Brothers of Penitence

Last updated

The Brothers of Penitence or Friars of the Sack (Fratres Saccati) were an Augustinian community also known as Boni Homines or Bonshommes, with houses in Spain, France and England.

Contents

History

The "Friars of the Sack" were so called because of their simple clothing, usually made from sackcloth. The order was founded in Italy and followed a rule based on that of St. Augustine. The Brothers of Penitence lived a severe life. They wore rough sackcloth and walked either barefoot or with simple wooden sandals. The friars of the order never ate meat and were only allowed to drink water. [1]

The Fratres Saccati arrived in Spain sometime in the thirteenth century. They had a house at Saragossa (Spain) in the time of Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) and one about the same time at Valenciennes (northern France). They had one house in Paris, in a street called after them the rue de Sachettes.

In 1257 they were introduced into England. Matthew Paris records under this year that "a certain new and unknown order of friars appeared in London", duly furnished with credentials from the Pope; and he mentions later that they were called from the style of their habit Fratres Saccati. [2] They were first settled at Aldersgate Without but by 1272 had moved to Lothbury. [3]

Paris' notation about a "novum ordum" has led some[ who? ] to suggest that the Fratres Saccati were the order quite soon afterwards established at Ashridge (Hertfordshire) and Edington (Wiltshire), though this was repudiated in a 1943 article in the journal Speculum by Richard Emory, who attributes the original connection to Helyot's Dictionnaire des Ordres Religieux, compiled in Paris in the mid-19th century.

The members in Italy joined the Bonites, founded by John Buoni, which in turn became part of the new mendicant order, the Hermits of Saint Augustine, established in 1256 by Pope Alexander IV with the papal bull Licet Ecclesiae catholicae. [4] The houses of the Saccati outside Italy were suppressed by Pope Gregory X in 1274; this led to the closure of the European friaries of the order, and the members were absorbed into other orders. [5] Those in England, however, continued to operate without Papal legitimacy; some until the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. [1]

Friaries in England

Besides London and perhaps Ashridge and Edington, several monastic houses have been linked to the order.

The Leicester Friary was founded before 1283 and is thought to have been just beyond the Western Gate of Leicester's old town walls. The friary was closed before 1295. There is a record of another house in Bishop's Lynn. Walter Bette of South Clenchwarton, and Catherine his wife, made a grant to 'the brothers of penitence of Jesus Christ' of land with buildings in North Lynn. [6] Queen Eleanor took the "Sac-Friars" under her protection and gave them land and a building on Colechurch Street in the City of London, in the parish of St Olave's Church. Other houses were in Cambridge (1258), Norwich (1266), Newcastle (1272), and Lincoln. [7] At the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the house in Canterbury was given to the city. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustinians</span> Members of religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine

Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13th centuries:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of Minims</span> Roman Catholic religious order of friars

The Minims, officially known as the Order of Minims, and known in German-speaking countries as the Paulaner Order, are a Roman Catholic religious order of friars founded by Francis of Paola in fifteenth-century Italy. The order soon spread to France, Germany and Spain, and continues to exist today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendicant orders</span> Type of religious lifestyle

Mendicant orders are, primarily, certain Roman Catholic religious orders that have adopted for their male members a lifestyle of poverty, traveling, and living in urban areas for purposes of preaching, evangelization, and ministry, especially to the poor. At their foundation these orders rejected the previously established monastic model. This model prescribed living in one stable, isolated community where members worked at a trade and owned property in common, including land, buildings and other wealth. By contrast, the mendicants avoided owning property at all, did not work at a trade, and embraced a poor, often itinerant lifestyle. They depended for their survival on the goodwill of the people to whom they preached. The members of these orders are not called monks but friars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grandmontines</span> Order of hermit monks, 1073–1787 CE

Grandmontines were the monks of the Order of Grandmont, a religious order founded by Saint Stephen of Thiers, towards the end of the 11th century. The order was named after its motherhouse, Grandmont Abbey in the eponymous village, now part of the commune of Saint-Sylvestre, in the department of Haute-Vienne, in Limousin, France. They were also known as the Boni Homines or Bonshommes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Didacus of Alcalá</span> Franciscan lay brother, missionary and saint

Didacus of Alcalá, also known as Diego de San Nicolás, was a Spanish Franciscan lay brother who served as among the first group of missionaries to the newly conquered Canary Islands. He died at Alcalá de Henares on 12 November 1463 and is now honoured by the Catholic Church as a saint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of Friars Minor Conventual</span> Branch of the Catholic Order of Friars Minor, founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209

The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M.Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M.Conv. after their names. They are also known as Conventual Franciscans or Minorites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discalced Augustinians</span> Religious lifestyle that branched off from the Order of Saint Augustine

The Order of Discalced Augustinians is a mendicant order that branched off from the Order of Saint Augustine as a reform movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery of the Holy Saviour</span> Historic monastery in Lecceto, Tuscany, Italy

The Monastery of the Holy Saviour at Lecceto in Tuscany, was the principal House of the order of the Hermit Friars of Saint Augustine in 1256, when Pope Alexander IV constituted the Augustinian order internationally. It was dedicated to Jesus as Saviour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crutched Friars</span>

The Crutched Friars were a Roman Catholic religious order in England and Ireland. Their name is derived from a staff they carried with them surmounted by a crucifix. There were several orders devoted to the Holy Cross, collectively known as Crosiers, that had some presence in England and there is much confusion to which specific order the friars belonged. Earlier literature linked most of the Crutched Friars to the Italian Crosiers, but later it was proven that they were a branch of the Belgian Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross. The Crutched Friars were suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538.

The name Boni Homines or Bonshommes was popularly given to at least three religious orders in the Catholic Church:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of Saint Augustine</span> Catholic order of mendicant friars

The Order of Saint Augustine, abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were following the Rule of Saint Augustine, written by Saint Augustine of Hippo in the fifth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clare Priory</span> House of Augustinian friars

Clare Priory is a religious house in England, originally established in 1248 as the first house of the Augustinian Friars in England. It is situated on the banks of the River Stour, a short distance away from the medieval village of Clare, Suffolk. The friary was suppressed in 1538 and the property passed through many hands until it was again purchased by the Augustinian friars in 1953. Today the Priory offers modern retreat facilities for guests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edington Priory</span>

Edington Priory in Wiltshire, England, was founded by William Edington, the bishop of Winchester, in 1351 in his home village of Edington, about 3+34 miles (6 km) east of the town of Westbury. The priory church was consecrated in 1361 and continues in use as the parish church of Saint Mary, Saint Katharine and All Saints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashridge Priory</span>

Ashridge Priory was a medieval college of Austin canons called variously the "Brothers of Penitence" or the "Boni Homines". It was founded by Edmund of Almain in 1283 who donated, among other things, a phial of Christ's blood to the abbey. It was granted to Mary Tudor, Queen of France and later became the private residence of the future queen Elizabeth I. It was acquired by Sir Thomas Egerton in 1604 and then passed down to the Duke of Bridgewater before being demolished.

The Portuguese Boni Homines, or Secular Canons of St. John the Evangelist, were a Catholic religious institute. They were founded by John Vicente, afterwards Bishop of Lamego, in the fifteenth century. Living at first independently in a monastery granted to them by the Archbishop of Braga at Villar de Frades, they afterwards embraced the institute of Secular Canons of St. George in Alga, and the Portuguese order was confirmed by Pope Martin V under the title of "Boni Homines". They had fourteen houses in Portugal, and King João III gave them charge of all the royal hospitals in the kingdom, while many of the canons went out as missionaries to India and Ethiopia. Several members of the order won a high reputation as scholars and theologians.

The Hermits of Saint William (Williamites) was a religious community founded by Albert, companion and biographer of William of Maleval, and Renaldus, a physician who had settled at Maleval shortly before William's death. It followed William's practice, and quickly spread over Italy, Germany, France, Flanders and Hungary. In 1256, some houses joined the Hermits of St. Augustine, while other houses continued as a separate congregation, eventually adopting the Benedictine rule.

Francis Nugent was an Irish priest of the Franciscan Capuchin Order. He was the founder of the Irish and the Rhenish Provinces of the Order.

Sack Friary, Bristol was a friary in Bristol, England. It was established in 1266 and dissolved in 1286.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus</span>

The Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus are a Roman Catholic religious order of canonesses who follow a semi-contemplative life and are also engaged in the ministry of caring for the sick and needy, from which they were also known as the "Hospital Sisters".

Leicester Friars of the Sack is a former Friary of The Friars of the Order of the Penitence of Jesus Christ, in Leicester, England.

References

  1. 1 2 F.A. Gasquet, English Monastic Life, pp. 234-242.
  2. Hunter-Blair, Oswald. "Boni Homines." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 30 May 2021 PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  3. Pegge 1772, p. 5.
  4. Heimbucher, Max. "Hermits of St. Augustine." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 30 May 2021 PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  5. Olderr, Steven. Dictionary of World Monasticism, McFarland, 2020, p.78 ISBN   9781476640877
  6. NRO BL/MD 10
  7. Pegge 1772, p. 6.
  8. Pegge 1772, p. 7.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Boni Homines". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.