More than four hundred years later, in a movement meant to reform monasticism, the mendicant orders of Friars arose.

Friars are different from monks in that they are called to live the evangelical counsels (vows of poverty, chastity and obedience) in service to society, rather than through cloistered asceticism and devotion. Whereas monks live in a self-sufficient community, friars work among laypeople and are supported by donations or other charitable support. A monk or nun makes their vows and commits to a particular community in a particular place. Friars commit to a community spread across a wider geographical area known as a province, and so they will typically move around, spending time in different houses of the community within his province. --Wikipedia

Saint Francis of Assisi, 1182?-1226, was the son of a wealthy merchant. He underwent a conversion at age 22 and became markedly devout and ascetic. In 1209 he began to preach and was given permission by Pope Innocent III to form an order of friars. The friars traveled about Italy and soon began preaching in foreign countries, including (1219-20) the Holy Land. In 1221 Francis gave up command of the order, and in 1224 be became the first known person to receive the stigmata (wounds corresponding to those of the crucified Christ). Francis exemplified humility, lover of poverty, and joyous religious fervor; he is also associated with a simple love of nature and man and is often depicted preaching to birds. Stories about him were collected in The Little Flowers of St. Francis.

The four orders of friars were the Franciscan, founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1209, also known as Gray Friars or friars minor; the Dominican founded by St. Dominic in 1206, also known as Black Friars or friars-preachers; the Carmelite or White Friars; and the Austinian or Austin Friars, organized about the middle of the thirteenth century (their habit was also black).