MENDICANTS, or Begging Friars, several orders of religious, who, having no settled revenues, are supported by the charitable contributions they receive from others. Thia sort of societybegan in the thirteenth century; and the members of it, by the tenor of their institution, were destined tore-main entirely destitute of all fixed revenues and possessions; though in process of time their number became a heavy tax upon the people. Innocent III. was the first of the popes who perceived the necessity of instituting such an order: and accordingly he conferred on those monastic societies, who made a profession of poverty, the most distinguishing marks of his protection and favour. They were also encouraged and patronized by the succeeding pontiffs, after experience had demonstrated their public and extensive usefulness. But when it became generally known, that they had such a peculiar place in the esteem and protection of the rulers of the church, their number increased to such a degree that they became a burden, not only to the people, but even to the church itself. The great inconvenience which arose from the excessive multiplication of the mendicant orders was remedied by Gregory X. in a general council, which he assembled at Lyons in the year 1272. Here all the religious orders which had sprung up after the council held at Rome in 1215, under the pontificate of Innocent III. were suppressed; and the disproportionate number of mendicants was reduced to four societies or denominations; namely, those of the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians or hermits of St. Augustin,

As the pontiffs allowed these four mendicant orders the liberty of travelling wherever they thought proper, of conversing with persons of every rank, of instructing the youth and the multitude wherever they went; and as those monks exhibited, in their outward appearance and manner of life, more striking marks of gravity and holiness than were observable in the other monastic societies; they rose all at once to the very summit of fame, and were regarded with the utmost esteem and veneration throughout every country of Europe. The enthusiastic attachment to these sanctimonious beggars went so far, indeed, that, as we learn from authentic records, several cities were divided or cantoned out into four parts, with a view to provide for the orders in question; thefirstpartbeing assigned to the Dominicans, the second to the Franciscans, the third to the Carmelites, and the fourth to the Augustinians. The people were unwilling to receive the sacraments from any other hands than from those of the mendicants, to whose churches they crowded to perform their devotions, whilst living, and where they were also extrerfιely desirous that their remains should be deposited after death. Nor did the influence and credit of the mendicants end here. For we find in the history of this and of the succeeding ages, that they were employed not only in spiritual matters, but also in temporal and political affairs of the greatest consequence; in composing the differences of princes, concluding treaties of peace, concerting alliances, presiding in cabinet councils, governing courts, levying taxes, and in other occupations, not only remote from, but altogether inconsistent with, the monastic, character and profession. However, the power of the Dominicans and Franciscans greatly surpassed that of the other two orders: insomuch that before the Reformation, they were what the Jesuits have since been, namely, the very soul of the hierarchy, the prime engine of the state, the secret spring of all the motions of each, and the authors and directors of every important event, both in the religious and political world. By a natural progression their pride and confidence arrived at such a pitch, that they had the presumption to declare publicly, that they had a divine impulse and commission to illustrate and maintain the religion of Jesus; they treated with the utmost insolence and contempt all the different orders of the priesthood; they even affirmed, without a blush, that the true method of obtaining salvation was revealed to [7:14:559] them alone; they proclaimed, with ostentation, the superior efficacy and virtue of their indulgences; and they vaunted beyond measure their interest at the court of heaven, and their familiar connexions with the Supreme Being, the Virgin Mary, and the saints in glory. By these impious pretensions, they so deluded and captivated the miserable, and blinded the multitude, that the latter would not entrust any other but the mendicants with the care of their souls. Towards the close of the fourteenth century, they retained their credit and influence to such a degree, that great numbers of both sexes, some in health, others in a state of infirmity, and a third class at the point of death, earnestly desired to be admitted into the mendicant order, which they looked upon as a sure and infallible method of rendering heaven propitious. Many made it an essential part of their testaments, that their bodies after death should be wrapped in old ragged Dominican or Franciscan habits, and interred amongst tire mendicants; for such were the superstition and ignorance of this age, that people universally believed they would the more readily obtain mercy from Christ, at the day of judgment, if they appeared before his great tribunal associated with the mendicant friars.

About this time, however, the mendicants fell into universal disrepute; but being resolutely protected against all opposition, whether open or secret, by the popes, who regarded them as their best friends and most effectual supporters, they suffered little or nothing from the efforts of their numerous adversaries. In the fifteenth century, besides their arrogance, which had grown excessive, a quarrelsome and litigious spirit prevailed amongst them, and drew upon them the just displeasure and indignation of many. At this time, by affording refuge in their order to the Beguines, they became offensive to the bishops, and were thereby involved in difficulties and perplexities of various kinds. They lost their credit in the sixteenth century by their rustic impudence, their ridiculous superstitions, their ignorance, their signal cruelty, and their brutish manners. They discovered the most barbarous aversion to the arts and sciences, and expressed a similar abhorrence of certain eminent and learned men, who endeavoured to open the paths of science to the pursuits of studious youth, recommended the cultivation of the mind, and attacked the barbarism of the age in their writings and discourses. In a word their general character, together with other circumstances, concurred to render a reformation desirable, and to bring about that happy event.

Amongst the number of mendicants are also ranked the Capuchins, Recollects, Minims, and others.