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The Canons Regular
The clergy
of every large church
were in ancient times called canonici—canons—as
being on the list of those who were devoted to the service of the
Church. In the eighth century, Chrodegand,
bishop of Metz,
formed the clergy of his cathedral into a body, living in common under
a rule
and bound to the public recitation of the Divine Office.
They were known still as canons, or those
living under a rule of life like the monks, from the true meaning of
κανών, a
rule. The common life was in time
abandoned in spite of the provisions of several Councils, and then
institutions
other than Cathedral Chapters became organised upon lines similar to
those laid
down by Chrodegand, and they became known as Canons Regular. They formed themselves generally on the
so-called Rule of St. Augustine, and became known, in England
at least, as Augustinian Canons, Premonstratensian Canons, and
Gilbertine
Canons.
Augustines
The
early history of the Austin, or
Black Canons, is involved in considerable obscurity, and it is only
after the
beginning of the twelfth century that these Regulars are to be found in
Europe. The
Order was conventual, or monastic, rather
than congregational or provincial, like the Friars : that is, the
members were
professed for a special house and belonged by virtue of their vows to
it, and
not to the general body of their brethren in the country.
In one point they were not so closely bound
to their house as were the monks. The
Regular Canons were allowed in individual cases to serve the parishes
that were
impropriated to their houses ; the monks were always obliged to employ
secular
vicars in these cures. The Augustinians
were very popular in England
; most of their houses having been established in the thirteenth and
fourteenth
centuries. The earliest foundation was
that of Christ Church,
or Holy Trinity, Aldgate, made by Queen Maud in A.D.
1108 ; and at the time of
the dissolution there were about 170 houses of Augustinian Canons in England
; two of the abbeys, Waltham Cross and Cirencester, being governed by
mitered
abbots. In Ireland
they were even more popular and numerous, the number of the houses of
canons
being put at 223, together with 33 nunneries. The
Augustinian priors of Christ
Church, and All
Hallows, Dublin,
and seen other priors of the Order, had seats in the Irish Parliament. The habit of the Order was black, and hence
they were frequently known as Black Canons.
English Monastic Life by
F.A. Gasquet. (pages 222-226)
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