The Latin word means “beggars.” The mendicants were Christians who took seriously the words of Jesus to His disciples in Matthew 10.
Jesus instructed them to travel to the towns and villages, carrying the fewest possible possessions, and preach the kingdom of God. In the Middle Ages, Francis of Assisi (see 563) and others established groups of medicants, known as friars (meaning “brothers”).
What little they needed, they begged. Like monks, they took vows of chastity and poverty, but unlike the monks, who lived in monasteries, friars traveled about, preaching and teaching.
