CENT. XV. abbot, and Nicolas Dunkelspuhl, professor at Vienna, held the first rank. They attempted, with unparalleled zeal and assiduity, the reformation of the Benedictines throughout Germany, and succeeded so far as to restore, at least, a certain air of decency and virtue in the conventual establishments of Suabia, Franconia, and Bavaria ". The reformation of the same order was attempted in France by many, and particularly by Guy Juvenal, a learned man, whose writings, upon that and on other subjects, were received with applause". It is, however, certain, that the majority of the monks, both in France 'and elsewhere, resisted, with obstinacy, the salutary attempts of these spiritual physicians, and returned their zeal with the worst treatment that it was possible to shew them.

The Mendicants.

2

XX. While the opulent monks exhibited to the world scandalous examples of luxury, ignorance, indolence, and licentiousness, accompanied with a barbarous aversion to every thing that carried the remotest aspect of science, the Mendicants, and more especially the Dominicans and Franciscans, were 'chargeable with irregularities of another kind. Be'side their arrogance, which was excessive, a quarrel. some and litigious spirit, an ambitious desire of encroaching upon the rights and privileges of others, 'an insatiable zeal for the propagation of superstition, and the itch of disputing and of starting absurd and 'intricate questions of a religious kind, prevailed among them, and drew upon them justly the displeasure and indignation of many. It was this wrangling spirit that seriously protracted the controversies which had subsisted so long between them and the bishops, and, indeed, the whole sacerdotal `order; and it was their vain curiosity, and their in

For an account of these reformers, see Martin Kropf. BibliLotheca Mellicensis, seu de Vitis et Scriptis Benedictinor. Mellicensium, p. 143, 163, 203.

See Liron's Singularités Historiques et Literaires, tom. iii.

ordinate passion for novelty, that made the divines, CENT. XV. in the greatest part of the European colleges, complain of the dangerous and destructive errors which they had introduced into religion. These complaints were repeated, without interruption, in all the provinces where the Mendicants had any credit; and the same complaints were often presented to the court of Rome, where they exercised sufficiently both the patience and subtilty of the pope and his ministers. The different pontiffs who ruled the church during this century, were differently affected toward the Mendicants; some patronised them, others opposed them; and this circumstance frequently changed the aspect of affairs, and, for a long time, rendered the decision of the contest dubious. The persecution that was carried on against the Beguins became also an occasion of increasing the odium that had been cast upon the begging monks, and was extremely prejudicial to their interests. For the Beguins and Lollards, to escape the fury of their inveterate enemies, the bishops and others, frequently took refuge in the third order of the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians, hoping that, in the patronage and protection of these numerous and powerful societies, they might find a secure retreat from the calamities that oppressed them. Nor were their hopes entirely disappointed; but the storm that hitherto pursued them, fell upon their new patrons and protectors, the Mendicants; who, by affording a refuge to a sect so odious to the clergy, drew upon themselves the indignation of that sacred order, and were thereby involved in various difficulties and perplexities.

the Fratri

XXI. The more austere and rebellious Francis- The fate of cans, who, separating themselves from the church, celli. renounced their allegiance to the Roman pontiffs, and were distinguished by the appellation of Fratricelli or

* See Launoy, Lib. de Canone Utriusque Sexus, op. tom. i. part i.-Boulay, tom. v.-Ant. Wood, tom. i.

y See the history of the preceding century.

CENT. XV.

Minorites, continued, with their Tertiaries the Beghards, to carry on an open war against the court of Rome. Their head-quarters were in Italy, in the marquisate of Ancona and the neighbouring countries; for it was there that their leader and chief ruler resided. They were persecuted, about the middle of this century, with the greatest severity by pope Nicolas V., who employed every method he could devise to vanquish their obstinacy, sending for that purpose successively against them the Franciscan monks, armed hosts, and civil magistrates, and committing to the flames many of those who remained unmoved by all these means of conversion. This heavy persecution was carried on by the succeeding pontiffs, and by none with greater bitterness and vehemence than by Paul II. though it is said, that this pope chose rather to conquer the headstrong and stubborn perseverance of this sect by imprisonment and exile, than by fire and sword". The Fratricelli, on the other hand, animated by the protection of several persons of great influence, who became their patrons on account of the striking appearance of sanctity which they exhibited, had recourse to violence, and went so far as to put to death some of the inquisitors, among whom Angelo of Camaldoli fell a victim to their vengeance". Nor were the commotions raised by this troublesome sect confined to Italy; other countries felt the effects of their petulant zeal; and Bohemia and Silesia (where they preached with warmth their favorite doctrine, "that the true imitation of Christ consisted in beg

z Mauritius Sartius, de Antiquâ Picentum civitate Cupromontanâ, in Angeli Calogera Raccolta di Opusculi Scientifici, tom. xxxix. where we have several extracts from the manuscript dialogue of Jacobus de Marchia against the Fratricelli.

a

Ang. Mar. Quirini Vita Pauli II. p. 78.-Jo. Targionius, Præf. ad claror. Venetor. Epistolas ad Magliabechium, tom. i. p. 43, where we have an account of the books that were written against the Fratricelli by Nicolas Palmerius and others under the pontificate of Paul II. and which are yet in manuscript.

See the Acta Sanctor. tom. ii. Maii, p. 356.

gary and extreme poverty ") became the theatres CENT. XV. of the spiritual war. The king of Bohemia was well affected to these fanatics, granted them his protection, and was on that account excommunicated by Paul II 4. In France, their affairs were far from being prosperous; such of them as fell into the hands of the inquisitors, were committed to the flames, and they were eagerly searched after in the province of Toulouse and the adjacent countries, where great numbers of them lay concealed, and endeavoured to escape the vigilance of their enemies; while several of their scattered parties removed to England and Ireland'. Even the dreadful series of calamities and persecutions that harassed this miserable sect did not entirely extinguish it; for it subsisted to the time of the reformation in Germany, when its remaining votaries adopted the cause, and embraced the doctrine and discipline of Luther.

-the Bre

common

XXII. Of the religious fraternities that were New orders; founded in this century, not one deserves a more thren and honorable mention than the Brethren and Clerks of Clerks of the the common life (as they called themselves), who life. lived under the rule of St. Augustine, and were eminently useful in promoting the cause of religion, learning, and virtue. This society had been formed in the preceding age by Gerard Groote, a native of Deventer, remarkable for his fervent piety and extensive erudition; it was not, however, before the present century, that it received a proper degree of consistence, and, having obtained the approbation of the council of Constance, flourished in Holland, the

Jo. Georgii Schelhornii Acta Historica Eccles. part i. d Quirini Vita Pauli II. p. 73.

e I have in manuscript the acts or decrees of the inquisition against John Gudulchi de Castellione and Francis d'Archata, both of them Fratricelli, who were burned in France, in 1454. f Wood's Antiq. Oxoniens. tom. i. p. 232.

The life of this famous Dutchman, Gerard Groote, was written by Thomas a Kempis, and is to be found in his works. It stands at the head of the lives of eleven of his contemporaries, composed by this eminent writer.

CENT. XV. Lower Germany, and the adjacent provinces. It was divided into two classes, the Lettered Brethren or Clerks, and the Illiterate, who, though they occupied separate habitations, lived in the firmest bonds of fraternal union. The Clerks applied themselves with exemplary zeal and assiduity to the study of polite literature, and to the education of youth. They composed learned works for the instruction of their contemporaries, and erected schools and seminariesof learning wherever they went. The Illiterate Brethren, on the other hand, were employed in manual labor, and exercised with success the mechanic arts. No religious vows restrained the members of either class: yet they had all things in common, and this community was the great bond of their union. The Sisters of this virtuous society lived much in the same manner, and employed the hours, that were not consecrated to prayer and reading, in the education of young females, and in branches of industry suitable to their sex. The schools, that were erected by the clerks of this fraternity, acquired a great and illustrious reputation in this century. From them issued those immortal restorers of learning and taste who gave a new face to the republic of letters in Germany and Holland, such as Erasmus of Rotterdam, Alexander Hegius, John Murmelius, and several others h. But the institution of the order of Jesuits seemed to diminish the credit of these excellent schools, which, from that period, began to decline. It ought to be added, that the Brethren of the common life, however encouraged by the public, were exposed to the insults and opposition of the clergy and monks, who had a strong aversion to

: h

Accounts of this order have been given by Aub. Miræus, in his Chronicon, ad an. 1384, and by Helyot, in his Histoire des Ordres, tom. iii. But, in that which I have here given, there are some circumstances taken from ancient records not yet published. I have in my possession several manuscripts, which furnish materials for a much more clear and circumstantial account of the institution and progress of this order, than can be derived from the books that have hitherto appeared on that subject.