FRIARS
2SS
FRIARS
Reformati (Observants) siib ministris or de Comnni-
nitate. These took as their basis the decrees of the
Chapter of Assisi (1430), but wished to hve under
provincial ministers. They existed mostly in Ger-
many and France, and in the latter country were
called Coletani, for what reason it is not quite clear
(cf. Colette, Saint). To this party belonged Boni-
face of Ceva, a sturdy opponent of the separation of
the Conventuals from the Observants.
B. Second Period {1517-1S97). — Even within the pale of the Regular Observance, which constituted from 1517 the main body of the order, there existed plenty of room for various interpretations without prejudicing the rule itself, although the debatable area had been considerably restricted by the definition of its fundamental requirements and prescriptions. The Franciscan Order as such has never evaded the main principles of the rule, has never had them abro- gated or been dispensed from them by the pope. The reforms since 1517, therefore, have neither been in any sense a return to the rule, since the Order of Friars Minor has never deviated from it, nor have they been a protest against a universal lax interpretation of the rule on the part of the order, as was that of the Obser- vants against the Conventuals. The later reforms may be more truly described as repeated attempts to draw nearer to the exalted ideal of St. Francis. Frequently, it is true, these reforms dealt only with externals — outward exercises of piety, austerities in the rule of life, etc., and these were in many cases gradually recast, mitigated, had even entirely disappeared, and by 1897 nothing was left but the name. The Capu- chins are treated in a separate article; the other lead- ing reforms within the Observance are the Discalced, the Reformati, and the Recollects. The Observants are designated by the simple addition of regularis ohservanlicE, while these reformed branches add to the general title strictioris dbservantice, that is, "of the stricter Observance".
(1) The Discalced. — Juan de la Puebla has been incorrectly regarded as the founder of the Discalced Friars Minor, since the province of the Holy Angels (de los Angelos), composed of his followers, has ever remained a province of the Observants. The Dis- calced owe their origin rather to Juan de Guadelupe (cf. above). He belonged indeed to the reform of Juan de la Puebla, but not for long, as he received permission from Alexander \T, in 1496, to found a hermitage with six brothers in the district of Granada, to wear the Franciscan habit in its original form, and to preach wherever he wished. These privileges were renewed in 1499, but the Spanish kings, influenced by the Observants of the province, obtained their with- drawal. They were again conferred, however, by a papal Brief in 1503, annulled in 1507, while in 1515 these friars were able to establish the custody of Estre- madura. The union of 1517 again put an end to their separate existence, but in 1520 the province of St. Gabriel was formed from this custody, and as early as 1518 the houses of the Discalced friars in Portugal constituted the province de la Pietade. The dogged pertinacity of Juan Pasqual, who Iselonged now to the Observants and now to the Conventuals, according to the facilities afforded him to pursue the ideas of the old Egyptian hermits, withstood every attempt at repression. After much dittieulty he obtained a papal Brief in 1541, authorizing him to collect companions, whereupon he founded the custody of Sts. Simon and Jude, or custody of the Paschalites (abolished in in 1583), and a custody of St. Joseph. The Paschal- ites won a strong champion in St. Peter of Alcdntara, the minister of the province of St. Gabriel, who in 1557 joined the Conventuals. As successor of Juan Pascjual and Commissary General of the Reformed Conventual Friars in Spain, Peter fountlcd the poor and diminvitive hermitage of Pedroso in Spain, and in 1559 raised the custody of St. Joseph to the dignity of
a province. Heforbadeevensandalstobe worn on the
feet, prescribed complete abstinence from meat, pro-
hibited libraries, in all of which measures he far ex-
ceeded the intentions of St. Francis of Assisi. From
him is derived the name Alcantarines, which is often
given to the Discalced Friars Minor. Peter died in
October, 1562, at a house of the Observants, with
whom all the Spanish reforms had entered into union
in the preceding spring. The province of St. Joseph,
however, did not rest until it had redeveloped all its
old peculiarities. In 1572 the members were first
called in papal documents Discalceati or Excalceati,
and in 1578 they were named Fratres Capucini de
OhservanliQ . Soon other provinces followed their
example, and in 1604 the Discalced friars petitioned
for a vicar-general, a definitor general, and a general
chapter of their own. In 1621 Pope Gregory XV,
captivated by the eloquence of the lay brother Paul
of Madrid, appointed a vicar-general, although many
were opposed to the appointment. On Gregory's
death (8 July, 1623) his concessions to the Discalced
friars were reversed by Urban VIII, who, however, in
1642 recognized their provinces as interdependent.
They were not under the jurisdiction of the ultra-
montane commissary general, and received in 1703
their own procurator general, who was afterwards
chosen (alternately) for them and the Recollects.
They never had general statutes, and, when such were
prepared in 1701, by Joannetio, a general from their
omi branch, the provinces refused to accept them.
The Discalced gradually established liouses in numer-
ous provinces in Spain, America, the Philippines, the
East Indies and the Kingdom of Naples, which was at
this period underSpanisli rule. The first houses estab-
lished in Naples were handed over by Sixtus V to the
Reformed Conventuals in 1589. In addition to the
above, a house in Tuscany and another in London
must be mentioned. This branch was suppressed in
1897.
(2) The Reformati. — The proceedings of the general Pisotti against the houses of the Italian Recollects led some of the friars of the Stricter Observance under the leadership of Francis of Jesi and Bernardine of Asti to approach Clement VII. who by the Bull " In supre- ma" (1532) authorized them to go completely bare- foot and granted them a separate custody under the provincial. Both these leaders joined the Capuchins in 1535. The Reformati ate cooked food only twice in the week, scourged themselves frequently, and recited daily, in addition to the universally prescribed choir-service, the Office of the Dead, the Office of the Blessed Virgin, the Seven Penitential Psalms, etc., which far exceeded the Rule of St. Francis, and could not be maintained for long. In 1579 Gregory XIII released them entirely from the jurisdiction of the provincials and almost completely from that of the general, while in Rome they were given the renowned monastery of S. Francesco a Ripa. In the same year (1579), however, the general, Gonzaga, obtained the suspension of the decree, and the new Constitutions promulgated by Bonaventure of Caltagirone, general in 1595, ensured their affiliation with the provinces of the order. Although Clement VIII approved these statutes in 1595, it did not deter him, m 1596, from reissuing Gregory XIII's Brief of 1579, and granting the Reformati their own procurator. At the suit of two lay brothers, in 1621, Gregory XV not only con- firmed this concession, but gave the Reformati their own vicar-general, general chapter, and definitors gen- eral. Fortunately for the order, these concessions were revoked in 1624 by Urban VIII, who, however, by his Bull "Injuncti nobis" of 1639, raised all the custodies of the Reformati in Italy and Poland to the dignity of provinces. In 1642 the Reformati drew up their own statutes; these were naturally composed in ItaHan, since Italy was always the home of this branch of the Friars Minor. In 1620 Antonio Arrigoni 8
