WHO WAS THE GREATEST MEDIEVAL SAINT?

Easy: Francis of Assisi

In 1219 the Fifth Crusade was in full swing in Egypt. A large crusader army had assembled in the Nile delta, and they were closing in on the capture of the important city of Damietta. Things had not yet started going Very Wrong Indeed, i.e. the Nile had not flooded by the great sultan al-Kamil, drowning thousands of people and driving the crusaders out of Egypt with their soggy tails between their legs.

Then someone extraordinary turned up.

Francis of Assisi was the son of a wealthy silk merchant from that city, in the modern Italian province of Umbria. He had grown up as a sort of thirteenth-century nepo baby - or whatever it is we call rich, privileged, well-connected kids theses days. But after a somewhat high-spending/misspent youth, in his early twenties he experienced holy visions, heard Christ talking to him, and decided to renounce his fine living and take up a life of grinding poverty, in imitation of Christ.

He began wandering around, wearing a rough wool habit, preaching and doing charitable deeds. He soon gained disciples, who, by and by, became organised as the Franciscans: poor friars who lived on what they could beg, and wandered far and wide teaching people how to live a more Christian life.Far and wide indeed: for it was Francis himself who appeared in Damietta in 1219, claiming that he had come to give sultan al-Kamil a good talking-to. He was allowed across the lines to the Muslim camp, and did indeed visit the sultan. Rather surprisingly, al-Kamil did not have him beheaded on the spot, though he also declined Francis’ offer to walk through a fire in order to prove the miracle of Christ’s word.

Everyone went their separate ways and the crusade continued. But the incident became famous - rightly, I think. And it became one of several events from Francis’ life that fascinated artists from the twelfth century onwards.

Today I pottered down to the National Gallery in London, where there is a free exhibition of paintings and other artworks depicting Saint Francis - who was canonised in 1226, less than two years after his death. It kind of blew my mind, so I thought I’d share with you a few of the pieces that caught my eye.

If you’re in London, I urge you to check out the show: it runs until the end of July. If not, scroll on for some of the very best bits.