Trapp, Joseph, D.D., an English divine, was born at Cherrington, (iloucestershire, in November, 1679. Educated at first by his father, he was afterwards placed under the care of the master of New College, Oxford,
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and in 1695 entered AVadham College in the same city. He was chosen a fellow of his colk'ije in 1704, and first prof'ejisor of poetry in 1708. In 170'.)-10 he acted as inaiiaj;er for Dr. Sacheverell on his nieniorable trial, antl in 1711 was appointed cha|ilain to Sir Constantine I'liipps, lord cliancellor of Ire- land. In 1720 he was presented to the rec- tory of Danntzey, Wiltshire, which lie re- signed in 1721 for the vicarage of the united parishes of Clirist t'hiirch, Newgate Street, and 8t. Leonard's, Foster Lane, London. He received his degree of D.D. from Oxforil in Fehruary, 1727. He was, in 1733, preferred to the rectory of Ilarlington, Jliddlesex, 1)3' lord Holingbroke, whose chaplain he had pre- vicmsly been. In 1734 he was elected one of the joint lecturers of St. Martin's- in -the- Fields. He died at Ilarlington. Nov. 22, 1747. Mr. Trai)p was a hard student, and pidjlished numerous works, viz., Pnekc/iones Pueticce, etc. (Oxon. 1711-19, 3 vols, 8vo), being his Latin lectures as professor of poetry: — A Presemttice, etc., in several discourses (col- ^^ lected in 1722, 2 vols. sm. 8vo) : — The ^Eneid ^^ of Vir(jil Ttundutcd into Blank Verse (1718, 2 vols. 4to) : — Explamitonj Notes on the Pont Gospels, etc. (1747-48, 2 vols. 8vo; Oxford, 1775, 8vo ; 1805, 8vo) : — besides poems, ser- mons, theological tracts, etc. See Chalmers, Bioff, Diet, s, v. ; Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and A mer. A uthors, s. v.
Trappists, the members of a monastic order in the Church of Kome which is characterized by the extreme austerity of its rule. It had its origin in the Cistercian abbey of La Trappe in Normandy during the abbacv of Kance (q. v.). This prelate had been grossly addicted to sensual pleasures, and hail also evinced considerable fondness for scholarly pursuits; but his conscience be- came awakened, and he was transformed into an intense ascetic. He renounced all the benefices he possessed except that of La Trapjie; and when he had repaired the buildings of that abbey, he undertook tlie restora- tion of its ancient discipline. He introduced a number of strict Henedictines, and became a monk himself and regular abbot. In 1675 he caused the members of the order to renew their vows, ami imposed on tliem the additional obligation to preserve unchanged all his ar- rangements and rides.
Tliis immutable rule obliges the Trappists to sleep on a bed of straw, with pillow also of straw, placed on a board and covered wiili a blanket. They must rise at two o'clock in the morning. Eleven hours of their day are devoted to prayers and masses, the remaining hours to hard labor performed in strict silence. Scien- tific pursuits are forbidden. The Trappist's thoughts are to be directed only to repentance and death. His only speech, apart from hymns and prayers, is the re- sponsive greeting '• Memento infiri." He maintains a constant last in the i)lainness and frugality of his food, which is served upon a bare table. After sujiper and subsequent religious meditations and exercises, he labors for a time upon the grave he is to occupy after death, and then retires to rest — at eight o'clock in summer and at seven in winter. The order contains laj-- brothers, professors, and fr'eres donnes, i. e. temporary associates. Its garb consists of a long robe with wide sleeves of coarse grayish-wlute wool; a black woollen cowl with two strips a foot wide which reach down to the knee; a broad girdle of black leather, from which are suspended a rosary and a knife, symb(ds of devo- tion and toil; and wooden shoes. In the choir a dark- brown mantle with sleeves, and a cowl of like color, are worn. Tlie lay-br(jthers wear gray habits.
Kance's immoderate austerity occasioned the death of a number of monks, and brought upon him the cen- sure of many critics. His aversion to literary employ-
Trappist Mouk aud Knu.
ments was also condemned, among others by Mabillon in the Traite des Etudes Monastiqnes (1691). The order did not spread beyond its original limits until after the founder's death (Oct. 12, 1700), and lias never become very strong in its numbers. A female branch was in- stituted at Clocet, France, in 1705, by princess Louise de Conde. The revolution expelled the Tra[)pists from France, but they established themselves in Valsainte, F'reibourg, Switzerland, where a monastery founded by Augustine I'F^strange (1791) was made an abbey by Pius W, aud Augustine placed at its head. Again assailed by the French and compelled to tlee, the Trappists found a temporary home in I'oland. They were everywhere disliked, however, and found no settled home until after the restoration of the Bourlxms in 1.S17, when they re- covered their original abbey of La Trap|ie. Other sta- tions were established, among them a female convent near London. In 1834 a papal decretal consolidated the Trappists into a Congregation des Reliijienx Cisterciens de A'. JJ. de la Trappe. They possess settlements in Algiers and North America, but are chiefly fotnid in F' ranee. See the Allgem. Darmst. Kirchenzeitunq. 1831, p. 1424; 1832, p. 90, 119; 1838, p. 1464; 1835, p. 1087; Chateaubriand, \'ie de Ranee (Par. 1844) ; Ritsert, Ordeit d. Trappisten (Darmst. 1833).