St. Francis of Assisi, Italian San Francesco d'Assisi, baptized Giovanni, renamed Francesco, in full Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone, (born 1181/82, Assisi, duchy of Spoleto [Italy]-died October 3, 1226, Assisi, founder of the Franciscan orders of the Friars Minor (Ordo Fratrum Minorum), the women's Order of St. Clare (the Poor Clares), and the lay Third Order, was a leader of the movement of evangelical poverty in the early 13th century.