The End of Europe's Middle Ages
Although vows of personal poverty were standard throughout the regular clergy, many orders became very wealthy as institutions. From the Latin word,
menicitas, meaning "begging", the mendicant orders arose during the
monastic reforms of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries seeking to enrich
their spiritual experiences by living lives of poverty and preaching in
imitation of Christ and his apostles. The mendicant orders took vows of
personal and corporate poverty, removed themselves from the isolation
and security of the monastery and preached throughout the streets of cities,
dependent upon the charities of others for support. Largely an urban
phenomenon, and less common in the colder climates of northern Europe, the
mendicants were popular with the laity because they provided an outlet for
the charity and piety that was required for salvation. In 1274, the
Second Council of Lyons officially recognized four mendicant orders: the
Dominicans, the
Franciscans, the
Carmelites, and the Friars Hermits of St. Augustine.
Other mendicant orders were recognized later, such as the Servites in 1424.
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The End of Europe's Middle Ages / Applied History Research Group / University of Calgary
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