From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apostolic poverty is a doctrine professed in the thirteenth century by the newly formed religious orders, known as the mendicant orders, in direct response to the call for reforms in the Roman Catholic Church. In this, these orders attempted to live their lives without ownership of lands or accumulation of money, to varying degrees.

The doctrine was seen as a challenge to the wealth of the church and the ensuing corruption it brought. One group which was a major proponent of this belief was the Humiliati. Founded by a wool merchant, they established communities scattered around Italy and France, organized on the principle of a simple way of life for the laity, who shared their goods while remaining in family units. They remained primarily a lay movement, and came to reject the authority of the hierarchy and the clergy. For this and other reasons, they were later to be declared heretical by the Catholic Church.

It is often assumed that Saint Francis of Assisi was inspired to form the Franciscans by their movement, in an effort to emulate the poverty of Jesus Christ and to bring his message through a simple life and example, while strictly adhering to the beliefs of the Catholic church. Saint Dominic founded a similar order, the Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans.

Peter Waldo, founder of the Christian sect which came to known as the Waldenses, also applied this belief. Among other points of dissent with the practices of the Roman Catholic Church at the time, the Waldenses believed in reading the Bible in one's native language-as opposed to having it only in Latin, and were also greatly persecuted by the Church.

Especially among the Franciscans, these beliefs became a matter of fierce controversy, with Church Councils being called upon to support one side or the other. A major element of the Franciscans who espoused the strictest interpretation of this were known as the "Spirituals." Under the leadership of Saint Bonaventure as Minister General, the Church declared those who espoused this radical interpration of Scripture to be heretics, and they were rounded up and burned at the stake. Other proponents of this doctrine, most notably the Franciscan William of Ockham, came under investigation as heretics or faced excommunication by the Church.

• Poverty in the Catholic Encyclopedia