These were religious orders of friars, with a vow of poverty that forbade them to own anything individually or to own property in common. They begged or worked for their living and unlike monks were not bound to live in one place but were able to move from area to area. They had a pastoral role with a mission of religious education through preaching, although the emphasis differed according to the Order.
The focus of the Franciscans was on the penitence of laymen and leading them towards a moral Christian life. The Dominicans tried to counteract heresy by instructing people in the Catholic faith. These mendicant friars centred their activities within towns where they gained popular support through their moral way of life and for their transmission of the Christian message.
Franciscans can be recognised in paintings by the brown or grey habit they wear, tied at the waist by a girdle with three knots, representing the religious vows of poverty chastity and obedience. Dominicans wear a white tunic and scapular underneath a long black cloak with a hood.
Originally restricted to the Franciscans (founded in 1209) and the Dominicans (1220), other Orders including the Carmelites (1245), the Augustinian Hermits (1256) and the Servites (1424) also gained the privileges associated with becoming Mendicant friars.
