Friendly contemporaries, Francis & Dominic Founded the Mendicant Orders
The First Crusade served a noble role in Catholic history fighting to establish the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller were absolutely critical in maintaining and defending this important land. The Second and Third Crusades were well-intentioned but ineffective. However, Islamism was thrown into such turmoil that it was centuries before the Turks could establish dominance of the Islamist world and set their sights once again on Constantinople. The Knights of Calatrava, the Knights of Santiago, and the Knights Templar were also critical to the Reconquista in Spain. Both the Spanish and Jerusalem Crusades were Just Wars that saved Christendom from the Islamist scimitar.
The same cannot be said of many other Catholics-in-arms movements.
There is a reason that the Military era of Catholic history was much shorter than the Monastic or Episcopal eras. The movement quickly became a liability to the Church.
The Fourth Crusade and the establishment of the Latin Kingdom threw the Byzantine Empire into confusion as a virtual 60 year war opened up between Catholics and Orthodox for control of Constantinople. This prevented the Byzantines from capitalizing on the turmoil of the Islamists in order to permanently liberate the Orthodox Christians under Islamist rule with a sustainable offensive by the Byzantine Empire.
The Teutonic Knights launched a “Prussian Campaign” that subjected pagans living in Prussia to a monastic kingdom — rule by monks. They put down numerous rebellions. This method of conversion was alarmingly reminiscent of Islamism and sparked populist cultural resentment that Martin Luther was able to tap into centuries after the fact.
Once the sword was unsheathed, an Islamist approach to conversion became tempting.
Fortunately, the idea of re-sheathing the sword gained perhaps its strongest champion when Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209 was touched by a priest reading a quote from Jesus in the Gospel: “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts — no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.”
Saint Francis gave all his goods to the poor, founded the Fransiscans, and opposed violence. The Fransiscans were a Mendicant Order committed to the charism of providing the 7 corporal works of mercy — feeding the hungry, quenching the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner, visiting the sick, and burying the dead.
Saint Dominic founded the Dominicans, a Mendicant Order committed to the charism of providing the 7 spiritual works of mercy — instructing the uninformed, counseling the doubtful, admonishing sinners, bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving offenses willingly, comforting the afflicted, and praying for the sick, the living, and the dead.
The Mendicant orders were constructed to be spiritual and corporeal powerhouses. They each had First Orders — friars committed primarily to ministry, Second Orders — cloistered nuns committed to praying for the success of the ministry, and Third Orders — lay members that would provide a network of physical and spiritual support and encouragement. These orders were fairly democratic — much like monasteries. Like the early monks, very few Mendicants were ordained priests (but each community had some).
One of the problems in the Church at that time was that the monasteries had become — in the absence of invasions and elitist heresies to fight — rather established, wealthy, important, and complacent. The Abbots were now extremely important people. They did not connect with the people as they had used to in the youth of their existence.
Filling the void of a lack of zealous populist ministry, a heresy called Catharism had sprung up in southern France which viewed the body as evil. Infanticide, suicide, slow starvation, violent hostility to the state, and zeal marked this heresy. The Dominicans focused their efforts on a conversion of the Cathars. The Cathars were violent in many instances. The Dominicans commissioned a separate Third Order branch equipped to bear arms. However, the Dominicans always focused on conversion by rational argumentation.
The Dominicans engaged Cathars in public debate. There were few people in sworn commitment to the Cathar creed but they had many sympathizers — noble and common alike. The French Crown was especially hostile to the Cathars as they preached opposition to the state. The French Crown — supported by the Pope — waged a war against militant Cathars. The Dominicans at this time set up the Inquisition. The Inquisition was at this early stage primarily a formal attempt to convert the Cathars by persuasion. The defendents were permitted to mount a defense. Many Cathars converted. Most of those found sympathetic to Catharism were given minor penalties. 1% of the die-hard Cathars committed to violent opposition to the state were put to death by the French Crown.
The Fransiscans were on the other hand not allowed to bear arms. They ministered ceaselessly to the poor and built immensely strong faith in the poor throughout Europe.
In an age when established Bishops and Abbots were becoming worldly, the Mendicant Orders championed poverty and humility. As the militant orders attempted to win converts from paganism and Orthodoxy by the sword, the Mendicants preached peace and reason. When the French Crown sought to come down like a ton of bricks on the rebellious Cathars, the Mendicants sought to create a genuine dialogue through the early Inquisition.
The Mendicant Orders brought healing through their practice of the Works of Mercy.
Which happened to be just what the Church needed.