The Florians

(Floriacenses), an altogether independent order, and not, as some
consider, a branch of the Cistercians; it was founded in 1189 by
the Abbot Joachim of Flora (q.v.), by whom its constitutions were
drawn up. Besides preserving a number of Cistercian observances,
the founder added to the austerities of C�teaux. The Florians went
barefoot; their habits were white and very coarse. Their Breviary
differed in the distribution of Offices from that of C�teaux. The
constitutions were approved by Pope Celestine III in 1196. The
order spread rapidly, soon numbering as many as thirty-five
monasteries, but it seems not to have extended beyond Italy. In
1470 the regular abbots were replaced by commendatory abbots, but
the abuses of this regime hastened the decline of the order. In
1505 the Abbey of Flora and its affiliated monasteries were united
to the Order of C�teaux. In 1515 other Florian monasteries united
themselves to the Grande Chartreuse or to the Dominicans, and in
1570, after a century under the regime of commendatory abbots, not
a single independent monastery remained, and the Order of Flora
had ceased to exist. Under the Abbot of Flora were also four
monasteries of religious women, who followed the Florian rule.

EDMOND M. OBRECHT

Transcribed by Tim Drake

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
the file cathen.txt/.zip.

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