Francis Breaks With His Old Life
The year is 1204. Francis of Assisi is on his way to meet Walter of Brienne in Apulia. Brienne, a powerful aristocrat, is heading to the Fourth Crusade, which is already in progress. Francis plans to fight in the crusade and through his bravery earn a knighthood.
Assisi is 532 kilometers northwest of Bari - Apulia's capital city. The region of Apulia itself covers the southeastern portion of the Italian peninsula. Francis had only traveled 46 or so kilometers from Assisi - he was near Spoleto - when his first major conversion event occurred. During the event, a vision convinced Francis to return to Assisi. God's plan for Francis needed the young man in his native town.
Apulia
Spoleto
In the year that ensued the old Francis who enjoyed parties, frolicking, and spending his merchant father's money slowly faded away. He turned into a man who gave financial aid to beggars and hugged society's lepers, commenting that "that which seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness" (Pilgrim's Companion to Franciscan Places).
Francis sheds his garments
Francis' father, Pietro, felt upset with and confused over his son's strange behavior. These troubled emotions only increased in the autumn of 1205 when Francis took his father's cloth and sold it. The money from the cloth he gave to a priest at San Damiano Church. Francis had earlier been praying in front of the cross at San Damiano Church when from it he heard the voice of God say, "Go, repair my house, which, as you see, is falling completely to ruin" (Pilgrim's Companion to Franciscan Places).
Keen to recover as much of his money as possible, Pietro presented his son to the bishop of Assisi, asking for his help. Francis, however, refused to cooperate in any way. He took off his clothes, returned them to his father, and renounced all his rights to an inheritance. Soon thereafter he left Assisi for the town of Gubbio.
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