When a young Francis started out in the bird preaching game, many believed that there was little future in it. The son of a wealthy silk merchant, Francis had already shown himself to be utterly hopeless at both keeping shop and training worms. A short stint in the military proved equally disastrous. Struggling to find his ‘thing’, Francis eventually tried poverty. He turned out to be a natural and within weeks the future saint was practically starving to death in a cave whilst suffering regular beatings. Visitors to Assisi today are often disappointed by the quality of bird life found in the ancient city.