Clare Offreduccio was born in Assisi in 1193 or 1194 to a noble family. On the night of Palm Sunday 1212 she left her father's house, had her hair cut by Francis at the Porziuncola, and soon settled at San Damiano, the church Francis had repaired with his own hands. Her sister Agnes and eventually her mother joined her there.
She governed the community for more than forty years and fought for what she called the Privilege of Poverty: the right to own nothing at all, which Innocent IV finally confirmed in her Rule two days before her death. She died at San Damiano on August 11, 1253, and Alexander IV canonized her in 1255.
Her body lies in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Clare, built on the slope of Assisi facing the valley. The basilica also keeps the painted crucifix of San Damiano that spoke to Francis; San Damiano itself, a short walk below the walls, remains as it was, with the refectory and the choir where the sisters prayed.
