G'day
In a previous post I described the 'ordinary' hierarchy by which the mediaeval Church organised its territorial jurisdiction and delivered services to (and collected revenues from) the layfolk. There were of course local anomalies, but those are perhaps not relevant to the current thread, and I don't propose to discuss them. It is, however, necessary to discuss the monastic clergy.
Theoretically speaking, the clergy is divided into the secular clergy (who deliver services to the laity) and monks (who retire from the distractions world to an ostensibly holy life). This distinction is different from, but often muddled with, the distinction between those clergy who live in a religious community under a rule and those who live alone under no no special rule. The confusion is exacerbated by the fact that the term 'regular clergy' (which ought to mean 'the clergy of the Rule') is applied to all monks, even those who live alone, while the term 'canons' (which ought also to mean 'mean of the Rule') is variously applied to secular clergy living the communal life, secular clergy members of collegiate churches but living alone, and certain classes of monks.
Okay.
Hermit (Latin eremitus) A hermit is a person, not necessarily a clergyman at all, who lives a life dedicated to prayer and meditation, cut off from the strife of the World, but not in a community of like people.
Cenobite (Latin cenobite) A cenobite is a person how lives a life dedicated to prayer and meditation, cut off from the strife of the World, in a community of like people, usually under a leader.
Monk (Latin monachus) A monk is a male cenobite. Before the Gregorian Reforms monks who were priests performed church services for the layfolk, but this was banned by the Lateran Council of 1123.
Nun (Latin nunnus?) A nun is a female cenobite.
Canon A canon is a priest who is a member of a college that holds the rectorate of a church as common property. Canons originally lived communally, but between the 6th Century and the 11th Century the communities decayed, and the canons moved out into their own houses. When some colleges and cathedral chapters resumed the communal life (which was popular in the 11th and 12th Centuries) they were called 'canons regular', which term was ridiculed as tautological by linguistic purists. Confusingly, canons regular are clergy, but not in point of law regular clergy.
Friar (Latin frater) A member of one of the mendicant orders, who preach to and serve the layfolk, but who do not have fixed posts or territorial jurisdiction. Friars are subject to their superiors within their orders, and also responsible for their preaching to the bishop of any diocese into which they go. Friars are secular clergy but not members of the diocesan hierachy.
Dean (Latin decanus) The chief of a college of canons, whether regular or not. Also, in some areas, an archpriest who is ordinary of a territory called a 'deanery'.
Abbot (Latin abbatus) the elected or appointed ruler of a community of monks. Technical terms of canon law distinguish between abbots who are subject to the bishop and who have authority only over monks (status equivalent to a dean), those who are subject to the bishop but who have religious authority over part of the diocese (status equivalent to an archpriest, rural dean, or archdeacon), and abbots nullius who have authority over territories that are part of no diocese (status very nearly equal to a bishop). There was a long controversy over whether abbots should be ordained as bishops or as deacons, eventually settled by enjoining that they be routinely ordained as priests, and giving theme recourse to the metropolitan if the suffragan refused to ordain them, to any willing bishop if the metropolitan refused.
Abbess The elected or appointed leader of a community of nuns.
Prior Abbot of a monastery that has other monasteries subject to it. Or the local commander of an order of friars within an area.
Prioress Abbess of a nunnery that has other nunneries subject to it.
General Commander of an order of monks or friars, usually with priors subject to him.
Augustinians Cenobites, canons regular, or friars who live according to the (comparatively relaxed) Rule of St Augustine, which made allowance for community service. Augustinian monasteries were ofetn very old, often found in cities, and often ran schools or hospitals. The Augustinian habit was black.
Benedictines Cenobites who lived according to the stricter Rule of St Benedict, which required seclusion for the laity and the world, thus preventing community service, but allowing agriculture work, scholarship, and specialised manufacturing. Benedictine monasteries were often found on the outskirts of cities: established in the countryside they were encircled by urban growth. Benedictine habits were the colour of unbleached wool, later dyed brown. By the 11th Century most Benedictine monasteries had become rather, even scandalously, lax and luxurious.
Reformed Benedictines: Cluniacs, Cistercians, Carthusians, etc. During the Gregorian Reforms in the 11th Century a few monasteries reformed themselves, or were founded along reformed lines. Some Augustinian monasteries converted to the Benedictine Rule. Some Benedictine monasteries started enforcing their rules strictly. Some Monasteries adopted even stricter rules based on the Benedictine Rule. A few of these reformed monasteries and new foundations became famous, and they were asked (by reforming bishops and abbots) either to found similar monasteries in other dioceses or to help existing monasteries to reform themselves. The new or reformed monasteries placed themselves under the authority of the abbot of the monasteries that helped them. Some monasteries such as Cluny and Cîtieux thus found themselves are the pinnacle of a hierarchy of dependent monasteries. The Popes regularised these arrangements by chartering these organisations as 'orders', and making the abbots of the parent monasteries 'generals'. Reformed monasteries are often located in remote areas. The habits of the reformed Benedictines are various, but often white.
I won't bother with the structure and offices of the Holy Fight Orders in this thread.
Regards,
Agback
