FRIARS
290
FRIARS
Clement XII the withdrawal of these injunctions. In
consequence of the effects of the French Revolution on
Germany and the Imperial Delegates' Enactment
(1803), the province of Cologne was completely sup-
pressed and the Thuringian (Fulda) reduced to two
monasteries. The Bavarian and Saxon provinces
afterwards developed rapidly, and their cloisters, in
spite of the Kulturkampf, which drove most of the
Prussian Franciscans to America, where rich harvests
awaited their labours, bore such fruit that the Saxon
province (whose cloisters are, however, mostly situ-
ated in Rheinland and Westphalia), although it has
founded three new pro\'inces in North America and
Brazil, and the custody of Silesia was separated from
it in 1902, is stiU numerically the strongest province
of the order, with 615 members. In 1894 the custody
of Fulda was elevated to the rank of a pro\'ince. The
Belgian province was re-erected in 1844, after the
Dutch had been already some time in existence.
The separate existence of the Recollects also ceased in
1897.
Great Britain and Ireland. — The Franciscans came to England for the first time in 1224 under Blessed Agnellus of Pisa, but nimibers of Englishmen had already entered the order. By their strict and cheer- ful devotion to their rule, the first Franciscans became conspicuous figares in the religious life of the coimtry, developed rapidly their order, and enjoyed the highest prestige at court, among the nobility, and among the people. Without relaxing in any way the rule of poverty, they devoted themselves most zealously to study, especially at O.xford, where the reno^vned Robert Grosseteste displayed towards them a fatherly interest, and where they attained the highest reputa- tion as teachers of philosophy and theologj'. Their establishments in London and Oxford date from 1224. As early as 1230 the Franciscan houses of Ireland were united into a separate pro\nnce. In 1272, the English province had 7 custodies, the Irish 5. In 1282, the former (Provincia Angliae) had 58 convents, the lat- ter (Provincia Hiberniae) 57. In 1316 the 7 English custodies stiD contained 58 convents, while in Ireland the custodies were reduced to 4 and the convents to
30. In 1340, the number of custodies and houses in Ireland were 5 and 32 respectively; about 1385, 5 and
31. In 1340 and 1385, there were still 7 custodies in England; in 1340 the number of monasteries had fallen to 52, but rose to 60 by 1385. Under Elias of Cortona (1232-39) Scotland "(Scotia) was separated from England and raised to the dignity of a province, but in 1239 it was again annexed to the English prov- ince. When again separated in 1329, Scotland re- ceived with its six cloisters only the title of vicaria. At the request of James I of Scotland, the first Obser- vants from the province of Cologne came to the coun- try about 1447, under the leadership of Cornelius von Ziriksee, and founded seven houses. About 1482 the Observants settled in England and founded their first convent at Greenwich. It was the Observants who opposed most courageously the Reformation in Eng- land, where they suifered the loss of all their provinces. The Irish province still continued officially but its houses were situated on the Continent at Louvain, Rome. Prague, etc., where fearless missionaries and eminent scholars were trained and the pro\'ince was re-established in spite of the inhuman oppression of the government of England. B\' the decision of the general chapter of 1625, thedirection of the friars was carried on from Douai, where the English Franciscans had a convent, but in 1629 it was entrusted to the general of the order. The first chapter assembled at Brussels on 1 December, 16.30. John Gennings was chosen first provincial, but the then bruited proposal to re-establish the Scottish convents could not be realized. The new proWnce in England, which, like the Irish, belonged to the Recollects, gave many glorious and intrepid martyrs to the order and the
Church. In 1838, the English province contained
only 9 friars, and on its dissolution in 1840, the Belgian
Recollects began the foundation of new houses in
England and one at Killarney in Ireland. On 15
August, 1887, the English houses were declared an
independent custody, and on 12 February, 1891, a
province of the order. At the present day (1909)
the English province comprises in England and Scot-
land ll convents, with 145 friars, their 11 parishes
containing some 40,000 Catholics; the Irish province
comprises 15 convents with 139 brothers.
III. Statlstics of the Order (1260-1909). — The Order of St. Francis spread with a rapidity unex- pected as it was unprecedented. At the general chapter of 1221, where for the last time all members without distinction could appear, .3000 friars were present. The order still continued its rapid develop- ment, and Elias of Cortona (1232-39) divided it into 72 provinces. On the removal of Elias the number was fixed at 32; by 1274 it had risen to 34, and it re- mained stable during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. To this period belongs the institution of the vicaria;, which, with the exception of that of Scot- land, lay in the Balkans, Russia, and the Far East. It has been often stated that about 1300 the Francis- cans numbered 200,000, but this is certainly an exag- geration. Although it is not possible to arrive at the exact figure, there can scarcely have been more than 60,000 U> 90,000 friars at this period. In 1282 the cloisters were about 1583 in number. In 1316 the 34 provinces contained 197 custodies and 1408 convents; in 1340, 211 custodies and 1422 convents; in 1384, 254 custodies and 1639 convents. The Observants com- pletely altered the conformation of the order. In 1455 they alone numbered over 20,000; in 1493, over 22,400 with more than 1200 convents. At the divi- sion of the order, in 1517, they formed the great majority of the friars, numbering 30.000 with some 1300 houses. In 1520 the Conventuals were reckoned at 20,000 to 25,000. The division brought about a complete alteration in the strength and the territories of the various provinces. In 1517 the Conventuals still retained the 34 provinces as before, but many of them were enfeebled and attenuated. The Observ- ants, on the other hand, founded 26 new provinces in 1517, retaining in some cases the old names, in other cases dividing the old territorj; into several provinces.
The Reformation and the missionary activity of the Minorites in the Old, and especially in the New, W'orld soon necessitated wide changes in the distribution, number, and extent, of the provinces. The confusion was soon increased bj' the inauguration of the three great reformed branches, the Discalced, the Reform- ati, and the Recollects, and, as these, while remaining under the one general, formed separate provinces, the number of provinces increased enormously. They were often situated in the same geographical or politi- cal districts, and were, except in the Northern lands, telescoped into one another in a most bewildering manner — a condition aggravated in the South (espe- cially in Italy and Spain) by an insatiate desire to found as many provinces as possible. The French Revolution (1789-95), with its ensuing wars and other disturbances, made great changes in the conformation of the order by the suppression of a number of prov- inces, and further changes were due to the seculariza- tion and suppression of monasteries which went on during the nineteenth century. The union of 1897 still further reduced the number of provinces, by amalgamating all the convents of the same district into one province.
The whole order is now divided into twelve circum- scriptions, each of which embraces several pro\'inces, districts, or countries. (1) The first circumscription includes Rome, Umbria, the March of Ancona, and Bologna, and contains 4 provinces of the order, 112 convents, and 1443 friars. (2) The second embraces
