 

 of Tuscany, be - 



l < ferfi'i^B. . came Roman 

 emperor as 

 Francis II, Leopold II in 



Emperor of Austria i nan 



i/i/v/j ctnci two 



years later (March 1, 1792) Francis 

 succeeded him. A little earlier the 

 French Revolution had begun. 

 Francis's aunt was Marie Antoin- 

 ette, and on both public and 

 private grounds he was soon com- 

 mitted to the war against France. 

 One disaster followed another. He 

 was forced to make the treaty of 

 Campo Formio, and later that of 

 Pressburg. The Netherlands were 

 in revolt : Russia and Turkey were 

 willing to take advantage of his 

 difficulties. The states of Germany 

 lost their last vestiges of unity, and 

 in 1804 Francis took the title of 

 emperor of Austria, thus seeking 

 to unite more closely the various 

 lands, Hungary and Bohemia 

 among them, over which he really 

 ruled. In 1806 the Holy Roman 

 Empire, of which he was the 

 nominal head, ceased to exist. . 



Although he had Metternich for 

 his minister, Francis took a leading 

 part in controlling the policy of 

 Austria, both domestic and foreign. 

 He came to terms with Napoleon, 

 giving him his daughter in mar- 

 riage; but in 1813 he joined the 

 Allies, and his armies assisted in 

 Napoleon's defeat. He died March 

 2, 1835. He was four times 

 married, and left his successor, 

 Ferdinand I, and other children, 

 one being the father of the em- 

 peror Francis Joseph. See Europe : 

 History ; Vienna, Congress of. 



