rt (1757-1840).

FRANCIS, ST., OF ASSISI, founder of the Franciscan order, born at
Assisi, in Umbria; began life as a soldier, but during a serious illness
his thoughts were turned from earth to heaven, and he devoted himself to
a life of poverty and self-denial, with the result that his enthusiasm
provoked emulation, and some of his neighbours associated with him and
formed a brotherhood, which gave rise to the order; St. Dominic and he
were contemporaries, "the former teaching Christian men how to behave,
and the latter what they should think"; each sent a little company of
disciples to teach and preach in Florence, where their influence soon
made itself felt, St. Francis in 1212 and St. Dominic in 1220.

FRANCIS, ST., OF SALES, bishop of Geneva, born In the chateau of
Sales, near Amiens, founder of the Order of the Visitation; was sent to
persuade the Calvinists of Geneva back to the Church of Rome, and applied
himself zealously to the reform of his diocese and the monasteries
(1567-1622).

FRANCIS JOSEPH, emperor of Austria and king of Hungary; succeeded to
the throne in 1848 on the abdication of his uncle, Ferdinand I.; the
Hungarian difficulty has been the chief problem of his reign, with which
he at first dealt in a spirit of harsh oppression, but since 1866 a
milder policy has been adopted, and the desire for national autonomy was
met by the creation of a dual monarchy in 1867, Francis being crowned
king of Hungary; other important events have been the cession of Lombardy
to Sardinia in 1859 and of Venetia in 1866, after an unsuccessful war
with Prussia; _b_. 1830.

FRANCISCANS, or MINORITES, an order of monks founded by St.
Francis of Assisi in 1208; according to Ruskin, they were the order that
preached with St James the gospel of Works as distinct from the
Dominicans, who preached with St. Paul the gospel of Faith, and their
gospel required three things: "to work without money and be poor, to work
without pleasure and be chaste, and to work according to orders and be
obedient"; these were the rules they were sworn to obey at first, but
they gradually forsook the austerity they enjoined, acquired great
wealth, instituted a highly sensuous ceremonial, and became invested with
privileges which excited the jealousy of the regular clergy; with the
order were associated a number of men eminent in the Church, and many no
less so in philosophy, literature, and art.

FRANCK, SEBASTIAN, early German writ