Augustinians

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friars (from Latin fratres, i.e. brothers) belonged to the so‐called mendicant (i.e. begging) monastic orders. The four most important were the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and Augustinians. The friars emerged in the early 13th cent., partly as a response to the spiritual needs of a changing society, particularly increasing urbanization, partly to combat heresy by teaching and example.

The friars, though frequently following variants of older monastic rules, differed from monks in fundamental respects. Adopting a life of poverty, they refused endowments and property, relying instead on begging; their raison d'être was engagement with, rather than seclusion from, the secular world. As orthodox evangelists they placed much emphasis on learning both within their own communities and in the universities, and it is no coincidence that almost all of the leading intellectuals of late medieval Europe, including Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus, were friars.

Augustinians religious order in the Roman Catholic Church. The name derives from the Rule of St. Augustine (5th cent.?), which established rules for monastic observance and common religious life. The canons regular, made up of ordained clergy, adopted this rule in the 11th cent. and became known as Augustinian, or Austin, canons. Augustinian canons pursue a life of poverty, celibacy, and obedience without withdrawing from the world. Subsequent orders of canons regular, such as the Premonstratensians, are outgrowths of the Augustinians. The Austin friars are an entirely different group of religious, dating from the 13th cent. (see friar ). Officially known as Hermits of St. Augustine, they now exist in three independent branches—the Calced Augustinian Hermits, the more austere and less numerous Discalced Augustinian Hermits, and the Recollects of St. Augustine. There are also congregations of women corresponding to both canons and friars.

Augustinians. Augustinian or Austin Friars, a Christian religious order drawn together from disparate orders of hermits in 1256. It was based on the Rule of St Augustine, with a constitution drawn from the Dominicans. The Rule (Regula Sancti Augustini) appears to have been drawn up by one of Augustine's followers, perhaps during his lifetime. Among those adopting the Rule were Canons Regular, Premonstratensians, and Dominicans. The Rule was also adopted by Orders for women (e.g. the Augustinians of the Assumption of Mary, known as Assumptionists, Bridgettines, Salesian Sisters, and Ursulines).

Augustinian (or Austin) friars were founded by Pope Alexander IV in 1256 from a number of small hermit communities in Italy. They were given the rule of St Augustine of Hippo (see augustinian canons) which the Dominicans, whose constitution they largely followed, also observed. In England, where their first community was founded at Clare, by the dissolution they were found in nearly 40 places, usually substantial towns or ports, such as Grimsby, Hull, and King's Lynn, as well as Oxford and Cambridge.

Au·gus·tin·i·an / ˌôgəˈstinēən/ • adj. 1. of or relating to St. Augustine of Hippo or his theological doctrines. 2. of or relating to a religious order observing a rule derived from St. Augustine's writings. • n. 1. a member of an Augustinian order. 2. an adherent of the doctrines of St. Augustine.

Augustinian Name of two distinct and long-established Christian orders. The order of Augustinian Canons was founded in the 11th century. Based on the recommendations of Saint Augustine, its discipline was milder than those of full monastic orders. The mendicant order of Augustinian Hermits or Friars was founded in the 13th century and modelled on the Dominicans.

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