The practice of "commending" a monastery to an outsider became common in
the later Middle Ages. Subiaco is a good example of this practice; see
Carosi, I monasteri di Subiaco.
Cardinal deacons also were not necessarily in major orders down into the
19th century.
Tom Izbicki
At 04:58 PM 12/28/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>At 09:06 PM 12/28/00 -0000, you wrote:
> >[snip]
> >
> >orderic vitalis mentions a certain physician (forgot
> >his name) who was a canon of Chartres, and who also
> >happened to be married and was not, apparently, a cleric
> >of any kind.
> >
> >We need to be clear about our terms here (with due respect, Christopher).
> >The physician may not have been a "cleric" in the modern sense but if he was
> >a University-trained physician (as opposed to a barber-surgeon) then he was
> >definitely "Clericus" in the Neck-Verse, benefit-of-the-Clergy sense.
> >
> >As I understand it, the post-Gregorian position was that a Canon could be in
> >Minor as opposed to Major Orders; a man in Minor Orders MIGHT marry BUT if a
> >Canon married he was expected to forfeit his prebend. Possibly where such a
> >canon had family influence his matrimonial status might be overlooked .....
> >
> >BMC
> >
>Even married laymen held the office of Abbots in some monasteries. You can
>see this at MonteCassion in the monumental funary scultures of the main
>church. In effect the office which was proper to the clerical or monastic
>sense, came to be conceived as having its own independence and its civil
>duties which became preeminate in the management of large estates, to its
>original spiritual duties, were often bestowed upon laymen. I'd expect this
>to be more common in the late Medieval and Tridentine periods. Certainly
>bishops for example held the office of counts, and increasingly bishops
>were thus considered secular nobles; hence the investiture controversy; but
>this is another level.
>
>So I see no necessary, exclusive reason for a canon to be a cleric in the
>hiearchical sense; but rather in the sense of a clerk to day; that is an
>official. You'd have to know about the local situation to discern more
>aptly whether a given cannonry was peopled by layment or clergy; though the
>presumption is clergy.
>
>Sincerely in Christ,
>
>Br. Alexis Bugnolo
|