Description

In 1274 the Council of Lyons decreed the end of various 'new orders' of Mendicants which had emerged during the great push for evangelism and poverty in the thirteenth-century Latin Church. The Carmelites and Austin friars were allowed a stay of execution (the Franciscans and Dominicans were explicitly excluded), and were eventually able to acquire approval. Other smaller groups, in particular the Friars of the Sack and Pied Friars, were forced to disband. This book outlines the history of those orders affected by the decree of the Council of Lyons, tracing the development of the two larger orders down to the Council of Trent, and following the fragmentary sources for the brief histories of the discontinued friaries. For the first time these orders are treated comparatively: the volume offers a total history, from their origins, spirituality and pastoral impact, to their music, buildings and runaways.