HOLY SEPULCHER, ORDERS OF THE: Among the several Roman Catholic orders of the Holy Sepulcher four deserve special mention:

1. Canons of the Holy Sepulcher (Fratres cruciferi dominici sepulcri Hierosolymitani): An order founded at the beginning of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, when Patriarch Arnulf of Jerusalem (1111-18) united the clerks of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher into a community. Calixtus II. confirmed the order in 1122, and in 1144 it had more than seven houses in Palestine. In 1187 the seat of the order was transferred to Acre and in 1291 was centered in the Occident, where its houses furnished lodging and assistance to pilgrims to the Holy Land. In 1489 the Canons of the Holy Sepulcher were united by Innocent VIII. with the Knights of St. John, and preserved their independence only in Spain, Sicily, and Poland, where some houses survived until the beginning of the nineteenth century. The only house still existing is that at Cracow.

2. Canonesses of the Holy Sepulcher (Sepulcrines)

The female branch of the Canons since the Middle Ages. The order attained its zenith after the rigid reform carried through by the Marchioness Claudia de Mouy, when she erected a house for the Canonesses at Charleville. Her rule was confirmed by Urban VIII. in 1631, and houses of the order still exist in France and Belgium, with one in BadenBaden and branches at Bruchsal.

3. Knights of the Holy Sepulcher (Golden Knights)

An oruer, founded toward the close of the Middle Ages, which included all knightly pilgrims to Palestine who had received the accolade at Jerusalem from the Guardian of the Holy Sepulcher. The order is said to have been orally confirmed by Leo X., but it was not until 1746 that Benedict XIV. gave it a written confirmation. Pius IX., after reestablishing a Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1847, granted the patriarch the exclusive right to create Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, and by the brief Cum multa of Jan. 24, 1868, promulgated a formal rule for the order. The Knights wear on a white mantle a red enameled quintuple cross (the " cross of Godfrey de Bouillon "). The accolade is to be given in Jerusalem, but may be conferred through a deputy. The recipient promises to be willing to work for the Holy Land, and the order is divided into three classes: knights, commanders, and grand crosses, the first being required to pay 1,000 francs on admission, the second 2,000, and the third 3,000.

4. Fathers of the Holy Sepulcher: A name applied to the Franciscans stationed in Jerusalem. Even after the fall of Acre Franciscan minorites remained in Palestine to protect the Holy Places, notwithstanding the martyrdom of almost 2,000 of their number. Since 1657 the mother house of the order has been the great monastery of San Salvator in Jerusalem, which normally contains twenty-five regular priests and fifty-five lay brothers. A smaller monastery, adjoining the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, serves as a residence for the priests and lay brothers who conduct the services in the church.

(O. Zöckler†.)

Bibliography: In general consult R. R6hricht, Regesta regni Hierosolymitani no. 75, Innsbruck, 1893; idem, Geschichte des Königareichs Jerusalem, p. 96 et passim, ib. 1898. On 1 consult: Heimbucher, Orden und Kongregationen, ii. 24; Helyot, Ordres monastiques, ii. 114 sqq.; KL, v. 977. On 2 consult: Heimbucher, ut sup., ii. 8182; Helyot, ut sup., ii. 124 sqq.; KL, v. 977. On 3 consult: J. Hermes, Der Orden vom heiligen Grabe, Cologne, 1870; Passini, 11 sacro militare ordine perosolimitano del s. sepolrro, Pisa, 1889; KL, v. 978. On 4 consult: Heimbucher, ut sup., ii. 427; KL, v. 978-980; L. Michiele, Album de la mission franciacaine de terre saints, 2 vols., Venice, 1893.