poor Cottages and he could never bear that Monks should build stately Habitations Being gone one day to visit the Monastery of Muscet he told the Abbot severely Thou hast raised thee a Palace with an expense that might be sufficient to give a maintenance to a great many poor One might now justly make use of the same reproach to all the Abbies of this Order because there is never a one but is very stately built and that of Valombrosa it self is more like to a Royal Palace than to an Humble House for Monks So does this Order receive their condemnation from the Mouth of their own Founder These Monks were formerly cloathed as those of Camalduli and differed only in the Blew Colour which they wore They changed it afterwards into a Dark Violet and enlarged their Habits after the manner of the Monks of Cassin They are now very loose Livers and possess several Monasteries in Italy Of the Sylvestrin Order THE Congregation of Sylvestrins began to be established in the year 1269 at Montefano near Fabriano in Italy by Sylvester Gozolini Gentleman of Osimo in the Marsh of Ancona and Canon of the Cathedral Church of that Town who having been present by chance at the opening of a Sepulcher where he saw the frightful and stinking dead Body of one of his best Friends buried there some days ago he conceived so great a slight against this present Life that forsaking all worldly things he retired into a Solitude to apply all his thoughts to God Many persons did follow his example to whom he gave the Rule of St. Benet His Congregation was approved by the See of Rome while he was yet living After his Death which hapned in the year 1280 it was confirmed by several Popes and a great while after Sixtus the V. reformed many abuses that crept amongst them They are Cloathed like the old Monks of Valombrosa whose Rule they follow also They differ only in the Yellowish and Peach Colour which they wear This made me to insert them in this place Of the Order of Granmont THIS Order had its beginning from one Stephen born in the Province of Auvergne in France in the year 1076. This Gentleman was brought up by Milon Archbishop of Benevent after whose Death seeing he had lost his Fortune he resolved to lead a solitary Life and having visited many Hermitages that he might learn the Eremetical Trade he fixed at last his abode on the Mountain of Muret near Limoges which was all covered with Woods being then thirty years old He wrote there a Rule or rather a Rapsody consisting of several things got together from the Rule of St. Benet from that of Regular Canons and of what he could find most superstitious in the Hermits manner of Life which he proposed to his Disciples as an infallible way to Heaven It was confirmed by several Popes and afterwards by reason of its too great austerity moderated by Innocent the IV in the year 1247 and again by Clement the V. in the year 1309. So that what some Popes did approve as most holy some others did condemn as very rash and indiscreet This Stephen wore an Iron Cuirass on his Naked Body slept in a Wooden Coffin laid some feet deep into the ground without any Bed or Straw in the bottom of it He bent so often his Knees that the skin of them became hardned as that of a Camel and so often he kissed the Ground that it turned up his Nose After his Death the Monks which he left at Muret were chased thence by those of the Order of St. Austin and one Peter native of Limoges Disciple and Successor of Stephen having asked a Sign from Heaven to know where they should fix their abode they heard a Voice in the Air which said thrice at Granmont Granmont Granmont which is high a Mountain near to Muret. The Papists say it was the Voice of an Angel but it is more likely to be that of the Devil who is always very busie in establishing Superstition They made then their application to Henry the I. King of England who ordered a Church to be built for them there which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and from this Mountain called Grandmont the whole Order took its name They are only spread in France They wear a harsh and pricking Tunick and over it a long Gown of thick Cloath Of the Order of the Carthusians THE Carthusian Order was instituted in the year 1080 according to some Authors and in the Opinion of some others in 1086. on the occasion as 't is said of a very strange accident A Professor of the University of Paris very commendable not only for his Doctrin but also for the apparent integrity of a Good Life died and as he was burying he sat upright on the Bier and cried with a lamentable Voice I am accused by the just Judgment of God Which putting all the Spectators into a strange fright the Enterment was deferred till the next day when the Dead cried again I am judged by the just judgment of God for which Cause they put off the Burial yet one day longer At last the third day being come in the presence of a great multitude of people who were assembled together the Dead again cried with a terrible Voice by the just Judgment of God am I Condemned One Bruno being present at this sight and taking occasion from this adventure to make a fine Discourse to the Assembly he concluded that it was impossible for them to be saved unless they renounced the World and retired themselves into the Deserts which he executed immediately with six of his Companions going into a frightful place called Chartreuse amongst the Mountains in the Diocese of Grenoble where he was assisted with all things by the Bishop of that place named Hugues who afterwards became one of his Disciples They built in that horrid Desert only habited by wild Beasts little Cells at some distance each from another where they lived in silence leading a very rigid Life They proposed to follow the Rule of St. Benet adding thereto several other great Austerities Hospinian hath related all their ancient Observances in nineteen Articles which are these following 1. To wear continually a Hair-Cloath on their naked Skin 2. Never to eat any Flesh-meat no not in case of a desperate Disease 3. Never to buy any Fish and to eat none except it be given to them 4. To eat only Bread made of Bran and to drink only Water mingled with a little Wine 5. To eat nothing on Sundays and Thursdays but Cheese and Eggs Tuesdays and Saturdays Pulse and only Bread and Water the other days of the Week 6. They ought themselves to prepare their own Victuals and to take their refection alone 7. The Christmas Week Easter and Whitsunday Holy-days with some few others are excepted from this observance in which they eat twice a day in common 8. They ought to remain in their Cells
XX. Of the Habits and of the Tonsure or Shaving of Monks I Have set down at the end of each Order what Habits those Monks wear and in what Form and Colour they do differ one from another according to the Fancy of their Founders Now I must further more explain to you what a Capuchon a Scapulary a Patience a Force a Plited Cloak the Scandals and the Monastical Crown are The Capuchon in its first Institution was no other thing but a Sack which the first Penitents wore upon their Heads with one Corner in after the manner of the Colliers here in London But our Monks have brought it at last to the form of a Hood and is of the same Stuff with their Habits It is a very commodious contrivance because when they are hot they cast it back upon their Shoulders and when they are cold they draw it very deep on their Heads to keep their Ears warm Some have it so curiously Wrought that three Women at work can hardly make one in four days Speaking of it in a Spiritual Sense they call it the Helmet of Salvation Galeam salutis and believe that the Devil hath not the Power in that Harness to suggest to them ill Thoughts Some Monks as the Benedictins the Augustinians the Dominicans c. wear it very broad and hanging down almost to the Calf of their Legs to extend the more on their Bodies the virtue of this holy Garment The Capucins contrarywise have the tail of their Capuchion turned right upwards which makes them they say more Terrible to the Powers of the Air and uniteth them more immdiately to God The Scapulary is a piece of Stuff divided length-ways in half and sowed to their Capuchion which reacheth before and behind almost to their Feet T is called Scapulary à Scapulis because it covers their Shoulders and in the Spiritul Sense it is an Armour against the Devil Impenetrable to all the Arrows of his Malice This Scapulary when first contrived was an Habit for work whereof almost all the Peasants made use formerly working in the Fields because this covering their Stomack Back and Shoulders and having no Sleeves it left their Hands and Arms freer for work Now as the Monks were obliged in the antient times to work with their Hands St. Benet and the other Institutors of Monks gave them the Scapulary to wear Scapulare propter opera tantum But as for the Monks in our days who have preferred Idleness before Working they might also go without a Scapulary When the execrable Regicide James Clement a Dominican Fryar went to kill Henry the III. he hid hisgreat Dagger under his great Dagger under his Scapulary and made it serve in such manner to an use very different from its Institution The Patience is only another name to signify the two sides of their Scapulary the part which is one their Backs is called the Hinderpatience and that one their Breast the Forepatience This word is in expression of their Sufferings because one of these Monks having once by chance stretched his Scapulary together with the Capuchion on the ground they ingeniously observed that it represented a kind of a Cross and very luckily for them they published that they were the Imitators of Jesus Christ bearing after him their Crosses in this World And indeed who can doubt but these Scapularies being for the most part of a very fine Cloth or Linnen be very heavy Crosses to these poor Monks The Frock or Cowl is a Stately Gown with large Sleeves which the Monks wear over their other Habits when they go to Church or to work in the Towns In a Spiritual Sense it is the Protection of God Almighty that Surrounds them they say on every side The Cape is a long Cloak plited round about the Neck and without Sleeves of which some Fryars make use in stead of the Frock The Carmelites particularly wear such Garment because they say it represents better â—he Cloak of the Prophet Elijah who they pretend to have been the Founder of their Order The Sandals are Wooden-shoes or Clogs which render them they say like to the Apostles The Monastical Crown is a Circle of Hair which the Barber leaves to their Heads when he Shaves them Beda in the first Book of his History Chap. 22. saith that the Monks and Priests have their Heads Shaved and leave above the Ears a Circle of Hair in the form of a Crown to represent the Crown of Thorns of our Saviour and that this Crown is a warning to them that they ought to imitate Christ in his Sufferings and bear patiently all sorts of Affronts and Injuries for the sake of his Name And in truth saith Hospinian these good Monks and Priests are put very hard to it and suffer every day a great deal of Shame for the Cause of Christ Jesus and of his Holy Gospel Alas how are they to be pitied these holy Martyrs of the Popish Church sleeping as they do till Noon-day upon good Down Feather-Beds How weary how tired are they in cutting up the Partridges the Snipes the Pheasants and others Dainties wherewith their Tables are covered Oh the Sharp Thorny-Crown that so cruelly afflicts their tender Heads How kind how human were the Barbarous Jews who drove the Crown of Thorns into the Sacred head of our Lord Jesus in comparison of those unmerciful Barbers who Shave every Week or Fortnight the Heads of Fryars and Monks and moreover to accumulate misfortunes wash them with sweet and odoriferous Waters Isidorus and other Authors give another Explication of the Monastical Crown They say that it represents the slight which the Monks ought to make of the things of the World by losing all their Hairs except only a small Portion which they reserve for themselves to wit that little Circle about the Ears This Circle notwithstanding according to them is a Royal Crown that raises them above all other Christians as much as Kings are above their own Subjects T is very true goes on my Author Hospinian that these Fellows wear a Royal Crown on their Heads since they are exempted from all Jurisdiction and Power of the Magistrates when all the others are bound to obey Nay they are above Kings and Princes to whom they are become formidable and are adored by those of their party like Gods Having already gathered for themselves almost all the Riches of the Universe they may well boast themselves of their Frugality and of the contempt of Wordly things which they so insatiably purchase Rupertus saith that the shaving of Monks makes them in a manner bald to honour Jesus Christ Crucified on Calvary which is by him interpreted A bald Mountain Calvi sunt quia scilicet Christus in Calvariae loco Crucifixus est This is a good reason saith my Author and worthy of a great Divine Lastly Bellarmin adds another Mystery to it and saith that this Crown is a mark of Penitence and of Conversion And my Author
Court He at first refused a Bishoprick that was offered him rather out of Pride or some other End as may be supposed than out of Humility because some while after he accepted two of them to wit that of Worcester and that of London both which he possessed at once without the least scruple of Conscience He was made at last Archbishop of Canterbury and got so far into King Edward's favour that nothing was done either in the Kingdom or in the Church without his consent or rather without his Order He made use at first of the great power he had at Court to advance to Bishopricks some of his own Relations who to please him were become Monks Amongst those were Oswald and Ethelwald the first of whom was promoted to the Bishoprick of Worcester and the other to that of Winchester In which having succeeded he undertook to promote the Affairs of the Monks to the great prejudice of those of the Clergy Thus Dunstan being a very lustful man hated as such usually do Lawful Marriage and seeing that the Clergy-men in that time were permitted to Marry he undertook to force them to forsake their Wives and Children and to turn Monks Oswald and Ethelwald joined with him in the same design and all of them having unanimously forged several false Accusations and Calumnies against those of the Clergy who refused to take the Monastical Habit they turned them out of their Churches Prebendaries and Colleges The offended Party carried immediately their Complaints to the King who appointed Commissioners to examine their Cause in the Chapter of the Church of Winchester of which the Monks had already possessed themselves in the year 963. The Judges being fully convinced by the just Reasons of the Clergy were upon the point to pronounce in favour of their re-establishment when the Monks thinking they had no time to lose made use of this crafty Device They hid one of their Gang upon the Roof of the Hall where the Assembly was kept who cryed out with all his strength through a hole not being seen Non bene sentiunt qui Presbyteris favent Those who speak in favour of the Priests are not in the Right Then the Monks clapping their Hands called out this was the voice of an Angel and that they needed no other Judgment but what Heaven it self had pronounced The Commissioners were so much terrified at it that against all Justice and Reason the Clergy men were cast and lost the right of their Cause After this Dunstan and his Agents observed no longer any moderation towards the Secular Clergy but used them with all sort of violence The King himself at their sollicitation persecuted them utterly and commanded them to be chased out of all Cathedral Churches and Colleges In a Letter which he wrote to Dunstan to Oswald and to Ethelwald he expresseth himself in these words I have the Sword of Constantine in my hand and you that of St. Peter let us join them together and drive the Lepers out of the Camp viz. the Church-men who lived in the state of a Lawful and Honest Marriage So let us cleanse the Sanctuary of the Lord and henceforward receive none to the Ministry of the Altars but the Children of Levi who said to his Father and Mother I know you not and to his Brethren I know not who you are c. Understanding in this last Clause the Monks who had renounced their Relations and Families to live with more ease and less care in the Cloisters The three Bishops had no sooner received this Letter but like Ravenous Wolves they fell upon that Flock which as good Pastors they should have protected and unmercifully oppressed it They builded with their Spoils during the Reign of that King XLVIII Monasteries and richly endowed them The affairs of the Monks having suffered some decay under the Reign of the following King Dunstan took upon himself to restore them under King Edward in the year 975. He assembled for this purpose a National Council in the East of England But having had no success in it he assembled another in Wilceria or Calne where he refused to dispute against Beornelmus a Scotch Bishop and a very learned man and one well versed in Scripture who offered to prove by it the lawfulness of the Marriage of Priests And indeed the Assembly begun already to be persuaded by the strength of his Reasons when a fatal and deplorable accident carried the Cause in favour of Dunstan The House in which this great Assembly was met sunk and there were buried in its ruins almost all the Chiefest both of the Clergy and Nobility of England The Monks alone had the good luck to escape who published immediately that Heaven had espoused their Cause had wrought a Miracle for their preservation and avenged them of their Adversaries But several Authors of great sense do accuse not without Reason this Dunstan and his Monks of a Plot no less Treacherous and Abominable than was that of the Gunpowder Treason to have undermined this Building and made it ready to fall upon this Assembly in case their Affairs did not take that turn which they desired in which case it was an easie thing for the Monks to make their escape For as Bishop Parker wisely observed How is it possible to believe that God would have wrought Miracles to maintain the cause of those who had refused to be tried by the Authority of his Holy Word Nevertheless so sad an accident gave the Victory to the Monks over the Secular Married Clergy whose places they continued to usurp almost during six hundred years until King Henry the VIII exterminated them in a lesser time and with more facility than Dunstan had for establishing of them I come now to give you some instances of the Pride and Sauciness of Monks in oppressing the English Unmarried Clergy Lanfrank a Benedictine Monk and Abbot of St. Stephen of Caen in Normandy having been raised to the Dignity of Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 1070 he immediately introduced his Brethren the Monks into the Cathedral Church who in process of time by the great power they had at Court were admitted to give their Votes in the Election of the Archbishops together with the Suffragan Bishops Chief Prelates and Great Canons of that Diocese But being afterwards grown Insolent by the Possession of the Relicks of Thomas Becket they pretended to have alone the power of Electing the Archbishop with exclusion of the subordinate Bishops and Clergy and not only so but they had the brazen Face to send Commands peremptorily to the Archbishops obliging them to do or undo what they listed We have a famous example of both in the Life Balduinus Archbishop of Canterbury related by Parker in his Britannick Antiquities First concerning his Election 't is said that the Suffragan Bishops and the chiefest of the Clergy of that Province being assembled to join with the Monks in the Election of a Successour to Richard Archbishop
year 1313. Some are of opinion that Peter Damianus established this Religion a long time before Pope Celestin about the year 1078 and that the Habit of those Monks was of a Blue or Celestial Colour whence they were called Celestins They wear now a White Casock with a Patience a Scapulary a Hood and a Cowl all black They possess now in France about twenty Monasteries 'T is an usual expression in that Country for a great Coxcomb to call one a pleasant Celestin. Of the Order of the Olivetans JOhn Ptolomaeus Gentleman of Siena in Italy a Learned Lawyer desirous to give himself wholly to devotion retired to a ground of his own called Accona distant fifteen miles from the Town having drawn along with him two other persons who followed him in his retreat in the year 1313. Their Congregation increased in a little while and because they professed no written Rule and made no Vows guided only by the zeal they had for Jesus Christ they were accused before Pope John the XXII who held his Seat at Avignon as Innovators Enemies to Monastical Vows This Pope referred their Cause to the Bishop of Aresse who commanded them to follow the Rule of St. Benet This hapned in the year 1319. and to go Cloathed all in White viz. to wear a Casock a Scapulary and a long broad Cowl with large Sleeves He ordered besides this that their Congregation should be called by the name of St. Mary of Mount Olivet and that the Church of their Chief Monastery of Accona should bear the same name About that time John Ptolomaeus having proposed to himself St. Bernard Abbot of Clairvaux for a Pattern would be called of his name Bernardus He died of the Plague in the year 1348 and 't is unknown where his Body was laid His Religious are called yet to this day Olivetans They live in a Congregation and have perpetual Regular Abbots though their abode is but triennial in the same Monastery They have divided their Abbies into six Provinces which do elect by turns the General of the Order These Monks are so much disordered that several Popes to remove so great a Scandal had a mind to abolish them intirely as 't was done to the above-mentioned Humilies but their Protectors have been so powerful and so well paid that they have ever till now averted this Storm from their Heads Of some other Orders of St. Benet and Chiefly of the famous Congregation of St. Maur in France TO put an end to the Orders which follow the Rule of St. Benet I say that some are to be seen yet in the East as in the Valley of Josaphat and in the Indies who differ only in Cloaths The first wear a Hood and a Cowl of a readish Colour and after the use of Eastern Countries a long Beard The others to wit the Indians have a black short Casock with a white Scapulary and a white Cloak over it that reacheth to their Heels There are also many Reformations of the Order of St. Benet in Germany in Lorrain and in France but among others that of St. Maurus in France is very remarkable It was erected by Pope Gregory the XV. in the year 1621 upon the motion of Louis the XIII King of France Father Desiderius De la Cour native of Lorrain was the first who went about it very earnestly and the first Monastery where this Reform took place was that of the White Cloaks or Blanc Manteaux at Paris Pope Urban the VIII confirmed this Congregation in the year 1627. It increased so much in so short a time that one may reckon now two hundred Monasteries in France belonging to it They are divided into six Monastical Provinces each of which is governed by a Visitor They have a General besides who keeps two Assistants or Helpers and lives in the Abby of St. Germain des Prez at Paris The Abbots and Superiors of the whole Congregation meet together with their Deputies in a General Chapter every third year and there they make their Regulations which are joined with the Declarations upon their Rule and ought very strictly to be observed This Congregation would have spread its Branches yet farther if King Louis the XIV by a piece of Policy unwilling to see any Private Body to grow so strong had not put a stop to it He would not permit them to reform many other Monasteries which are yet very loose and corrupted and had rather to see them Secularized as 't was done lately to the Abbies of Enee and Savigni near Lions than to have them incorporated with these Reformed Monks They are extreamly Rich being very good Husbands and partly because they want Monks to fill their Monasteries The French Nobility being now a days Enemies to a lazy Life the meanest sort of people only sue for to be received amongst them This Congregation hath however produced some great men in this Age famous by their learned Works to wit D. Hugues Menard Lucas d' Achery John Mabillon Gabriel Gerberon but scarcely could they produce as many others of this kind amongst them The length of their Office at Church taking up the best part of their time is perhaps the cause of their ignorance The Jesuits are very troublesom to them because by the great power they have at Court they get to themselves several of their Abbies and Priories This is the reason why in some points one sees St. Ignatius of Loiola cutting with long Shears St. Benet's Purse I shall say no more of the Monastical Orders that follow the Rule of St. Benet only this That several other Monasteries of Benedictine Monks are to be seen here and there dispersed who are not reformed and do not live in a body of a Congregation but all of them lead so corrupted and wicked lives that they may be considered where-ever they are as the plague of all honesty and good manners CHAP. XIII Of the Orders of St. Hierom. 'T IS very certain that St. Hierom governed a long while the famous Monastery built at Bethlem by the devout Paula but it was by the good example of his life only not leaving any thing in Writing that might be serviceable after his death to the Monastical Government So that the Orders which bear in our days St. Hierom's Name are not to be called so for their following his Rule but because they have chosen this great Doctor for their Patron and Protector 'T is very true also that some time before he entred the Monastery of Paula he had retired himself to the most desert places of Syria to get more freedom from Worldly Affairs and to apply himself the better to Study and the Contemplation of Holy Things But then and afterwards he did it with a perfect liberty of Spirit without determination to any Place Exercise or Practâ—ce of Vertue by any Vow nor distinguished himself from others by the singularity of his Habit. Prosper Stellarius an Augustinian Monk who hath collected the Rules of the Founders
the Sword of Judith the Sword of the Maccabees the Sword of Pope Julius the II. wherewith he cut off the Lives of several Princes his Enemies filling whole Cities with Slaughter and Blood Go and let Prudence go along with thy Courage let God give new strength to thy Arm. After which they all fall down on their Knees and the Superior of the Jesuits pronounces the following Exorcism Come ye Cherubins ye Seraphims Thrones and Powers come ye holy Angels and fill up this Blessed Vessel the execrable Parricide with an immortal Glory do ye present him every day with the Crowns of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Holy Patriarchs and Martyrs We do not look upon him now as one of ours but as one belonging to you And thou O God who art terrible and invincible and hast inspired him in Prayer and Meditation to kill the Tyrant and Heretick for to give his Crown to a Catholick King comfort we beseech thee the Heart of him whom we have Consecrated for this Office strengthen his Arm that he may execute his Enterprise cloath him with the Armour of thy Divine Power that having performed his Design he may escape the Hands of those who shall go in pursuit of him give him Wings that his holy Members may flie away from the power of the impious Hereticks replenish his Soul with Joy Comfort and Light by which his Body having banished all fear may be upheld and animated in the midst of Dangers and Torments This Exorcism being ended they bring the Parricide before another Altar where hangs the Image of James Clement Dominican Fryar who with a venemous Knife killed King Henry the III. This Image is surrounded with Angels who protect him and bring him to Heaven The Jesuits shew it to him and put afterwards a Crown on his Head saying Lord regard here thy Arm and the Executer of thy Justice let all the Saints arise bow and yield to him the most honourable place amongst them After every thing so performed he is permitted to speak to none but to four Jesuits who are deputed to keep him company These Fellows are not wanting in their Discourses to tell him very often that they perceive a Divine Light that surrounds him and is the cause why they bow to him kiss his Hands and Feet and consider him no more as a Man but as a Saint Nay they make a shew as if they did envy the great Honour and Glory which does attend him and say sighing Oh that God had been pleased to make choice of us instead you and given us so much Grace that as you we might be translated into Heaven without going into Purgatory Here 's the end of the Ceremony and of the Order of these Fathers who call themselves the Company of Jesus Of the Order of the Fathers of the Oratory THIS Congregation of Regular Priests was Founded at Rome by Philip Neri a Florentine Secular Priest in Italy He gathered a Company of Ecclesiasticks who applied themselves to the exercises of Clerical Life and got a great Name in the World They begun their practices in the year 1550 but their Order was not confirmed till twenty five years after by Gregory the III. who gave to Philip Neri the Parochial Church of St. Mary in Valicella called now La Chiesa Nuova He built there a Convent where he passed almost his whole Life not going out but to visit the Seven Churches In imitation of him Peter of Berulle instituted at Paris the Congregation of the Fathers of the Oratory of Jesus He was peculiarly encouraged to it by Cardinal Gondi Bishop of Paris Pope Paul the V. approved this Congregation in the year 1613 and since it hath spread it self very much in France and in the Low Countries These Priests have this for the end of their Institution to honour as much as lies in them the Infancy Life and Death of our Saviour Jesus Christ and of the Virgin Mary to whom they render an Idolatrous Worship They have several times a Week meetings to which they invite Seculars also to make them meditate in their Churches called by them Oratories from whence they have got the Name of Fathers of the Oratory on what the Virgin Mary hath done while she was yet a Child with what Diligence she went to School with what Modesty she plaid with the young Girls of her Age on the great Respect she had towards the Priests bowing to them in the Streets and running in such manner over all the Actions of her Life till her Death with particulars which were never known by Scripture or ancient Tradition they believe they have performed great exercises of Piety by Preaching to the Seculars three or four hours at each meeting upon these and such like matters They make it also their business to teach Youth in their Colleges to Preach and to go on Missions They make no Vows and can very easily go out from their Society to possess some good Living offered to them They are generally much beloved by all sorts of people for their Honesty and Affability but mortally hated by the Jesuits who have persecuted them extreamly in these last Times accusing them of favouring the Opinions of Jansenius but indeed it is because they are their Rivals and they fear lest the Papists weary at last of their tyranny and impieties should one day give their Houses and Colleges to the Fathers of the Oratory They are Cloathed like secular Priests viz. with a long black Casock a Girdle and a long Cloak of the same Colour This Order hath produced several both learned and honest men according to their Principles Of the Order of the Fathers of Well Dying THIS Religion is instituted to serve the Sick and comfort them in their Dying-Hour Those who do compose it are Regular Clerks Camillus of Lelis was the Author thereof He was born in the Land of Abruâ—so in the Diocese of Chiety in Italy called Buccianico and having past the first years of his Life in being a Soldier he resolved to employ the last in serving the Poor in the Hospitals and comforting Dying People Four of his Friends joined with him in the same design and their new Religion was approved by Pope Sixtus the V. in the year 1584. but upon condition that they should follow some Ancient Rule These good Fathers being not very well pleased with it as desirous to have the Honour of being the Founders of a distinct Order continued still their former practices In the mean while Sixtus the V. passed to another Life and Gregory the XIV who succeeded him confirmed this Congregation in the year 1591 making it free and independent 'T is called the Congregation of Regular Clerks serving the Sick Their Habit is Clerical with a Cross on their Breast and another upon their Cloak on the Right Side of Tawny Colour with a great flopping Hat upon their Heads They have several Convents in Italy Of the Order of Clerks Minors THE Regular
Clerks Minors owe their establishment to Austin Adorne a Gen-man of Genoa He set up their first Congregation at Naples in the year 1558 with two other Gentlemen of the family of Caracciola Austin and Francis The Constitutions of their Order were approved by Paul the V. in the year 1605. They have a Convent at Rome at St. Laurence in Lucia where their general abode is and a College at St. Agnes of Piazza Navona They are Cloathed as Secular Priests only with a courser Cloath Of the Order of Barnabites or Regular Clerks of St. Paul THIS Congregation was approved at Bologna by Pope Clement the VII in the year 1533. and by Paul the III. in 1535. James Anthony Morigias Bartholomew Ferrara of Milan and Francis Mary Zaccaria of Cremona began to establish it by a Famous Preacher called Seraphim who persuaded them to read diligently the Epistles of St. Paul for which cause they took the name of Clerks of St. Paul They are called likewise Barnabites either for their great devotion towards that Saint Barnabâ— who founded the Church of Milan or because they made their first Exercises in a Church of Regular Canons Dedicated to this Saint This Congregation is much increased since and hath produced great men They have several Colleges in Italy and some in France Savoy and other part Of the Order of the Holy Ghost in Saxia at Rome IN the year of our Lord 1198 Pope Innocent the III. caused to be built at Rome the staely and famous Hospital of the Holy Ghost in Saxia or Saxony which place was so called because formerly the Saxons a people of Germany had their Quarter there and endowed it very richly for the relief of the Poor Sick and other Indigents He ordered a Rule for all the Brothers and Sisters who would enter that Order In this year 1564 Father Bernardinus Cirilli General of the same Reformed it This Rule commands all the Brothers and Sisters to live in Obedience and Chastity possessing nothing as their own and above all to be careful of the Sick They make their Promise and Vow in such manner I such one give and offer my self to God and to the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Holy Ghost and to my Lords the Poor Sick to be their humble Servant as long as I live I promise to keep Chastity by the grace of God and to live without possessing any thing as my own and to you my General Master and all your Sccessors to pay you all Obedience and to take a faithful care of the Incomes for the Poor Then the Superior gives him this Answer For the Vow which thou hast made to God to the Virgin and to our Lords the Poor Sick we receive thee and the Souls of thy Father and Mother to participate of the Masses Fasts Prayers Alms and other good Works which are and shall be done in the House of the Holy Ghost God make thee partaker of them as we all hope Know also that the House of the Holy Ghost promises to give thee Bread and Water and an Humble Robe This said the Superior takes a Cloak on which is a Cross and putting it on his Shoulders saith to him In virtue of this Sign of the Cross all evil Spirits be expelled from thee and Christ Jesus bring thee to his everlasting Kingdom This Congregation hath several Hospitals in divers parts of Christendom of which that of Rome is the Chief The General Chapters are kept there and each Hospital is obliged to render an account there by the Duputies of its Administration Supposing a Religious of this Order be found in possession of any thing as his own when he dies he is not to be buried in Holy Ground but he is lookt upon as one excommunicated They wear a Black Sacerdotal Habit with a White Cross on their Breast and another upon their Cloak on the left Side Of the Congregation of the Hermits of Madam Gonzague FRancis of Gonzague fourth Marquess of Mantoua going to one his Country Houses and passing near an Old Wall on which was painted an Image of the Virgin Mary his Horse was so much frighted at it that in curvetting it threw his Master on the ground A Gentleman of his Retinue called Hierom Regnini seeing the Marquess all bruised with his fall fell immediately on his Knees and made a Vow to the Virgin that if his Master did recover he would in that very place lead an Hermetical Life Which thing having succeeded as he desired he went about to perform his Vow and the Marquesses Lady caused a Monastery to be built for him where several other Gentlemen joined together and established a Rule amongst them which was confirmed by Pope Alexander the VI. They make no profession and none of their Observances does bind upon pain of Mortal Sin They have a General and about threescore and ten Monasteries the Chief whereof is that of Gonzaga in which are twelve Hermits This Congregation began under Pope Innocent the VIII and the Empire Maximilian the First Of the Fathers of Christian Doctrin THIS Religious Congregation was founded by Caesar de Bus born at Cavailon a Town of Provence in France The end of this Institution was to Catechise the People in imitation as they say of the Apostles teaching them the Mysteries of our Faith and together the gross Errors of Popery Pope Clement the VIII approved this Congregation and Paul the V. did the same in the year 1616. He obliged these Teachers or Doctrinaries â—o make Monastical Vows and united their Coâ—pany to that of the Regular Clerks of Somask to make together with them one Body under the same General Since that time by a Bull of Pope Innocent the X. granted in the year 1647. the Priests of the Christian Doctrin were disunited from the others and had a French General for themselves Thuy possess several Convents and Colleges in France There is likewise in Italy another Order of the Fathers of the Christian Doctrin who do acknowledge for their Founder Cardinal Charles Borromeo who instituted them at Milan in the year 1568. CHAP. XIX Of some Religious Orders which have been suppressed or united to others or of which the Authors the time of their Institution or Habits are not well know First Of the Order of the White Men. IN the year 1399 under the Pontificate of Boniface the IX a certain Priest came down from the Alpes into Italy followed with a great multitude of People He was Cloathed all in White had very modest Looks and by his Speech one might have taken him for a Saint He deplored with loud and very sensible Expressions the miserable Condition of Mankind and Preached Repentance for Sin He was going directly to Rome with hopes to remedy the evil first in the place where he thought Religion suffered the most In his way by Lucca the Apennine and Tuscany great crouds both of Men and Women of all Ages and Conditions followed him and took White
and born in Lawful Marriage except the Natural Sons of Kings and Princes Amongst the Knights some have Grand Crosses who alone can pretend to the Dignity of Grand Master who is the Superior and Sovereign of Malta There are also Knights Servants taken from very good Families The Courage both of the one and the other does increase every day amongst the continual dangers of a Bloody War against the most formidable Empire of the Universe and they are the Bulwark of Christendom on that side against the Turks From the year 1099 to 1663 they have had sixty Grand Masters Of the Order of Templars THEY began in the year 1118 at Jerusalem Hugo of Paganis Geofrey of St. Omer and seven others whose Names are unknown to us Consecrated themselves to the Sevice of God after the manner of the Regular Canons and made their Profession in the Hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem Balduinus II. King of Jerusalem lent them a House near the Temple of Solomon from which they had the name of Templars or Knights of the Temple In the mean while as they lived only by Alms the King the Prelates and Lords of that Kingdom gave them Estates some for a while and some for ever The Aim of this Institution was to defend the Pilgrims against the ill usages of the Infidels and to keep the ways free for those who would make a Journey to Jerusalem These Nine First Knights did admit none into their Society till in the year 1128 after a Celebration of a Council held at Troyes in Champagne Hugo of Paganis came to it with five of his Brethren and asked for a Rule Bernard Abbot of Clairvaux who was there present was appointed to draw them one and it was ordered that they should wear a white Habit and since viz. in the year 1146 Eugenius the III. added to it a red Cross on their Cloaks After that this Order grew for some while to a great Honour and Reputation and got so great Fortunes and Estates by their Valour that Mathew Paris assures their Riches were immense and that they had nine thousand regular Houses Such a flourishing Condition raised a mortal Envy in the Hearts of all the other Knights and Monks who could not bear to see them in that Greatness and Power Nay several Princes and Kings conceived Jealousie against them and above all others Pope Clement the V. This Pope fearing lest they might take from him his Papal Crown made use dexterously of the Covetous Humour of Philip le Bel King of France to persuade him to extirpate them out of his Kingdom This Prince having given his Word for the doing of it upon Condition of being invested with all their Estates in his own Dominions the Pope went about to persuade other Christian Princes to do the same Which succeeded so well that at one and the same time upon a signal given all these poor Knights not thinking of so Deplorable and Tragical an End were unmercifully murdered This Pope or rather this Monster of Cruelty to give some Colour to so Barbarous an Execution had them charged with several horrid Crimes and took care they should be published but never was able to prove any of them James of Morlai Gentleman of Burgundy Grand Master of the Templars was burnt alive at Paris with two of his Knights in the year 1313 and several others were publickly executed in other Provinces nor was it possible to make them confess the Crimes wherewith their Order was accused though they were offered their Lives if they would do it They persisted always saying they would not defile with so execrable Lies the Nobility and Glory of their Order Pope Clement the V. desirous to have the satisfaction to see burnt alive one of the Knights of that Order being then at Bourdeaux with Philip le Bel they were looking both of them out of a Window and the poor wretched Knight who was carried to Execution having spied them spake thus to them Being not permitted to appeal to another Tribunal for my defence you Clement the unmerciful Tyrant and you King Philip I cite you both within a year and a day before the just Tribunal of God there I shall expose the innocency of my Cause Accordingly the Pope and the King died both in the same year After the extirpation of the Templars they enriched themselves with their Spoils and the Estates which they possessed in the other Kingdoms were divided between the Knights of Rhodes who are now those of Malta and the Teutonicks Of the Knight-Order of Montjoye POPE Alexander the III. established this Order at Jerusalem and Confirmed it in the year 1180. under the Rule of St. Basil They wore a Red Cross and were Instituted for to go and fight the Infidels King Alphonsus the Wise called for them into Spain for to fight the Moors and having allowed them Revenues gave them the name of Knights of Mofrack but under the Reign of King Ferdinandus they were united to the Order of Knights of Calatrava Of the Order of Avis of Portugal ALphonsus the I. King of Portugal having Conquered in the year 1147 the Town of Evora from the Moors and ascribing this to a singular Favour of the Virgin Mary he established for the defence of that City Knights who signalized themselves under the Name of Brethren of St. Mary of Evora Some while after they had a Great Master who was Ferdinandus of Montereiro They received the Rules of Cisteaux and John Civita Abbot of that Order framed them some particular Constitutions in the year 1162. Pope Innocent the IV. approved in the year 1204. this Establishment which proved very advantagious to Christianity by the continual Victories which these Knights obtained over the Moors This Order had already the name of Avis from a Castle of that Name which Sanches the I. had given them in acknowledgment of the great Services they had done him upon all occasions They worâ— the white Habit of Cisteaux and their Arms were Gold with a Sinople Floree-Cross and two Sable Birds on the top in allusion to the word Avis which signifies Bird. In the year 1213 Rodrigues Garcia de Asa Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava with the consent of his Knights gave to the Order of Avis several Places which they did possess in Portugal Which Generosity did ingage them so far that for an eternal acknowledgment they desired a greater union with them and submitted willingly to the Order of Calatrava but some differences arising afterwards in the Wars of the Portuguese with the Castillans they refused obedience to it This hapned under John the Great of Portugal He was Natural Son to Juesticier Peter and Ascended the Throne in the year 1385. Of the Order of St. Lazarus THE Western Christians being Masters of the Holy Land established it and it was a distinct Order from the Templars Teutonicks and those of St. John of