Mercedarians
(Order of Our Lady of Mercy).
A congregation of men founded in 1218 by St. Peter Nolasco, born
1189, at Mas-des-Saintes-Puelles, Department of Aude, France.
Joining Simon de Montfort's army, then attacking the Albigenses,
he was appointed tutor to the young king, James of Aragon, who had
succeeded to the throne after the death of his father, Pedro II,
killed at the battle of Muret. Peter Nolasco followed his pupil to
his capital, Barcelona, in 1215. From the year 1192 certain
noblemen of that city had formed a confraternity for the purpose
of caring for the sick in hospitals, and also for rescuing
Christian captives from the Moors. Peter Nolasco was requested by
the Blessed Virgin in a vision to found an order especially
devoted to the ransom of captives. His confessor, St Raymond of
Pennafort, the canon of Barcelona, encouraged and assisted him in
this project; and King James also extended his protection. The
noblemen already referred to were the first monks of the order,
and their headquarters was the convent St. Eulalie of Barcelona,
erected 1232. They had both religious in holy orders, and lay
monks or knights; the choir monks were clothed in tunic, scapular,
and cape of white. These religious followed the rule drawn up for
them by St Raymond of Pennafort. The order was approved, first by
Honorius III and then by Gregory IX (1230), the latter, at the
request of St Raymond Nonnatus presented by St Peter Nolasco,
granted a Bull of confirmation and prescribed the Rule of St.
Augustine, the former rule now forming the constitutions (1235).
St. Peter was the first superior, with the title of Commander-
General; he also filled the office of Ransomer, a title given to
the monk sent into the lands subject to the Moors to arrange for
the ransom of prisoners. The holy founder died in 1256, seven
years after having resigned his superiorship; he was succeeded by
Guillaume Le Bas.
The development of the order was immediate and widespread
throughout France, England, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. As the
Moors were driven back, new convents of Mercy were established.
Houses were founded at Montpelier, Perpignan, Toulouse, and Vich.
The great number of houses, however, had a weakening effect on the
uniformity of observance of the rule. To correct this, Bernard de
Saint-Romain, the third commander general (1271), codified the
decisions of the general chapters. In the fourteenth century,
disputes arose from the rivalry between the convents of Barcelona
and Puy, and from the discord between the priests and knights,
which ended in the latter's suppression, disturbed the peace of
the order. Christopher Columbus took some members of the Order of
Mercy with him to America, where they founded a great many
convents in Latin America, throughout Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Peru,
Chile, and Ecuador. These formed no less than eight provinces,
whereas they only had three in Spain and one in France. This order
took a very active part in the conversion of the Indians. At the
beginning of the seventeenth century Father Gonzales, who had made
his profession in the convent of Olmedo in 1573, conceived the
idea of a reform, at that time necessary. The commander-general,
Alfonso de Montoy, at first supported this scheme, but ended by
opposing it. In this undertaking, Gonzales was assisted by the
Countess of Castellan, who obtained for him the necessary
authorization from Clement VIII, and presented him with three
convents for the reformed monks (at Viso, Diocese of Seville;
Almoragha, Diocese of Cadiz; Ribas). The reform was confirmed at
the provincial chapter of Guadelajara in 1603. Father Gonzales
took the name of John Baptist of the Blessed Sacrament, and died
at Madrid in 1618. Paul V approved his reform in 1606; in 1621
Gregory XV declared it independent of the monks of the Great
Observance. Their convents formed two provinces,with houses at
Madrid, Salamanca, Seville, and Alcal�, with a few foundations in
Sicily.
Father Antoine Velasco founded a convent of nuns of Our Lady of
Mercy at Seville in 1568, of which the first superioress was
Blessed Ann of the Cross. This foundation had been authorized by
Pius V. The reformed branch also established houses of barefooted
nuns, or Nuns of the Recollection, at Lura, Madrid, Santiago de
Castile, Fuentes, Thoro, and elsewhere. The female tertiaries go
back to the very beginning of the order (1265). Two widows of
Barcelona, Isabel Berti and Eulalie Peins, whose confessor was
Blessed Bernard of Corbario, prior of the convent there, were the
foundresses. They were joined by several companions, among them
St. Mary of Succour (d. 31 Decemb., 1281), the first superior of
the community. Blessed Mary Anne of Jesus (d. 1624) founded
another community of tertiaries, under the jurisdiction of the
reformed branch. The Order of Mercy of late years has much
decreased in membership. The restoration of the reformed convent
at Thoro, Diocese of Zamora, Spain, is worthy of note (1888). At
present the order has one province and one vice-province in
Europe, and four provinces and two vice-provinces in America, with
thirty-seven convents and five to six hundred members. The
Mercedarian convents are in Palermo; Spain; Venezuela (Caracas,
Maracaibo); Peru (Lima); Chile (Santiago); Argentina (Cordova,
Mendoza); Ecuador (Quito); and Uruguay. The Mercedarians of
Cordova publish "Revista Mercedaria".
Besides the founder, St. Peter Nolasco, the following illustrious
members of the order may be mentioned: St. Raymond Nonnatus (d.
1240), the most famous of the monks who gave themselves up to the
work of ransoming captives; Blessed Bernard of Corbario, already
mentioned; St. Peter Paschal, Bishop of Jaen, who devoted all his
energies to the ransom of captives and the conversion of the
Musselmans, martyred in 1300; St. Raymond was a cardinal, as also
were Juan de Luto and Father de Salazar. It is unnecessary to
enumerate the archbishops and bishops. Writers were numerous,
especially in Spain and Latin America in the seventeenth century.
To mention only a few: Alfonso Henriquez de Almendaris, Bishop of
Cuba, who founded a college for his order at Seville, and from
whom Philip III received an interesting report on the spiritual
and temporal condition of his diocese in 1623; Alfonso de Monroy,
who drew up the constitutions of the reform, and who was a bishop
in America; Alfonso Ram�n, theologian, preacher, and annalist of
his order; Alfonso Vel�squez de Miranda (1661), who took a
considerable part in political affairs; Fernando de Orio, general
of the order, who translated and learnedly commented on
Tertullian's treatise "De Poenitentia"; Fernando de Santiago
(1639), one of the favourite preachers of his time; Francisco
Henr�quez; Francisco de Santa Maria; Francisco Zumel; Gabriel de
Adarzo (1674), theologian, preacher, and statesman; Gabreil Tellez
(1650), dramatic author; Gaspar de Torrez, Bishop of the Canary
Islands; Pedro de Ona, whom Philip III sent on important missions
both in America and in the Kingdom of Naples.
J. M. BESSE
Transcribed by Trevor Lipscombe
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
edition on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For more information please download
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