CARMELITE
357
CARMELITE
the Carmelite convents, a measure which left no al-
ternative but blind submission to the royal will or
suppression. Separated from the rest of the order,
the Carmelites were for a time subjected to the rule
of George Brown, general of all the mendicants, but
rained a comparative independence under John
Byrd, first provincial and then general of the English
section of the order. At the time of the final sup-
pression there were thirty-nine houses, including that
of Calais. The suppression papers are very far from
complete, exhibiting the names of only about 140 re-
ligious, and containing the inventories of less than a
dozen houses. These wire in a state of abject pov-
erty. At Oxford the friars had been obliged to sell
the benches of the church and the trees in the road,
and the commissioner stated that soon they would
have to sell the tiles off (he roof, to buy a few loaves
of bread. Yet one of the novices. Anthony Foxton,
nothing daunted by this trying situation, fled to
Northallerton to continue his novitiate, whence a
few weeks later he was expelled for the second time.
The property of the order was squandered with the
same recklessness as other ecclesiastical goods. The
library of the London house, considered one of the
finest in England (this applies in all probability to
the building, not to its contents, which bear no com-
parison with other monastic libraries of that period),
came into the possession df Dr. Butt. The other
buildings were sold in parcels. Only two Carmelites
are known to have suffered death, Lawrence Cook and
Reginald Pecock; others seem to have recanted in
prison. But as practically nothing is known of the
fate of a large number of convents, especially those
of the North, it is more than probable that during the
different risings some were burnt and their inmates
hanged. Among the few remains of the English
Carmelite convents must be mentioned the first two
foundations. Hulne, now a ruin, and Aylesford, in a
fairly good state of preservation, and also the beauti-
ful cloister in what is now the workhouse for male
paupers at Coventry. An attempt to revive the
English province during the reign of Queen Mary was
unsuccessful.
The history of the Irish and Scotch provinces has never been exhaustively studied, owing chiefly to the loss of many documents. The total number of Irish convents is variously given as twenty-five or twenty- eight, but in all probability some of these had but a short-lived existence. The fact that the general chapters repeatedly appointed Englishmen as pro- vincials for Ireland seems to indicate that the prov- ince was frequently troubled by disunion and strife. At an early epoch the Dublin house was designated a studium generate, but as it is never mentioned as such in the official lists it probably served only for the Irish students, foreign provinces not being required to send their contingent. For the pursuit of higher studies ! facilities were given to the Irish and Scotch in London and at the English universities. The Irish convents fell without exception under the iron hand M Henry VIII.
The Scotch province numbered at the utmost twelve convents, of which that of South Queensferry .it the foot of the Forth Bridge is still extant. Here ngain we have to content ourselves with stray notices, from which, however, it is manifest that the order •vas in high favour with the Crown. Some Scotch Carmelites played an important part at the Univer- sity of Paris, while others were among the chief pro- moters of the Reform of Albi. At the suppression of the English convents many religious betook them- selves to Scotland where convents were allowed to exist as best they could until I.Vi4.
Constitutions.— The oldest constitutions that have come down to US are dated 132 1. but there is evidence
of a former collection begun about 1256 to supplement the rule, which lays down only certain leading prin-
ciples. In 1324 the order was divided into fifteen
provinces corresponding to the countries in which it
was established. At the head of the order was the
general, elected in open scriitinixim (ballot) by the
general chapter; at each successive chapter he had to
render an account of his administration and if no
serious complaints were made he was confirmed in
his office until he was removed by the nomination to
a bishopric, or by death, or until he resigned of his
own accord. He chose his own residence which from
1 17- was usually Rome. He was given two com-
panions (generally of his own choice) to accompany
him on his journeys and to assist him with advice.
The whole order contributed annually a fixed amount
towards the maintenance of the general and the costs
of the administration. In theory, at least, the power
of the general was almost unlimited but in practice
he could not afford to disregard the wishes of the prov-
inces and provincials. The general chapter assem-
bled fairly regularly every third year from 1247 to the
end of the fourteenth century; but from that period
onward the intervals became much longer, six, ten,
even sixteen years. The chapters had become a
heavy burden, not only for the order but also for the
towns which accorded them hospitality. Each prov-
ince (their number was constantly increasing) was
represented by the provincial and two companions.
In addition to these there was a gathering of masters
in divinity and promising students who held theolog-
ical disputations, while the definitors discussed the
affairs of the order; as the Holy See usually granted
indulgences on the occasion of chapters, the pulpits of
the cathedral and parochial and conventual churches
were occupied several times a day by eloquent preach-
ers; travelling being performed on horseback, each
province sent a number of lay brothers to care for
the horses.
Thus the general chapters were always attended by large numbers of friars, from five hundred to a thou- sand and more. To defray the costs each provincial was bound to ask Iris sovereign for a subsidy, the English Crown contributing as a rule ten pounds, while board and lodging for the members of the chap- ter were found in other religious houses and among the townspeople. In return the order used to grant the town letters of fraternity and to place its patron saints on the Carmelite calendar. For the election of the general all the provincials and their companions assembled, but the remaining business was entrusted to the definitors, one for each province; these were chosen at the provincial chapter in such a way that no one could act in this capacity in two successive chapters. The duty of the definitors w;.s to receive reports on the administration of the provinces; to confirm provincials or to depose them, and elect others in their stead; to audit the accounts and fix the annual taxation; to nominate those who were to lecture on Scripture and the Sentences at the univer- sities, especially Paris; to grant permission for the reception of academical honours at t he expense of the whole order; to revise and interpret existing laws and add new ones; and finally, to grant privileges to de- serving members, deal with those guilty of serious offences by meting out adequate punishment, or, if cause were shown for leniency, by relaxing or con- doning previous sentences. This done, the whole chapter was again called together, the decisions of the definitors were published and handed in writing to each provincial. Of the records of the earlier chap- ters only fragments are now to be found, but from 1318 the acts are complete and have partly been printed.
The provincial chapters were held as a rule once a year, but there were complaints that some provincials held only two in three years. Each convent was represented by the prior or viear and by one com- panion elected by the conventual chapter to take complaints against the prior. Out of the whole
