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 CARMELITE

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CARMELITE

rendered less stringent; the silence was restricted to the time between Compline and Prime of the follow- ing day; donkeys and mules might be kept for trav- elling and the transport of goods, and fowls for the needs of the kitchen. Thus the order ceased to be eremitical and became one of the mendicant orders. Its first title, Fratres eremita- de Monte Carmeli, and, after the building of a chapel on Carmel in honour of Our Lady (c. 1220), Eremitce Sancia Maria de Monte Carmeli, was now changed into Fratres Ordinis Be- atissimw Virginia Mariw de Monte Carmeli. By an ordinance of the Apostolic Chancery of 1477 it was further amplified, Fratres Ordinis Beatissimoe Dei Genitrieis sempergue Virginia Mariop de Monte Car- meli, which title was rendered obligatory by the Gen- eral Chapter of 1680.

Having oUained the mitigation of the rule, St. Simon Stock, who was altogether in favour of the ac- tive life, o[iened houses at Cambridge (1249), Oxford (1253), London (about the same time), York (1255), Paris (1259), Bologna (1260), Naples (date uncer- tain), etc. He strove especially to implant the order at the universities, partly to secure for the religious the advantages of a higher education, partly to in- crease the number of vocations among the under- graduates. Although the zenith of the mendicant orders had already passed he was successful in both respects. The rapid increase of convents and nov- ices, however, proved dangerous; the rule being far stricter than those of St. Francis and St. Dominic, discouragement and discontent seized many of the brothers, while the bishops and the parochial clergy continued to offer resistance to the development of the order. He died a centenarian before peace was fully restored. With the election of Nicholas Gallicus (1265-71) a reaction set in; the new general, being much opposed to the exercise of the sacred ministry, favoured exclusively the contemplative life. To this end he wrote a lengthy letter entitled " Ignea sagitta" (unedited) in which he condemned in greatly exag- gerated terms what he called the dangerous occupa- tions of preaching and hearing confessions. His words remaining unheeded, he resigned his office, as did also his successor, Radulphus Alemannus (1271- 74), who belonged to the same school of thought.

Habit. — The approbation of the order by the Sec- ond Council of Lyons secured its permanent position among the mendicant orders, sanctioned the exercise of the active life, and removed every obstacle to its development, which thenceforth went on by leaps and bounds. Under Peter de Millaud (1274-94) a change was made in the habit. Hitherto it had con- sisted of a tunic, girdle, scapular, and hood of either black, brown or grey colour (the colour became sub- ject to numberless changes according to the different subdivisions and reforms of the order), and of a man- tle composed of four white and three black vertical stripes or rays, whence the friars were popularly called Fratres barrati, or virqulati, or de pica (mag- pie). In 1287 this variegated mantle was exchanged for one of pure white wool which caused them to be called Whitefriars.

The Thirteenth Century. — Besides the generals al- ready mentioned, the thirteenth century saw two saint's nf the order, Angelus and Albert of Sicily. Very little is known of the former, his biography, purporting to be written by his brother Enoch, Patri- arch of Jerusalem, being a work of the fifteenth cen- tury; in those portions in which it can be controlled by contemporary evidence it is proved to lie unreli- able, e. g. when it establishes a whole Greek hierarchy at Jerusalem during the period of the Crusades; or when it gives the acts of an apocryphal Council of Alexandria together with the names of seventy bish- ops supposed to have taken part in it. These and some other particulars being altogether unhistorical, it is difficult to say how much credence it deserves in

other matters for which there is no independent evi- dence. It is, however, worthy of notice that the Brevi- ary lessons from 1458. when the feast of St. Angelus first appears, until 1579 represent him simply as a Sicilian by birth and say nothing of his Jewish descent, his birth and conversion at Jerusalem, etc. Nor is there any positive evidence as to the time when he lived or the year and the cause of his martyrdom. According to some sources he was put to death by heretics (probably Manichseans), but, according to later authors, by a man whom he had publicly reproved for grave scandal. Again, the oldest legends of St. Francis and St. Dominic say nothing of a meeting of the three saints in Rome or their mutual prophecies concerning the stigmata, the rosary, and the martyr- dom. The life of St. Albert, too, was written a long time after his death by one who had no personal rec- ollection of him and was more anxious to edify the reader by an account of numerous miracles (fre- quently in exaggerated terms), than to state sober facts. All that can be said with certainty is that St. Albert was born in Sicily, entered the order very young, in consequence of a vow made by his parents, that for some time he occupied the position of pro- vincial, and that he died in the odour of sanctity on 7 August, 1.306. Though he was never formally can- onized, his feast was introduced in 1411.

Foundations in the British Isles. — The English prov- ince, to which the Irish and Scotch houses belonged until 1.305, made rapid progress until about the mid- dle of the fourteenth century, after which date foun- dations became less numerous, while from time to time some of the smaller houses were given up. The Carmelites enjoyed the favour of the Crown, which contributed generously towards several foundations, particularly that of Oxford, where the royal residence was handed over to the order. The site is now occu- pied by the Beaufort Hotel, but there may still be seen Friars' Walk, and the little church of St. Mary Magdalen which for a time was served by the Car- melites. Other royal foundations were Hitchin, Marlborough, etc. John of Gaunt was a great bene- factor of the order and chose his confessors from amongst its members; the House of Lancaster like- wise almost always had Carmelites as royal confess- ors, a post which corresponded to some extent to that of royal almoner or minister of public worship. These" confessors were as a rule promoted to small bishoprics in Ireland or Wales. The order became very popular among the people. The life was one of deep poverty, as is proved by various inventories of goods and other documents still extant. During the Wycliffite troubles the order took the leadership of the Catholic party, the first opponent of Wyclif being the Provincial of the Carmelites, John Cunningham. Thomas Walden was entrusted by Henry V with im- portant missions abroad, and accompanied Henry VI to France. During the wars with France several French convents were attached to the English prov- ince, sc that the number of English Carmelites rose to fifteen hundred. But. ultimately there remained only the house at Calais, which was suppressed by Henry VIII. At the end of the fifteenth century the province had dwindled down to about six hundred religious.

None of the various reforms seems to have been introduced into England, although Eugene IV and the general, John Soreth, took steps in this direction. The peculiar constitutions in vigour in England, and the excellent organization of the province rendered the spread of abuses less to be feared than elsewhere. At the beginning of the Reformation a number of the junior religious, affected by the new learning, left the order; the remainder were compelled to sign the Art

of Supremacy, which they apparently did without hesitation, a tact not much to be wondered at if it be borne in mind that Cardinal Wolsey had already ob- tained power from the Holy See to visit and reform