Francis halted for some time before giving encouragement to educational enterprises.  A life of devotion and prayer attracted him, because, as he said, “Prayer purifies the affections, strengthens us in virtue, and unites us to the sovereign good.”  But, he went on, “Preaching renders the feet of the spiritual man dusty; it is an employment which dissipates and distracts, and which causes regular discipline to be relaxed.”  After consulting Brother Sylvester and Sister Clara, he decided to adopt their counsel and entered upon a ministry of preaching.  The example and success of the Dominicans probably inspired the Franciscans to give themselves more and more to intellectual work.

Both orders received appointments in all the leading universities, but they did not gain this ascendency without a severe conflict.  The regular professors and the clergy were jealous of them for various causes, and resisted them at every point.  The quarrel between the Dominicans and the University of Paris is the most famous of these struggles.  It began in 1228 and did not end until 1259.  The Dominicans claimed the right to two theological professorships.  One had been taken from them, and a law was passed that no religious order should have what these friars demanded.  The Dominicans rebelled and the University passed sentences of expulsion.  Innocent IV., wishing to become master of Italy, sided with the University, but the next month he was dead,—­in answer to their prayers, said the Dominicans, but rumor hinted an even blacker cause.  The thirty-one years of the struggle dragged wearily on, disturbed by papal bulls, appeals, pamphlets and university slogans.  At last Alexander IV., in 1255, decided that the Dominicans might have the second professorship and also any other they thought proper.  The noise of conflict now grew louder and boded ill for the peace of the church.  The pulpits flashed forth fiery utterances.  The monks were assailed in every quarter.  William of Amour published his essay on “The Perils of the Last Times,” in which he claimed that the perilous times predicted by the Apostle Paul were now fulfilled by these begging friars.  He exposed their iniquities and bitterly complained of their arrogance and vice.  His book was burned and its author banished.  Although meaning to be a friend of Rome, he unconsciously contributed his share to the coming reform.  In 1259, Rome thundered so loud that all Europe was terrified and the University was awed into submission.

Another interesting feature in the history of their educational enterprises is the entrance of the Mendicants into England, where they acted a leading part in the educational and political history of the country.  The Dominicans settled first at Oxford, in 1221.  The Franciscans, after a short stay at Canterbury, went to Oxford in 1224.  The story of how the two Gray friars journeyed from Canterbury to Oxford runs as follows:  “These two forerunners of a famous brotherhood, being not far from Oxford,