§ 66. The Augustinians, Carthusians, Carmelites, and other Orders.

Among the greater orders which came into existence before 1200 are the Augustinians, the Premonstrants, the Carthusians, and the Carmelites.

1. The Augustinians were a distinct family from the Benedictines, followed the so-called rule of St. Augustine, and were divided into the canons regular of St. Augustine and the mendicant friars of St. Augustine.

The bodies of canons regular were numerous, but their organization was not compact like that of the stricter monastic orders.⁶⁸⁴⁶⁸⁴    See art. Augustiner, in Herzog, II. 254 sqq., and in Wetzer-Welte, I. 1655 sqq. Theod. Kolde, D. deutsche Augustiner Congregation und Joh. von Staupitz, Gotha, 1879.te. As early as the eleventh century a rule, ascribed to St. Augustine, appeared in several forms. It was professed by the clerical groups forming the cathedral chapters, and by bodies of priests associated with other churches of prominence.⁶⁸⁵⁶⁸⁵    At Campell, near Paris, there were not less than fifty priests, whose number was reduced by Innocent III. to twenty-two. See Hurter, III. 375. The terms canonicus saecularis and regularis do not occur before the twelfth century. Up to that time they were known as clerici religiosi, clerici regulares, clerici professi, clerici communiter viventes, etc. So Denifle, Archiv für Lit. und Kirchengeschichte for 1886, p. 174. He quotes Amort, Vetus disciplina canonicorum regul et saecul., Venice, 1747, I. 333. church services, as, for example, the service of song, and the enforced rule of celibacy, encouraged or demanded a plurality of clergymen for a church.

Moved by the strong impulse in the direction of conventual communities, these groups inclined to the communal life and sought some common rule of discipline. For it they looked back to Augustine of Hippo, and took his household as their model. We know that Augustine had living with him a group of clerics. We also know that he commended his sister for associating herself with other women and withdrawing from the world, and gave her some advice. But so far as is known Augustine prescribed no definite code such as Benedict afterwards drew up, either for his own household or for any other community.

About 750 Chrodegang, bishop of Metz, drew up a code for his cathedral chapter, whom he enjoined to live together in common,⁶⁸⁶⁶⁸⁶    Chrodegana provided a common table for the clergy of his chapter, and a common dormitory. The Roman synods of 1059, 1063, recommended priests to have their revenues in common.

In the twelfth century we find many groups of clerics who adopted what began to be known as the rule of St. Augustine.⁶⁸⁷⁶⁸⁷    The tradition runs that this rule was prescribed by Innocent II., 1139, for all canons regular. Helyot, II. 21.⁶⁸⁸⁶⁸⁸    In a bull, Dec. 16, 1243, Innocent speaks of the regula S. Augustini et ordo. See Potthast, p. 954. The most distinguished convent of regular canons in France was the convent of St. Victor. IV., 1256, definitely recognized the rule.

The Augustinian rule established a community of goods. Even gifts went into the common fund. The clerics ate together and slept in one dormitory. They wore a common dress, and no one on returning his suit to the clothing room retained any peculiar right to it. The papal attempts to unite these groups into a close organization proved to be in vain.⁶⁸⁹⁶⁸⁹    The cathedral of Bristol is built up from the old abbey of St. Augustine. The Augustinian, or Austin, canons were also called the Black Canons in England. They were very popular there. St. Botolph’s, Colchester, their first English house, was established about 1100. At the suppression of the monasteries there were one hundred and seventy houses in England, and a much larger number in Ireland. Gasquet, p. 225. See W. G. D. Fletcher, The Blackfriars in Oxford.

The Augustinian hermits, or Austin friars, as they were called in England, were monastics in the true sense. They arose after the canons regular,⁶⁹⁰⁶⁹⁰    See Hurter, III. 238.aupitz and Luther belonged.⁶⁹¹⁶⁹¹    In England they had thirty-two friaries at the time of the dissolution. Gasquet, 241.

The rule of St. Augustine was also adopted with modification by the Premonstrants, the Gilbertines of England,⁶⁹²⁶⁹²    The Gilbertines, founded by St. Gilbert, rector of Sandringham, about 1140, were confined to England. There were twenty-six houses at the time of the suppression of the monasteries. The convents for men and women used a common church.

2. The Premonstrants adopted the Augustinian rule, were called from their dress White Canons, and grew with great rapidity.⁶⁹³⁶⁹³    Norbert’s Works and Life are given in Migne, vol. 170, and his Life in Mon. Ger. XII., 670 sqq.; Germ. trans. by Hertel, in Geschichtschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit, Leipzig, 1881. See also Hauck, IV. 350-66; J. von Walter, Die ersten Wanderprediger Frankreichs, vol. II. Leipzig, 1906, pp. 119-129, and the art. Praemonstratenser, X. 267 sqq., and Norbert, IX. 448 sqq., in Wetzer-Welte, and Praemonstratenser, in Herzog, XV. 606 sqq., and the literature there given; and Gasquet, The Engl. Praemonstratensians, in transactions of the Royal Hist. Soc., vol. XVII. London, 1903.nd one of the most influential men of his age. Thrown from his horse during a storm, he determined to devote himself in earnest to religion. He gave up his position in the Cologne Cathedral and entered the Benedictine Convent of Sigeberg. Norbert then travelled about in Germany and France as a preacher of repentance,⁶⁹⁴⁶⁹⁴    Walter puts Norbert in the group of the itinerant preachers of the age. Prémontré, the designated field,⁶⁹⁵⁶⁹⁵    Pratum monstratum. Premonstrants as he did that of the Cistercians. The first rule forbade meat and eggs, cheese and milk. As in the case of the Cistercians, their meals were limited to two dishes. At a later date the rule against meat was modified. Lay brethren were introduced and expected to do the work of the kitchen and other manual services. The theological instruction was confined to a few prayers, and the members were not allowed to read books.⁶⁹⁶⁶⁹⁶    Hurter, IV. 206.

Norbert in 1126 was made archbishop of Magdeburg and welcomed the opportunity to introduce the order in Northeastern Germany. He joined Bernard in supporting Innocent II. against the antipope Anacletus II. He died 1134, at Magdeburg, and was canonized in 1582. Peter the Venerable and Bernard of Clairvaux praised the order and Norbert himself as a man who stood near to God.⁶⁹⁷⁶⁹⁷    Bernard, Sermon, XXII.; Ep., 56

The almost incredible number of one thousand houses is claimed for this order in its flourishing period. There was also an order of Premonstrant nuns, which is said to have numbered ten thousand women during Norbert’s lifetime.⁶⁹⁸⁶⁹⁸    See Hurter, IV. 208.n this period.⁶⁹⁹⁶⁹⁹    In England there were more than thirty Premonstrant convents at the suppression of the monasteries. Bayham and Easley are their best preserved abbeys.

3. More original and strict were the Carthusians,⁷⁰⁰⁷⁰⁰    Consuetudines Carthusienses, printed among Bruno’s Works in Migne, 153, 651-759. Peter Dorland, Chronicon Carthusianae, Col. 1608. For literature see Wetzer-Welte, art. Karthäuser, VII. 203, and the art. Bruno, vol. II. 1356-63. Bruno’s Works in Migne, 152, 153. In his Com. on the Romans he anticipates Luther by inserting sola, "alone" in Rom. 3:28, "a man is justified by faith alone, without the works of the law." See Dr. Fr. Duesterdieck, Studien u. Kritiken, 1903, p. 506.g in severity any of the other orders of the time.⁷⁰¹⁷⁰¹    The device of the order is a globe surmounted by a lion with the motto Stat crux dum volvitur orbis, "The cross stands while the globe turns."⁷⁰²⁷⁰²    The following legend was invented to account for Bruno’s decision. In 1082 he was present at the mortuary services over Raymond, canon of Notre Dame, Paris. When the words were said, "Quantas habes iniquitates et peccata?""how many sins and iniquities hast thou?" the dead man rose up and replied, "justo dei judicio accusatus sum," "I am accused by the just judgment of God." The next day at the repetition of the words, the dead rose again and exclaimed, "justo dei judicio judicatus sum," "I am judged by the just judgment of God." The third day the dead man rose for the third time and cried out, "justo dei judicio condemnatus sum," "I am condemned by the just judgment of God." This incident was inserted into the Roman Breviary, but removed by order of Urban VIII., 1631. Hergenröther says the legend is still defended by the Carthusians. Kirchengesch., II. 353. Fontaine, in the diocese of Langres, which he subsequently exchanged for Chartreuse.⁷⁰³⁷⁰³    Peter the Venerable says of a visit to Chartreuse, Ep., VI. 24, inaccessibiles pene nivibus et glacie altissimas rupes non abhorrui, "I shrank not back from the high rocks made inaccessible by snow and ice." Hurter’s description, IV. 150, makes the location attractive.cting as papal adviser, retired to the Calabrian Mountains and established a house. There he died, 1101. He was canonized 1514. In 1151 the number of Carthusian houses was fourteen, and they gradually increased to one hundred and sixty-eight. The order was formally recognized by Alexander III., 1170.

The first Carthusian statutes were committed to writing by the fifth prior Guigo, d. 1137. The rule now in force was fixed in 1578, and reconfirmed by Innocent XI., 1682.⁷⁰⁴⁷⁰⁴    Nova collectio statutorum Ord. Carthusiensis, Paris, 1682.ntral church, at first two and two, and then singly.⁷⁰⁵⁷⁰⁵    For the plan of a Carthusian monastery, see Dr. Venables’ art. Abbey, in "Enc. Brit.," I. 20 sq. other devotions were performed by each in seclusion. The prayers were made in a whisper so as to avoid interfering with others. They sought to imitate the Thebaid anchorites in rigid self-mortification. Peter the Venerable has left a description of their severe austerities. Their dress was thin and coarse above the dress of all other monks.⁷⁰⁶⁷⁰⁶    Vestes vilissimas ac super omne religionis propositum abjectissimas ipsoque visu horrendas assumpserunt. Pet. Ven., De miraculis, II. 28.fore Easter, and the thirty days before Christmas. When one of their number died, each of the survivors said two psalms, and the whole community met and took two meals together to console one another for the loss.⁷⁰⁷⁷⁰⁷    A movement among the Carthusians to pass over into other orders, where the discipline was less rigid, was severely rebuked by Innocent III. Hurter, IV. 161.hold. For hygienic purposes, the monks bled themselves five times a year, and were shaved six times a year.⁷⁰⁸⁷⁰⁸    Medicinis, excepto cauterio et sanguinis minutione perraro utimur, quoted by Hurter, IV. 154, from the Constitutions of Guigo. Bleeding for medicinal purposes seems to have been common in convents. It was practised in the convent of Heisterbach, Caesar of Heisterbach, Dial., XI. 2. According to the life of Bernard of Thiron, it was the custom in some convents for monks suffering from headache or other physical ailments to have the abbot place his hands on their bodies, trusting to his miraculous power for healing. See Walter, Die ersten Wanderprediger Frankreichs, Leipzig, 1906, II. p. 50.⁷⁰⁹⁷⁰⁹    And yet they have furnished at least four cardinals, seventy archbishops and bishops, and have had rich churches noted for their works of art like the one in Naples, or the church at Pavia, where lapis lazuli is freely used. See Hurter, IV. 158.em.⁷¹⁰⁷¹⁰    Pet. Ven., Epp., I. 24, IV. 38. Peter gives a list of the books he sent.y letters, and lauded their devotion to God. So at a later time Petrarch, after a visit to their convent in Paris, penned a panegyric of the order.

In England the Carthusians were not popular.⁷¹¹⁷¹¹    "The discipline was too rigid, the loneliness too dreadful for our tastes and climate." Jessopp, The Coming of the Friars, p. 125.ent was founded by Henry II., at Witham, 1180. The famous Charterhouse in London (a corruption of the French Chartreuse), founded in 1371, was turned into a public school, 1611. In Italy the more elaborate houses of the order were the Certosa di San Casciano near Florence, the Certosa at Pisa, and the Certosa Maria degli Angeli in Rome.⁷¹²⁷¹²    The order was suppressed in France at the time of the Revolution. The monks, however, were permitted to return to Grand Chartreuse in 1816, paying a rental of 3000 francs to the government. The mother convent has again been broken up by the Associations Law of 1903. There were at that time one hundred and fifty monks in the house. Some of them went to Piedmont, and others to Tarragona, Spain, where they have set up a distillery for their precious liqueur.

In recent times the monks of the Chartreuse became famous for the Chartreuse liqueur which they distilled. In its preparation the young buds of pine trees were used.

4. The Carmelites, or the Order of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Mt. Carmel, had their origin during the Crusades, 1156.⁷¹³⁷¹³    Ordo B. M. V. de Monte Carmelo is the name given by Innocent IV. The brethren are called fratres eremiti de monte Carmelo, by Honorius III., in his sanction of the order, 1226. The art. Carmelite, in Wetzer-Welte, II. 1966-1976, and Karmeliter, in Herzog, X. 84-88, give a good account and contain lists of literature. Potthast, I. No. 7524.bbess of the female community. Their history has been marked by much division within the order and bitter controversies with other orders.

Our first trustworthy notice is derived from Phocas, a Greek monk, who visited Mt. Carmel in 1185. Berthold of Calabria, a Crusader, made a vow under the walls of Antioch that in case the Christians were victorious over Zenki, he would devote himself to the monastic life. The prayer was answered, and Berthold with ten companions established himself on Mt. Carmel.⁷¹⁴⁷¹⁴    The convent on Mt. Carmel is a conspicuous object as you approach the coast from the Mediterranean, and from the hills round about Nazareth. The present building was erected in 1828, and is an hour’s walk from Haifa. Napoleon used the former buildings for a hospital during his Syrian campaign. origin of the order became the subject of a violent dispute between the Carmelites and the Jesuits. The Jesuit Papebroch precipitated it in 1668 by declaring that Berthold was the founder. He was answered by the Carmelite Daniel⁷¹⁵⁷¹⁵    Speculum Carmelitarum seu historia Eliani ordinis, 4 vols. Antwerp, 1680.he origin back to Elijah. Appeal was made to Innocent XII., who, in 1698, in the bull redemptoris, commanded the two orders to maintain silence till the papal chair should render a decision. This has not yet been done.⁷¹⁶⁷¹⁶    Benedict XIII., in 1725, gave quasi-sanction to the order’s claim by permitting it to erect a statue to Elijah in St. Peter’s. It bears the inscription Universus ordo Carmelitarum fundatori suo St. Eliae prophetae erexit.

The community received its rule about 1208 from Albert, afterwards patriarch of Constantinople. It was confirmed by Honorius III., 1226. Its original sixteen articles gave the usual regulations against eating meat, enjoined daily silence, from vespers to tierce (6 P. M. to 9 A. M.), and provided that the monks live the hermit’s life in cells like the Carthusians. The dress was at first a striped garment, white and black, which was afterwards changed for brown.

With the Christian losses in Palestine, the Carmelites began to migrate westwards. In 1238 they were in Cyprus, and before the middle of the thirteenth century they were settled in far Western Europe. The first English house was at Alnwick, and a general chapter was held at Aylesford, 1246.

From the general of the order, Simon Stock, an Englishman (1245–65), dates the veneration of the scapulary,⁷¹⁷⁷¹⁷    The Carmelites are often called the Brotherhood of the Scapulary. The scapulary is a sleeveless jacket covering the breast and back, and was originally worn over the other garments when the monk was at work. The garment has been the frequent subject of papal decree down to Leo XIII., 1892. July 16 has been set apart since 1587 as a special festival of the scapulary, and is one of the feasts of the Virgin. A work has been written on the proper use of the scapulary, by Brocard: Recueil des instructions sur la devotion au St. Scapulaire de Notre Dame de Monte Carmelo, Gand, 4th ed. 1875. Simon Stock was one hundred when he died.nd release those who have worn it. The story is included in the Breviary,⁷¹⁸⁷¹⁸    Hergenröther-Kirsch, Kirchengesch., II. 362, says it is introduced as a matter of "pious opinion," fromme Meinung. the order, deliverance from purgatory by Mary, the first Saturday after their decease.⁷¹⁹⁷¹⁹    The original bull has not been found, and its authenticity has been a subject of warm dispute, in the Catholic church. The pertinent words of Mary are Ego mater gratiose descendam sabbato post eorum mortem et, quot inveniam in purgatorio, liberabo. "I, mother, will graciously descend on the Sabbath after their death, and whomever I find in purgatory I will free." One ground for doubting the authenticity of the bull is that Mary promises to forgive sins. Paul V., in 1613, decreed that this "pious faith" should be preached. See art. Sabbatina, in Wetzer-Welte, X. 1444-1447

After the success of the Franciscans and Dominicans, the Carmelites, with the sanction of Innocent IV., adopted the practice of mendicancy, 1245, and the coenobite life was substituted for life in solitary cells. The rules concerning clothing and food were relaxed to meet the climatic conditions of Europe.

A division took place in the order in 1378. The wing, holding to the stricter rule as confirmed by Innocent IV., is known as the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance. Both wings have their respective generals. The Carmelite name most famous in the annals of piety is that of St. Theresa, the Spanish saint who joined herself to the Carmelites, 1533. She aided in founding seventeen convents for women and fourteen for monks. This new branch, the Barefoot Carmelites, spread to different parts of Europe, Mt. Carmel, Africa, Mexico, and other countries. The monks wear leathern sandals, and the nuns a light shoe.⁷²⁰⁷²⁰    By the decision of Clement VIII., 1593, the Barefoot monks became an independent order, and elect their own general superior. Hurter, IV. 213, concludes his short account of the Carmelites by saying, that among other things which they used to exaggerate to a ridiculous extent was the number of their houses, which they gave at 7500, and of their monks, which they gave as 180,000.

Of the other numerous monastic orders, the following may be mentioned. The Antonites, or Brothers of the Hospital of St. Antonius⁷²¹⁷²¹    Falco, Antonianae Hist. compendium, Lyons, 1534. Uhlhorn, D. christl. Liebesthätigkeit d. Mittelalters, Stuttg. 1884, 178-186, 343 sqq.om a disease, then widely prevalent, and called St. Anthony’s fire, morbus sacer. The prayer was answered, and the father and his son devoted themselves to a religious life. The order was sanctioned by Urban II., 1095, and was intended to care for the sick and poor. In 1118 it received from Calixtus II. the church of St. Didier de Mothe, containing St. Anthony’s bones. In 1218 Honorius III. gave the members permission to take monastic vows, and in 1296 Boniface VIII. imposed on them the Augustinian rule. They had houses in France, Germany, Hungary, and Italy. It used to be the custom on St. Anthony’s day to lead horses and cattle in front of their convent in Rome to receive a form of blessing.⁷²²⁷²²    The Antonites regarded St. Anthony as the patron of stable animals, a view popularly held in Italy. An example of this belief is given in the Life of Philip Schaff, 56 sq.

The Trinitarians, ordo sanctissima Trinitatis de redemptione captivorum, had for their mission the redemption of Christian captives out of the hands of the Saracens and Moors. Their founder was John of Matha (1160–1213). The order was also called the ordo asinorum, Order of the Asses, from the fact that its members rode on asses and never on horseback.⁷²³⁷²³    The Trinitarians were also called Maturines, from their house in Paris near St. Mathurine’s chapel. They had a few houses in England. A Spanish order with the same design, the Ordo B. V. M. de Mercede redemptionis captivorum, was founded by Peter Nolasco and Raymond of Pennaforte. See Hurter, IV. 219.d as the representative of the Virgin Mary, and the arrangement as in conformity with the word of Christ, placing John under the care of Mary. A church built between the male and female cloisters was used in common. The order was founded by Robert d’ Abrissel (d. 1117), whom Urban II. heard preach, and commissioned as a preacher, 1096. Robert was born in Brittany, and founded, 1095, a convent at Craon. He was a preacher of great popular power. The nuns devoted themselves especially to the reclamation of fallen women.⁷²⁴⁷²⁴    The last abbess died 1799. Since 1804 the abbey of Font Evraud has been used as a house for the detention of convicts. Henry II. of England and Richard Coeur de Lion were buried at Font Evraud. For the literature of the order, see Herzog, VI. 125, and J. von Walter, Die ersten Wanderprediger Frankreichs, Studien zur Gesch. des Mönchthums, Robert von Abrissel, I. Leipzig, 1903.⁷²⁵⁷²⁵    Ut capillos non nutriant suos. Walter, Wanderprediger, II. 112.

The Order of Grammont, founded by Stephen of Auvergne, deserves mention for the high rank it once held in France. It enjoyed the special patronage of Louis VII. and other French sovereigns, and had sixty houses in France. It was an order of hermits. Arrested while on a pilgrimage, by sickness, Stephen was led by the example of the hermits of Calabria to devote himself to the hermit life. These monks went as far in denying themselves the necessities of life as it is possible to do and yet survive,⁷²⁶⁷²⁶    Hurter, IV. 140. See art. Grammont, in Wetzer-Welte, VI. 990 sqq.⁷²⁷⁷²⁷    Walter, II. 143.

The Brothers of the Sack⁷²⁸⁷²⁸    Fratres saccati, fratres de sacco, saccophori, etc. See art. Sackbrüder, in Herzog, XVII. 327. Gasquet, 241 sq. of rough material cut in the shape of a bag. They had convents in different countries, including England, where they continued to have houses till the suppression of the monasteries. They abstained entirely from meat, and drunk only water. The Franciscans derisively called them Bushmen (Boscarioli). They were indefatigable beggars. The Franciscan chronicler, Salimbene,⁷²⁹⁷²⁹    See Coulton, p. 301.gars."