On January 23, 1318, Pope John XXII issued a declaration that many doctrines of the radical 'Spiritual' Franciscan order were heretical. The Spirituals advocated for a literal interpretation of St. Francis's rule of poverty, which brought them into conflict with the institutional Church. Many Spirituals were subsequently burned at the stake, though some escaped to Sicily.

The persecution of the Spiritual Franciscans inspired apocalyptic and mystical poetry, including works by figures like Jacopone da Todi, whose laude express the spiritual and political tensions of the order. The theme of poverty and the corruption of the Church became a central motif in later religious poetry and satire, influencing the works of William Langland and Geoffrey Chaucer. This controversy fueled a literary tradition of anti-clericalism.