Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/411

 CARMELITE

359

CARMELITE

involved a prolonged resilience at the universities, tpn, twelve or more years, ami a corresponding out- lay. (For the course of stuelie-s ami the various steps leading to the degree of Master in Divinity see Uni- vhKsiTiEs.1 The provincial and general chapters ted t lie succession of lecturers on Scripture and ntences; particularly at Paris, the foremost university, provision was often made for ten years in advance, so as t" ensure a steady supply of a Me read- ers and to distribute as far as possible the honours among all the provinces, for the universities would allow only one friar of each of the mendicant orders to take degrees in the course of a year, and each order was naturally anxious to put its most capable men in the foreground. It was tin refore not an idle boast when it was said, as we read sometimes, of one or other of the Carmelites, that he was the best lecturer of his term at Paris. As Paris was the most cele- brated university, so the doctors of Paris had pre- cedence over those of the other universities. Dur- ing the schism Paris took sides with the Clementist party whose most powerful support it was. The Urbanist party in the Carmelite Order transferred the prerogatives of the graduates of Paris to those of Bologna, a poor makeshift. There exists a fairly complete list ii*' the Masters of Paris, but only frag- mentary information concerning other universities. Unfortunately the register of the English province was destroyed during the Reformation, while the r part of the archives of Oxford and Cambridge were lost during the Civil War, so that the priceless notices collected by John Bale are the chief sources for our knowledge of Carmelite activity at the Eng- lish universities. This is the more regrettable as the position of Carmelite friars was regulated by special often alluded to, but nowhere preserved, (hi their return from the universities the religious wi re usually appointed to some readership, care be- ing taken that in every convent there should be a daily lecture on Scripture and theology.

Pen,. ihed by Rule. — The constitutions

deal very fully with the faults committed by relig- ious and their punishment. A few words will not be out of place with regard to more serious breaches of discipline, especially the violation of the religious VOWS. Faults against chastity were punished with six months', or. if notorious, with a years, imprisonment, and the loss of voice and place in chapter for from three in five years. If special circumstances required it this punishment was increased, and in the case of a

grave scandal the culprit was sent to the galleys for hard labour for a number of years or even lor the re- mainder of his life. If serious suspicion existed against anyone which it was impossible either to prove or to disprove, the accused was allowed the benefit of canonical purgation, i. e. having himself denied the charge on oath, he produced m\ other re- ligious of good name and high standing to affirm on oath th.it they considered the charge unfounded and the accuse I innocent. If unable to find such wit- hed as though he had been con- victed, i >ther faults that recur frequently wire open disobedience ami rebellion against the commands of

the superiors, the undue exercise of proprietorship, theft, apostasy (by which was understood any ab- sence from tin- convent without proper permission, even if there was no intention of quitting the order permanently). Thus, if a religious, being sent from one place to another, tarried on the road without proper cause, or went out of his way without neces- sity, lie was punished as a (gain, a lec- turer at the universities leaving town before tin- end of the course was judged guilty of the same' crime, his action being prejudicial to the honour of the order. In all these matters it must be- home in mind that the penal system of the- Middle Ages was far less humane

than the- modern one, an. I that many faults were

ascribed to perversity of will where we should make allowance for weakness of character or even mental derangement. The- more serious faults were judged ami punished by the provincial and genera] chapters, to whom also was reserved tin' absolution < >f the cul- prits and their reinstatement, 'flu 1 general chapters frequently granted free pardon hi all prisoners except those recently condemned and then were occasional complaints that some .if the- superiors showed undue leniency; but the material before us proves that on the whole- discipline was well maintained. With an average of twenty thousand friars fir more during the fifteenth century, the "Chronique scandaleuse" is singularly unimportant, a fact that tells in favour of the order, all the more as a large percentage- of this number consisted of students at the great universities exposed to many temptations.

Constitutional Revisions. — These constitutions un- derwent numerous changes. Almost even - chapter made additions which were frequently cancelled or qualified by subsequent chapters. John Balistarius (1358-74) published a revised edition in 1369 (in- edited) and the mitigation of the rule by Eugene IV necessitated a further revision under John Soreth (1462, printed in 1499). Nevertheless it must be ad- mitted that the legislation of the order moved too slowly, and that many measures wen- out of date almost as soon as they were passed. Moreover, laws that may have been excellent for Norway or England were hardly applicable in Sicily or at Seville. These simple facts account for many complaints about re- laxation or want of discipline.

From the approbation of the order by the Council of Lyons until the outbreak of the great Western Schism (1274-1378) there was a steady increase in provinces and convents, interrupted only temporarily by the Black Death. At the time of the schism it was not left to the provinces, much less tei individuals, to choose their own party; they necessarily followed the politics of the country to which they belonged. A census taken in 139(1 shows the- following provinces on the Urbanist si,!,.-. Cyprus (number of convents not stated); Sicily, with is convents; England with 35; Rome with .">; Lower Germany with 12; Lom- bard}- with 12 or 13; Tuscany with 7; Bologna with 12; Ireland with 8; and Gascony with 6. TheClem- entist party with the .Scotch. French. .Spanish, and the greater number of the ( ie-nu.in houses, was rather more powerful. The general, Bernard Olerius ( 1375- 83) being a native of Catalonia, adhered to Clement VII, and was succeeded first by Raymond Vaquerius and next by John Grossi (1389-1430), one of the most active generals, who during the schism made numer- ous foundations and maintained excellent discipline among the religious belonging to his party, so that at the union in 1411 he was unanimously elected general of the whole order. The Urbanist s had been less for- tunate. Michael de Anguanis who succeeded Olerius (1379-86) having become suspect, was deposed after ■ i rial; the- financial aehninist ration was far from satisfactory, and the loss of Paris proved a serious blow to that section of the order. Soon after the re- establishment of the union a radical change of the rule became necessary. This, as has been Been, was originally composed for a handful of hermits living in a singularly mild climate. Notwithstanding 'he few changes made by Innocent IV, the rule had proved too severe for those who spent one' half of their life in the intellectual turmoil of the university and the other half in the exercise of the sacred ministry at home. Accordingly Eugenius IV granted in 1 132 a mitigation allowing the use of flesh meat on three or four days a li -pensing with the- law of

silence anel retirement. But even so the chief abuses that hail crept in during the fourteenth century were by no means abolished.

Abuses, Irregularities. — It is indispensable to have a