THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
part of the order. Through the work of such men as Bernardin of Sienna (q.v.) John of Capistrano (see Capistrano, Giovanni di), and Dietrich Coelde (b. 1435? at Munster; was a member of the Brethren of the Common Life, q.v.; d. Dec. 11, 1515), it gained great prominence during the fifteenth century. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Observantists, with 1,400 houses, comprised nearly half of the entire order. Their influence brought about attempts at reform even among the Conventuals, including the Observantists of the Common Life, founded by Boniface de Ceva and spreading principally in France and Germany; the reformed congregation founded in 1426 by the Spaniard Philip de Berbegal and distinguished by the special importance they attached to the little hood (cappuciola) ; the Neutri, a group of reformers originating about 1463 in Italy, who tried to take a middle ground between the Conventuals and Observantists, but refused to obey the heads of either, until they were compelled by the pope to affiliate with the regular Observantists, or with those of the Common Life; the Caperolani, a congregation founded about 1470 in North Italy by Peter Caperolo, but dissolved again on the death of its founder in 1480; the Amadeists, founded by the noble Portuguese Amadeo, who entered the Franciscan order at Assisi in 1452, gathered around him a number of adherents to his fairly strict principles (numbering finally twenty-six houses) and, died in the odor of sanctity in 1482.
Projects for a union between the two main branches of the order were put forth not only by the Council of Constance but by several popes, without any positive result. By direction of Martin V., John of Capistrano drew up statutes which were to serve as a basis for reunion, and they were actu- TJnite the a^v accepted by a general chapter at Order. Assisi in 1430; but the majority of the Conventual houses refused to agree to them,and they remained without effect. At Capistrano's request Eugenius IV put forth a bull (Ut sacra minorum, 1446) looking to the same result, but again nothing was accomplished. Equally unsuccessful were the attempts of the Franciscan pope Sixtus IV., who bestowed a vast number of privileges on both the original mendicant orders, but by this very fact lost the favor of the Observantists and failed in his plans for reunion. Julius II. succeeded in doing away with some of the smaller branches, but left the division of the two great parties untouched. This division was finally legalized by Leo X., after a general chapter held in Rome, in connection with the reform movement of the Fifth Lateran Council, had once more declared the impossibility of reunion. The less strict principles of the Conventuals, permitting the posesssion of real estate and the enjoyment of fixed revenues, were recognized as tolerable, while the Observantists, in contrast to this usus moderatus, were held strictly to their own usus a ret us or pauper. The latter, as adhering more closely to the rule of the founder, were allowed to claim a certain superiority over the former. The Observantist general (elected now for six years, not for life) was to have
8. "Unsuccessful At-
the title of " Minister-General of the Whole Order of St. Francis " and the right to confirm the choice of a head for the Conventuals, who was known as " Master-General of the Friars Minor Conventual " —although this privilege never became practically operative.
IV. Spread of the Order in Modern Times: The regulations of Leo X. brought a notable increase of strength to the Observantist branch, and many conventual houses joined them — in France all but forty-eight, in Germany the greater part, in Spain
1 NewCon-practically a11' But this very growth gregations. was fatal to the internal unity and strength of the strict party. The need for new reforms soon became apparent, and the action of Leo X., far from consolidating the order, gave rise to a number of new branches. The most important of these are: the Capuchins (q.v.), founded in 1525 by Matteo Bassi and established in 1619 by Paul V as a separate order; the Discalced Franciscans, founded as a specially strict Observantist congregation at Bellacazar in Spain by Juan de Puebla toward the end of the fifteenth century, compelled by Leo X. to unite with the regular Observantists, but soon afterward reestablished as an independent branch by Juan de Guadelupe (d. 1580), and subsequently obtaining some importance in Spain and Portugal; the Alcantarines, a very strict congregation founded in 1540 by Peter of Alcantara (q.v.), and distinguished by remarkable achievements in the mission field; the Italian Riformati, founded about 1525 near Rieti by two Spanish Observantists, and becoming comparatively wide-spread from the beginning of the seventeenth century through the favor of Clement VIII. and Urban VIII. ; the French Recollects, originating at Nevers in 1592, formed into a distinct congregation by Clement VIII. in 1602, and important in later missionary history, especially in Canada.
The Franciscans also rendered important services to the cause of the Counterreformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, rivaling the Jesuit order in zeal, and frequently suffering martyrdom for their faith in England, the Netherlands, and Germany. During the last 2"J^rf Sent hundred years the possessions of the order have been much reduced by the storms of the French Revolution, the German secularizations since 1803, and the political changes of Spain, Italy, and France. On the other hand, there has been a considerable extension in many parts of the order, especially in North America. The present statistics of the three principal male branches of the order are approximately as follows: (1) Observantists: 1,500 houses, comprised in about 100 provinces and Custodiw, with about 15,000 members of whom some 7,000 belong to the Regular Observance, 6,000 to the Riformati, and the rest to the Recollects and the Discalced Congregation; (2) Conventuals: 290 houses, principally in Italy, but also in Bavaria, Austria, Rumania, Turkey, etc.; and (3) Regular Tertiaries, following the rule of Leo X.: less than a score of houses — two in Rome, five in Sicily, seven in Austria, and two in America. These figures show a