“Francis” was the middle son of an upper-class merchant in 13th-century Assisi, until he stripped naked in front of his father and the townsfolk, claiming that God himself he had spoken. Before this shocking scene, “Francis”, later called Saint Francis, was in a militia and was captured by the Perugians. During his imprisonment he suffered from a serious illness that pushed him to become more religious, and once, while praying in a church, he heard the voice of God through a crucifix. After this religious experience, Saint Francis sold all his possessions and donated his money to charity. When his father found out and became angry at his actions, it led to the scene presented above. After this Saint Francis led a Christian life, without possessions and helping even the less fortunate. Towards the last two years of his life it is believed that he also had the marks of Christ, otherwise called stigmata. Some believe that the signs come directly from God, while others believe that the stigmata were due to illnesses that St. Francis suffered from or even that St. Francis gave himself the signs of Christ. However, it is very likely that the stigmata were originally a metaphor for the saint's Christ-like life, which eventually developed into the idea that he actually had the marks of Christ on his body. In Morris Bishop's St. Francis of Assisi, he argues that there is no way that Francis could have knowingly inflicted the stigmata on himself. Not only would it be extremely painful, but why would St. Francis mock his savior by placing the marks of Christ on himself? Morris answers this question by stating, “Francis was not a charlatan, and the assumption that he would have made…… middle of paper…… t House is on the right track with the metaphorical stigmata developing is actually the most logical. To adequately convey the fact that St. Francis led a Christ-like life, it would make sense to metaphorically give him the signs of Christ. It is very likely that this metaphor will become reality that a follower of Francis made the post-mortem wounds. The mystery of the stigmata of Saint Francis will never be solved. It just happened too soon to come to any conclusions about it. However, with the evidence provided, it is logical to think that the brands were metaphorical and actually developed as time went on. Works Cited Thompson, Augustine. Francis of Assisi: a new biography. Print.Spoto, Donald. Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi. Print.Bishop, Morris. Saint Francis of Assisi. Press.Casa, Adrian. Francis of Assisi. Press.