Chiara Offreduccio (she didn’t become “St. Clare” until two years after her death) was born to a noble family in Assisi during the time of St. Francis (who also wasn’t canonised until two years after his death). Her mother, Ortolana, was devout and taught the Catholic faith to Clare and her younger sisters, Caterina and Beatrix.

But Ortolana wasn’t so devout as to not support her husband’s plans for their eldest to be married into another wealthy family. Clare, however, had other plans. She had already become enthralled by the teachings of Francis, who preached that poverty was the path to God, and went to him to have her hair shorn and her rich cloak traded for a penitential habit of coarse cloth.