Medieval Church, Saints and Religious Orders 1

While undertaking research into the cults of Anglo-Saxon saints that continued into the late medieval era, I prepared two glossaries to help explore the thick undergrowth of church terminology. One was of Church terms and the other was my summarised guide to religious orders. I thought that other researchers on a similar journey might find them helpful, and also help improve their accuracy and the width of coverage. Please post comments and the Glossary can be updated.

This is the Glossary of Religious Orders, written from an English aspect:

Glossary of Religious Orders

 

Augustinian: 1) order of regular canons following the Rule of St Augustine; established from pre-existing orders in Italy and France in the 12th century: 2) order of mendicant friars founded in Italy in 1244; known in England as the Austin Friars, arriving in 1248. They were invited by Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, who gave land at Clare for the first Augustinian foundation. In 1253 they settled in London where ‘Austin Friars’ was to become the most important house of the Order in England.

 

Benedictine: Order of monks or nuns living according to the Rule of St Benedict. Monks take vows of personal poverty, chastity and obedience to their abbot and the Benedictine Rule. The first Benedictines came to England in 597 with Augustine’s mission. Known as the Black Monks, the Benedictines were most prominent of monastic orders in England. 

 

Canons Regular: Regular canons were ordained priests, living a quasi-monastic, regular life (i.e. life according to a rule) in a community; a term applied to Augustinian canons

 

Carmelites: Order of mendicant friars originally founded in Palestine in the 12th century, then reformed in Europe in the 13th century after the failure of the Crusades; also known as the White Friars

 

Carthusian: Monastic order founded by Bruno of Cologne at Chartreuse in 1084; a contemplative order whose brethren were bound to vows of silence and renunciation of the world. The first English house was founded by Henry II at Witham Friary, Somerset in 1181, as penance for the murder of Thomas of Canterbury. Hugh of Lincoln was its first prior. There were nine Carthusian monasteries in England at the time of the Dissolution, and one in Scotland

 

Cistercian: Monastic order derived from the Benedictines, founded as reformed order at the French monastery of Citeaux in 1098. Supported by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, the first Cistercian house in England was founded at Waverley, Surrey in late 1128. All monasteries were dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

Cluniac: Reformed Benedictine order, founded at Cluny in France in 910. They operated under a modified Rule of Benedict. The first Cluniac house in England was at Lewes in 1077. By the Dissolution, there were 33 to 35 houses (sources vary) in England and Wales, with a further three in Scotland.

 

Conventuals: Members of the Franciscan order advocating change to the original rules on property

 

Dominican: Order of mendicant friars founded in the early 13th century by the Spanish St Dominic; also known as the Friars Preacher or the Black Friars. The first Dominicans arrived in England in 1221

 

Franciscan: Order of friars founded by St Francis of Assisi in 1217 in Italy; also known as the Friars Minor or the Grey Friars. The first Franciscans arrived in England in 1224, led by Agnellus of Pisa

 

Friars of the Sack: Also called the Friars of the Penance of Jesus Christ; the largest of the lesser groups of friars in England. All of their houses were abandoned by 1314 and members obliged to join one of the major mendicant orders

 

Gilbertines: The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by St Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire; a double order comprising male and female members under the spiritual guidance of the Augustinian canons.

 

Hospitallers: Military order first recognised in 1113, founded to assist in the Crusades; their full name was Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem

 

[Mendicant orders: Term for the friars which refers to begging because of their dependence on alms for support]

 

Pied Friars: Also called the Friars of Blessed Mary or the Friars De Domina; disbanded and the members obliged to join one of the major orders in the early 14th century

 

Poor Clares: Female branch of the Franciscan order, maintaining an enclosed monastic life rather than one equivalent to that of the friars

 

Premonstratensian: The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (near Laon), founded by Norbert of Xanten in 1120 or 1121. Influenced by the Cistercians and living to the Rule of Augustine. Known in England as the White Canons; elsewhere as Norbertines. They arrived in England around 1143. By the Dissolution, there were 35 houses, including Dryburgh Abbey.

 

Spirituals: Members of the Franciscan order devoted to maintaining the ideals of the founder with respect to money and property

 

Templars: Order of military monks founded in 1119 to assist in the Crusades; also known as the Knights Templar or the Poor Knights of Christ

 

Waldensians: Sect organised in the 12th century in Lyons; the founder became a mendicant preacher and expounded against the worldliness of the established church; the sect survives today.

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Monastic rules

 

Rule of St Augustine: A rule for religious community life first devised by a follower of St Augustine of Hippo in the 5th century; revived in the 11th century for use by the regular canons

 

Rule of St Benedict: Set of rules for monastic life devised by an Italian monk, Benedict of Nursia, in the 6th century; became the basis for Western monasticism

Sources

 

The main source was http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/churchglossary/glossaryc.htm, accessed on 2^nd October 2019, supported by a range of other sources. Orders marked are included in data published in Alison M. Binns, Dedications of Monastic Houses in England and Wales 1066-1216. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1989.