Order of Trinitarians
The redemption of captives has always been regarded in the Church
as a work of mercy, as is abundantly testified by many lives of
saints who devoted themselves to this task. The period of the
Crusades, when so many Christians were in danger of falling into
the hands of infidels, witnessed the rise of religious orders
vowed exclusively to this pious work. In the thirteenth century
there is mention of an order of Montjoie, founded for this purpose
in Spain, but its existence was brief, as it was established in
1180 and united in 1221 with the Order of Calatrava. Another
Spanish order prospered better; this was founded in the thirteenth
century by St Peter Nolasco under the title of Our Lady of Mercy
(de la Merced), whence the name Mercedarians. It soon spread
widely from Aragon, and has still several houses at Rome, in
Italy, Spain, and the old Spanish colonies. Finally, the Order of
Trinitarians, which exists to the present day, had at first no
other object, as is recalled by the primitive title: "Ordo S.
Trinitatis et de redemptione captivorum", its founder, St. John of
Math, a native of Provence and a doctor of the University of
Paris, conceived the project under the pious inspiration of a
pious solitary, St Felix of Valois, in a hermitage called
Cerfroid, which subsequently became the chief house of the order.
Innocent III, though little in favor of new orders, granted his
approbation to this enterprise in a Bull of 17 December, 1198.
The primitive rule, which has been in turns mitigated or restored,
enacted that each house should comprise seven brothers, one of
whom should be superior; the revenues of the house should be
divided into three parts, one for the monks, one for the support
of the poor, and one for the ransom of captives; finally it
forbade the monks when journeying to use a horse, either through
humility, or because horses were forbidden to Christians in the
Mussulman countries, whither the friars had to go; hence their
popular name of "Friars of the Ass".
In France the Trinitarians were as much favoured by the kings as
by the popes. St. Louis installed a house of their order in his
ch�teau of Fontainebleu. He chose Trinitarians as his chaplains,
and was accompanied by them on his crusades. Their convent in
Paris is dedicated to St. Mathurin; hence they are also known in
France as Mathurins. Founded in 1228, the Paris house soon
eclipsed Cerfroid, the cradle of the Trinitarians, and eventually
became the residence of the general, also called grand minister,
of the order. Towards the end of the twelfth century the order had
250 houses throughout Christendom, where its benevolent work was
manifested by the return of liberated captives. This won for it
many alms in lands and revenues, a third of which was used for
ransoms. But the chief source was collections; and to make these
fruitful it was not considered enough to attach indulgences to the
almsdeed, recourse was had to theatrical demonstrations to touch
hearts and open purses. The misfortunes of the unhappy captives in
the Mussulman countries were the readiest subjects for
descriptions, sermons, and even tableaux. In Spain these alms-
quests were made solemnly: the religious on their mules were
preceded by trumpeters and cymbal-players, and a herald proclaimed
the redemption by inviting families to make known their kinsfolk
in captivity and the alms destined for their ransom.
From the fourteenth century the Trinitarians had lay assistants,
i.e., charitable collectors, authorised by letters patent to
solicit alms for the order in their respective towns; these were
called marguilliers. There were also confraternities of the Holy
Trinity, chiefly in the towns where the order had no convent;
these consisted of lay tertiaries who wore the scapular of the
order, were associated with its spiritual favours, and devoted a
portion of their income to its work. In fact the Trinitarians had
considerable resources to meet the needs of their work. The funds
being collected, the ransomers to the number of three or four set
sail from Provence or Spain with objects to alleviate the lot of
the captives or coax their jailers. Their destination was usually
the Barbary States, especially in the sixteenth century when the
corsairs of Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco infested the Mediterranean
and made plunder their chief means of existence. The Mercedarians
went chiefly to Morocco, while the Trinitarians went preferably to
Tunis or Algiers. There began their trials. They had to confront
the dangers of the journey, the endemic diseases of the African
coast, exposed to the outrages of the natives, sometimes to burst
of Mussulman fanaticism, which cost several lives. The most
delicate part of the task lay in the choice of captives amid the
solicitations with which the monks were besieged and the
negotiations for settling the ransom-price between the corsairs
and the Trinitarians, between the exactions of the former and the
limited resources of the latter. When the sum was not sufficient,
the Trinitarians were held as hostages in the place of the
captives until the arrival of fresh funds. The choice of captives
was made according to the funds; ransom was first paid for the
natives of the regions which had contributed to the redemption.
Sometimes certain captives were previously indicated by their
family who paid the ransom. When the captives returned to Europe,
the Trinitarians had them go in procession from town to town amid
scenery intended to impress the imagination in justification of
the use of the alms and to inspire fresh almsdeeds. The number of
those ransomed during the three centuries is estimated at 90,000.
The most famous of these was Cervantes (ransomed in 1580), who at
his death was buried among the trinitarians at Madrid in a habit
of a Trinitarian tertiary.
Despite the large sums of money which passed through their hands,
the Trinitarians had to struggle constantly with poverty. They had
to defray the expenses of numerous hospitals, as well as to
administer parochial charges. They suffered greatly in France
during the English invasion of the fifteenth century and the wars
of religion of the sixteenth. Moreover, there were conflicts
between the Mercedarians, who had spread from Spain to France, and
the Trinitarians, who had spread from France to Spain. They
contested each other's right to collect and receive legacies:
attempts at fusion failed, and their rivalry gave rise to numerous
suits in both countries and to a whole controversial literature.
Their poverty resulted in a relaxation of the rules which had
often to be revised, and in divisions in the order. While one
party followed the mitigated rule, there was a reform party which
aimed at a return to the primitive observance. Thus arose the
first schism in 1578 at Pontoise, which in 1633 succeeded in
entering the mother-house at Cerfroid.
About the same time the Trinitarians of Spain formed a schism by
separating from the Trinitarians of France under Father Juan
Bautista of the Immaculate Conception; the latter added fresh
austerity to their rule by founding the Congregation of "Discalced
Trinitarians of Spain". This rule spread to Italy and Austria
(1690), where the ransom of captives was much esteemed during the
constant wars with the Turks. Hence the three congregations, which
gave rise to regrettable dissensions. The Discalced also went to
France, where they were suppressed by a Papal Bull in 1771. The
division between those observing the mitigated and the reformed
rule was terminated by uniting without fusing them under a common
general. At this time also they began to lay claim in France to
the title by which they have since been known: Canons Regular of
the Holy Trinity. The Revolution of 1789 suppressed them in all
the territories to which they had spread. Joseph II had already
suppressed them in 1784 in Austria and the Low Countries. They
have retained a few houses in Italy, Spain, and the Spanish
colonies. At Rome, where the convent of St. Thomas was united with
the chapter of St. Peter in 1387, the Trinitarians protested many
times unsuccessfully against this spoliation, when on the occasion
of the seventh centenary of the foundation of the order in 1898,
the chapter of St. Peter's voluntarily restored it. But their
chief house is the Basilica of St. John Chrysogonus which was
given to them by Pius IX in 1856.
There have always been nuns attached to the hospitals of the
order, but they do not seem to have formed an integral part of it.
The true Trinitarian Sisters were founded in Spain by Maria de
Romero in 1612 and they still have convents at Madrid and in other
cities. They form part of the discalced congregation.
The Trinitarians wear a white habit, with a cross of which the
upright is red and the cross bar blue.
CH. MOELLER
Transcribed by Trevor Lipscombe
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc., P.O. Box 281096, Denver, Colorado, USA, 80228.
(
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(www.knight.org/advent).
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effort aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
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