For the Mercedarians, see Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.
The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary[1] (Italian: Frati della Beata Gloriosa Vergine Maria; Latin: Ordo Militiae Mariae Gloriosae), also called the Order of Saint Mary of the Tower or the Order of the Knights of the Mother of God, commonly the Knights of Saint Mary, was a military order founded in 1261. The order received its rule from Pope Urban IV, who expressly states the purpose of the organisation and the rights and obligations of its members:
[The members of the order] are to be allowed to bear arms for the defence of the catholic faith and ecclesiastical freedom, when specifically required to do so by the Roman church. For subduing civil discords they may carry only defensive weapons, provided they have the permission of the diocesan.
The rule of the order was based on that of the Augustinians, but by a precedent set by the Order of Santiago and the Militia of Jesus Christ, members could marry and did not live in communal poverty. Their chief task appears to have been the pacification of the Lombard cities, racked by factional strife. In this they were largely unsuccessful, due in no small part to their political allegiance to the Church. The unique position of the order and the nature of its rule has led to its being denied full status by historians, who have sometimes labelled it a mere confraternity. The order would admit a woman as a militissa (female knight).
The order did have some success at building bridges between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Two founding members, Loderingo degli Andalò, a Ghibelline from Bologna, and Catalano di Guido of the Catalani family of Guelphs, were given the government of Bologna in 1265 during a period of civil strife between the two factions. Though less than successful there, the two knights were appointed by Pope Clement IV the very next year (1266) to govern Florence in the aftermath of the Battle of Benevento. They gained the opprobrium of the Florentines, however, and Dante Alighieri, in his famous Inferno placed them in the eighth circle of Hell with the hypocrites, where they sing:
Frati godenti fummo, e bolognesi;
io Catalano e questi Loderingo
nomati, e da tua terra insieme presi
Frati Gaudenti were we, and Bolognese;
I Catalano, and he Loderingo
Named, and together taken by thy city . . .
The order gained a reputation for carelessness with respect to their vows and were labelled the fratres gaudentes (Latin) or frati (cavalieri) gaudenti (Italian): jovial (joyous, jubilant) brothers (brethren, friars). Not all later members of the order were corrupt—Enrico degli Scrovegni patronised the Scrovegni Chapel—but the order was eventually suppressed by Pope Sixtus V in 1558.
^Sometimes the "Blessed" is omitted; "Order of the Glorious Saint Mary" is a variant.
and 26 Related for: Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary information
Maronite Order (O.M.M.) is a Catholic religious order in the Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic particular church in Lebanon belonging to the Catholic...
(art) Mary Untier of Knots OrderoftheBlessedVirginMaryof Mercy (Our Lady of Ransom) Our Lady Eastern Theotokos Pokrova depictions Mother ofthe Church...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virginof Carmel, is the title given to theBlessedVirginMary in her role as patroness ofthe Carmelite Order, particularly...
Armengol attributed his survival to the protection oftheVirginMary. The pair used the ransom to purchase the freedom ofthe captives and traveled back to...
The Basilica ofthe National Shrine ofthe Assumption oftheBlessedVirginMary, also called the Baltimore Basilica, is a Catholic cathedral in Baltimore...
The House oftheVirginMary (Turkish: Meryemana Evi or Meryem Ana Evi, "Mother Mary's House") is a Catholic shrine located on Mt. Koressos (Turkish: Bülbüldağı...
order, theOrderoftheBlessedVirginMary, takes over its role. There is some confusion between the Militia founded in Lombardy in 1233 and the institution...
Principal Dolors oftheBlessedVirgin, the Novena in Honor ofthe Seven Sorrows ofMary, and the Via Matris. The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is liturgically...
The Scapular of Our Lady of Mercy is a Roman Catholic devotional scapular that traces its roots to theOrderoftheBlessedVirginMaryof Mercy also known...
The Carmelite Monks or Monks ofthe Most BlessedVirginMaryof Mount Carmel are a public association within the Diocese of Cheyenne, dedicated to a humble...
Global Information