"My relatives," the friar was thinking, "would have been far enough from associating with Bernardone, and yet here am I, obliged to follow his son on foot." We may judge of his astonishment when he heard Francis saying, as he hastily dismounted from his beast: "Here, take my place; it is most unseemly that thou shouldst follow me on foot, who art of a noble and powerful lineage." The unhappy Leonard, much confused, threw himself at Francis's feet, begging for pardon.[4] Scarcely arrived at Bologna, Francis was obliged to proceed against those who had become backsliders.

It will be remembered that the Order was intended to possess nothing, either directly or indirectly.

The monasteries given to the friars did not become their property; so soon as the proprietor should desire to take them back or anyone else should wish to take possession of them, they were to be given up without the least resistance; but on drawing near to Bologna he learned that a house was being built, which was already called _The house of the Brothers_.
He commanded its immediate evacuation, not even excepting the sick who happened to be there.

The Brothers then resorted to Ugolini, who was then in that very city for the consecration of Santa Maria di Rheno.[5] He explained to Francis at length that this house did not belong to the Order; he had declared himself its proprietor by public acts; and he succeeded in convincing him.[6] Bolognese piety prepared for Francis an enthusiastic reception, the echo of which has come down even to our times: "I was studying at Bologna, I, Thomas of Spalato, archdeacon in the cathedral church of that city, when in the year 1220, the day of the Assumption, I saw St.Francis preaching on the piazza of the Lesser Palace, before almost every man in the city.

The theme of his discourse was the following: Angels, men, the demons.