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 GRAND

726

GRANT

St. Louis erected a Grandmontine house at Vincennes. The golden age of Grandmont however lasted only some sixty years after the founder's death. From that time onwards the history of the order is an almost uninterrupted series of disputes. Even in the twelfth century the ill-defined position of the lay brothers caused troubles. They were far more numerous than the choir-monks, and were given entire control of all temporalities in order that the latter might be entirel)' free to carry on their spiritual duties. Gradual relaxa- tion of the rules of poverty led to great possessions, and thus increased the importance of the lay brothers, who now claimed equality with the choir-monks. This led to scandalous scenes. In 1185 the lay brothers at Grandmont rose in open revolt, expelled Prior Guillaume de Trahinac with 200 of the religious, and set up an intruder. The political situation em- bittered these dissensions, the order being divided into two parties, French and English. Successive popes tried to restore peace, but in vain. In 1219 the prior of Grandmont and forty monks were again expelled by the rebellious lay brothers. In 1244 the papal delegates advised a union of the order with the Cister- cians as a means of ending the disputes. This threat and the expulsion of a large number of monks pro- duced a certain degree of peace. Numbers, however, dechned; about 1150 the order had over 1200 mem- bers, but towards the beginning of the fourteenth century only 800. Moreover, a relaxation of the rule (1224) led finally to the cessation of all observance.

In 1317 John XXII, sometimes said to have been a Grandmontine monk, issued the Bull "Exigente deb- ito" to save the order from complete destruction. Its organization was altered and certain mitigations were approved. The number of houses was reduced from 149 to 39. The prior of Grandmont was made an abbot, and the superiors of the dependent houses, who had hitherto been known as " Correctors", were for the future to bear the title of Prior. The Abbot of Grand- mont was to be elected by his own community, and not, as before, by the deputies of the whole order. A general chapter, to be attended by the prior and one monk from each dependent house, was to be held annually. These vigorous measures brought about a slight recovery, but, in spite of the vigilance of the Holy See and the good administration of the first abbots, the improvement was of short duration. The order suffered severely during the Hundred Years War. From 1471 tiiri579 Grandmont was held by commendatory abbots; shortly after the latter date there were only eight monks in the monastery. The Huguenots seized the abbey on one occasion, but were expelled by Abbot Rigaud de Lavaur in 1604. In 1643 Abbot Georges Barny (1635-1654) held a general chapter, the first for 134 years, at which Dom Charles Fremon was authorized to found the Strict Observance of the Order of Grandmont. This new branch, which remained imder the jurisdiction of the abbot, was con- spicuous for the primitive austerity of its observance, but never numbered more than eight houses. By the beginning of the eighteenth century the two Obser- vances together numbered only about 150 members, but the quarrels were as frequent and as bitter as ever. Grandmont was one of the first victims of the Com- mission des R^'guliers. The religious of the Strict Observance were dispersed in 1780, but the struggle for existence was prolonged till 1787, when the last two monks were expelled from the mother-house. The monastery was finally destroyed at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and nothing but a few frag- ments of wall now remains.

Grandmont never produced any writers of im- portance. Apart from a number of lives of St. Stephen, the most important work issuing from Grand- mont was Gt^-rard Ithier's treatise "De institutione novitiorum" —a favourilo spiritual work in the Middle Ages, usually but erroneously attributed to Hugh of

St. Victor. The original habit of Grandmont was a coarse tunic with scapular and hood, brown in the early days but changed later to black. The monks gradually laid aside scapular and hood in favour of rochet and biretta. The original habit was resumed by the Strict Observance. The founder had expressly forbidden the reception into the order of houses of religious women, nevertheless four small nunneries in the Diocese of Limoges were admitted. Outside France the order only possessed five houses, two in Spain and three in England. These latter, situated at Alberbury, Creswell, and Grosmont, never attained any importance and were occupied by a very small number of monks.

Beaunier, Recueil hisiorique des archevSches, etc. (Paris, 1900): GulBERT, Destruction de Vordre de Grandmont in Bulletin de la Sac. Arch, et Hist, du Limousin, XXII-XXV (Limoges, 1877); Heimbucher, Ordeii u. Kongregationen, I (Paderborn, 1907); Herzog and Hauck, Realencyklopadie. VII (Leipzig, 18991; Helyot, m.it. des Ordres, VII (Paris. 171S). The rule will be found in P. L., CCIV, and in MARTf)NE, De antiquis eccle- siie ritibus, IV (Bassano, 1788); Martene, Amplissima collec- tion VI; Haureau, iS'i/r quelques ecricains de Vordre de Grand- mont in Notices et extraits des MSS.. XXIV. pt. II, 247-.')7.

Raymund Webster.

Grand Rapids, Diocese of (Grandormensis), created 12 May, 1882, out of the Diocese of Detroit, and made to include the lower peninsula of the State of Michigan, U. S. A., north of the so\ithern line of the Counties of Ottawa, Montcalm, Gratiot, and Saginaw, and west of the eastern line of the Counties of Saginaw, Bay, and the adjacent islands, an area of 22,561 square miles. In this section there were then about 50,000 Catholics attended by 34 priests. There were 33 churches, 33 missions, 41 stations, 11 parish schools, and an orphan asylum. In the rural regions colonies of Belgians and emigrants from Holland had settled, with an admixture of Irish; to these Poles have since been added. Henry Joseph Richter, ap- pointed the first bishop, was consecrated at Grand Rapids, 22 April, 1883. He was born at Neuen- kirchen. Duchy of Oldenburg, Germany, 9 April, 1838, and ordained priest at Rome, 10 June, 1865. Under his direction the diocese prospered steadily in all di- rections. Several religious communities of men are located there: Franciscans (both Minorites and Con- ventuals), Fathers of the Holy Ghost, Redemptorists, and Premonstratensians. The religious communities of women are: Sisters of St. Dominic, .Sisters of Mercy, Little Sisters of the Poor, Sisters of Charity (Mt. St. Joseph, Ohio), School Si.sters of Notre Dame, Ursuline Sisters, Sisters of Charity (Emmitsburg), Sisters of Providence, Felician Sisters, Si-sters of the Good Shepherd, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Franciscan Sisters of Christian (Charity.

Statistics: Priests 133 (regulars 24); ecclesiastical students 60; churches with resident priests 91; mis- sions with churches 92; stations 38; chapels 18; academies for girls 2 ; high schools 2, pupils 242 ; par- ish schools 66, pupils 13,545; orphan asylums 2, inmates 325; industrial schools 1, pupils 138; total young people under Catholic care 14,108; hospitals 7; home for aged poor 1 ; Catholic population 126,057.

Catholic Directory (Milwaukee, 1909); Reuss. Biog. Cycl. Calh. Hierarchy of United States (Milwaukee, 1898); Michigan Catholic (Detroit), files.

Thomas F. Meehan.

Granjon, Henry. See Tucson, Diocese of.

Grant, Thomas, first Bishop of South wark; b. at Ligny-les-Aires, Arras, France, 25 Nov., 1816; d. at Rome, 1 June, 1870. He was the son of Bernard (Srant, an Irishman who enlisted in the British army, became sergeant, and finally purchased a commission. His mother, Ann MacGowan, was also Irish by birth. In January, 1829, he was sent to Llshaw College, where he stuilied until 1830, when he went to the English C'oUege at Rome. There he was ordained priest, 28 Nov., 1841, was created doctor of divinity and ap-