Saint Colette was a 15th-century French abbess who established a significant reform within the Order of Saint Clare. Born Nicolette Boellet in Corbie, she sought a more rigorous way of life, eventually joining the Third Order of Saint Francis as a hermit. Following spiritual visions, she sought papal authorization to restore the original Franciscan ideals of extreme poverty and austerity. This led to the creation of the Colettine Poor Clares, a branch of the order that emphasized strict asceticism and total reliance on providence.