ABSTRACT
The crisis provoked by the spread of heresy led to a major change in the monastic life of Christendom, a change which occurred initially in southern urban Europe where the heresies also found their strongest support. To put the matter simply, Catholicism found its own wandering poverty preachers. The friars, as they were called, were religiously orthodox; their behaviour was sincere and believable; and they challenged the heretics for the admiration and loyalty of ordinary Christians.
