Feeling himself triumphant, Bacon returned to his experiments and interviews. Then, in the midst of his building momentum, he received a stunning blow: a letter or visit from his elder brother informed him that his family could no longer afford to support his expensive studies. The times in England were tumultuous: civil war between Henry III and his barons seemed imminent and the Bacons feared that all their resources would be needed to protect the family estate through the months ahead. Roger was told to seek money from a source other than his family’s purse.

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Though he had already exhausted a small fortune in the pursuit of his “research:, Bacon knew that his work was far from complete. He began to cast about desperately for alternative sources of revenue. His options were those of all scholars of his day. Mediaeval society was essentially a system of patronage: lords, prelates, religious orders and universities provided funds for artists and intellectuals. The universities themselves were often the recipients of large benefices from interested patrons. But King Henry, with war on his hands, could not be expected to be a patron of Bacon’s science and the Oxford University officials viewed him more as a troublemaker than a scholar. His last hope lay in taking holy orders. He chose to join the Franciscans.

The Order of St. Francis was a natural choice for an Englishman who sought support for his studies. Many great English scholars had been members of the Greyfriars, among them the encyclopaedist Bartholomew Anglicus and the alchemist Thomas Bungay. Robert Grossteste had join the order in his later years, and Adam Marsh was its Provincial General. The funds, manuscripts and “mind-power” of the Oxford chapter would certainly prove beneficial to Bacon’s work.

Not everyone, however, was able to see the benefits of Bacon’s membership in the Order. Many among his fellow friars brought their complaints to Brother Adam: Brother Roger lacked Christian humility, he shirked his work duties, he was not always punctual in his attendance at divine services, he spent long hours pondering “magical” implements and he openly criticised a many respected member of the Order.

Those members of the Order whom Bacon criticised most loudly where the theologians. The members of mendicant orders were not allowed to pursue degrees in secular philosophy. The were, however, encouraged to study theology, a programme that usually required candidates to possess a master of arts. To side-step this requirement, the young oblates were granted “wax degrees”, dispensations bearing the official seal of a high-ranking prelate which entitled them “Masters”. Bacon felt this practice to be the reason for many poorly educated theologians who he so greatly envied and despised. His verbal and written campaign against the “boy theologians” was bitter and vindictive. Since many of his Franciscan brothers counted among these “boys”, his remarks earned him great resentment. He suffered the backlash of his sharp tongue when, in 1258, Adam Marsh died and Richard of Cornwall returned to Oxford as Provincial General of the English Greyfriars. Brother Richard immediately assumed the offensive against his outspoken underling. For his arrogance, Bacon was made to endure penance’s of bread and water and to spend more hours in prayer. His experiments were curtailed and his frustrations caused him to fall ill.

Bacon’s life was further complicated by developments within the Franciscan Order itself. The early 13th Century witnessed an increase in mysticism, spurred on by the crusades and by various apocalypses written during this time. Foremost among these “prophecies” was the Everlasting Gospel from the pen of the monk Joachim of Flora. The ideas found in Joachim’s Gospel served as the inspiration for the Children’s Crusade in 1212 and the Pastoureaux or Shepherd’s Crusade in 1250.

The ideals of the Everlasting Gospel could not fail to inspire a number of the Franciscans who maintained the rigorous discipline of St,. Francis himself. Its emphasis upon a revelation of divine knowledge also proved enticing to Bacon. Joachim’s belief in an elite group of men who would preserve the True Faith and usher in the Age of the Holy Spirit reinforced the ideas that he had drawn from the Secretum Secretorum. He embraced the cause of the Spiritual Franciscans, as those became known who adhered to the Joachist interpretation of history. In doing so, he called down further trouble upon himself.

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