In the Gth century, a new order of monks arose, which reached a greater degree of influence and celebrity than any which had preceded it. St. Benedict, an Italian monk, was its founder ; his religious rules were at first intended and framed merely for the government of a convent at Mount Cassino, between Rome and Naples, over which he presided, but it afterwards was adopted by, or forced upon, a very great number of monasteries. His rule was founded on that of Pachomius, though in many respects it deviated from it. his great object seems to have been, to render the discipline of the monks milder, their establishment more solid, and their manners more regular than those of other monastic establishments. The whole time of the monks of his order he directed to be divided between prayer, reading, the education of youth, and other pious and learned labours. All who entered his order were obliged to pro mise when they were received as noviciates, and to re peat their promise when they were admitted as full members of the society, that they would in no respect, and on no account, attempt to change or add to the rules which he had instituted. His rule was embraced by all the monks of the west. Benedict admitted both the learned and unlearned into his order ; it was the duty of the first to assist at the choir ; of the latter to attend to the household economy, and temporal concerns of the monastery. At this period, it may be observed, that the recitation of the divine office at the choir, (as it is called by the Catholics,) was confined to the monks ; aftet wards it was established as the duty of all priests, deacons, and sub-deacons. The Benedictines at first admitted none into their order, who were not well instructed how to perform it ; but it was not necessary that they should be priests, or even in holy orders. Alterwards, many were admitted into the Benedictine order, who were ignorant of the duty of the choir ; those were employed in menial duties : Hence the introduction of Ldy Bro thers into the Benedictine order. When first introduced, they were not considered as a portion of the monastic establishment, but as merely attached and subordinate to it ; but, in course of time, both the order and the church acknowledged them to be, in the strictest sense of the word, professed religious. All other religious orders, both men and women, following the example of the Benedictines, have admitted lay brothers and sisters. In 1322, the council of Vienne ordered all monks to enter into the order of priesthood. The monks of Vallom brosa, in Tuscany, are the first among whom lay brothers are found under that appellation.
The irruption of the Lombards into Italy, and of the Saracens into Spain, and the civil wars in France after the death of Charlemagne, having introduced great dis order among the Benedictines, they were reformed by St. Odo, in his monastery at Cluni ; and several monas teries adopted this !dorm. In the eleventh centut y, the Benedictine order again fell from its original purity and strictness. This gave rise to many attempts to restore it to its pristine form and object : Ilence arose the Car thusians, the Camadules, the Cclestines, the monks of Grand moot, the Congregation of St. Maur, and the cele• brated monks or La Trappe.
In the eighth century, a kind of middle order between the monks and the clergy was formed ; they were called the canons regular of St. Augustine ; their dwellings and table were in common, and they assembled at fixed hours for the divine service; in these respects they resembled the monks ; hut they differed from them in taking no vows ; and they often officiated in churches committed to their care. Having degenerated in the twelfth cen tury, Pope Nicholas II. introduced a considerable refor
mation among them. At this period, they seem to have divided into several branches of the original order ; some formed themselves into communities, in which there was a common dwelling and table, but each monk, after con tributing to the general stock, employed the fruits of his benefices as he deemed proper. At the head of another sect was the Bishop of Chartres ; he adopted a more rigid and austere mode of life. This sect renounced their worldly possessions, all private property, and lived ex.. actly as the strictest order of monks did. This gave rise to the distinction between the secular and regular canons. The former observed the decree of Pope Nicho las II. the latter followed the Bishop of Chartres ; they were called the regular canons of St. Augustine, because they were formed on the rules laid down by St. Augustine in his Epistles. They kept public schools for the in struction of youth, and exercised a variety of other em ployments useful to the Church. A reform was effected in the Augustines by St. Norbert ; and as he presided over a convent at Primont•e in Picardy, those monks who adopted his rule were called Primonstrabenses. They spread throughout Europe with great rapidity.
During this period convents of nuns were established, the institutes and regulations of which were similar to those adopted by the Benedictines and Augustines, or to the reformed branches springing from those two great orders. • Till the thirteenth century, these were the only orders of monks ; at that period the mendicant orders arose : those were, the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and the Hermits of St. Augustine. The establishments of the Mendicants seem to have been necessary, as the other monks had greatly degenerated ; they were rich and indolent, and consequently totally unfit for the objects for which they were instructed. Innocent Ill. was the first Pope who perceived the necessity of instituting an order, who, " by the austerity of their manners, their contempt of riches, and the external gravity and sanctity of their conduct and manners," might rescue the church from the reproach which the monks had brought upon it.
The Franciscans were founded by St. Francis ; he was the son of a merchant, but, as was usual in those times, he possessed little or no learning; the brethren of his order were called Friars, minors, or the little brethren. They chiefly were engaged in the more laborious parts of religion, in hospitals, in prisons, among the lower or dci s of the poor ; in short, where danger, labour, or other causes. kept away the Benedictines and Augustines, there they were to be round; where there was no hopes of remuneration, the Franciscan friars were sure to be found. Many of them were eminent for their learning, and some have been Popes.
Soon after the death of their founder, they were (livid cd into three orders ; the Conventual friars, who admit ted some relaxation into their original rule; the Obser vantine friars, who observed the rule more strictly. In France, these were called Cordeliers, from the cord with which they fastened their habit ; from the Observantines sprung the Recollects, or Grey-friars, and the Capu chins, so called from a patch worn by them on the back of their habits. The Conventual and the Observantine friars formed the first of the three orders, into which the followers of St. Francis were divided. The second or der was remarkable for its extreme severity, and was called the order of the Poor Classes. The third order embraced persons of both sexes ; they lived in the world, but were united by certain rules ; this order was imitated by the Dominicans and Carmelites.