Francis entered into glory in his lifetime; it would be surprising if a sort of worship had not from the first been centred around the house in which he saw the light and where he passed the first twenty-five years of his life.
He was born about 1182.[3] The biographies have preserved to us few details about his parents.[4] His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a wealthy cloth-merchant.

We know how different was the life of the merchants of that period from what it is to-day.

A great portion of their time was spent in extensive journeys for the purchase of goods.
Such tours were little short of expeditions.

The roads being insecure, a strong escort was needed for the journey to those famous fairs where, for long weeks at a time, merchants from the most remote parts of Europe were gathered together.

In certain cities, Montpellier for example, the fair was perpetual.