In what is called the Grand Union of the year 1256, Pope Alexander IV amalgamated a number of specifically-nominated religious groups into what was officially called the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine.

Pope Alexander IV was Reginaldo dei Conti di Segni, an uncle of Cardinal Richard Annabaldi. The decree of the Pope named Licet ecclesiae catholicae on 9th April 1256 formally approved the Grand Union of the Order of Saint Augustine that had taken place with papal authorisation at the General Chapter conducted in the previous weeks.

Woodcut (above): This was one of the early attempts to picture the Grand Union, about which very few historical details are known.

The formation of these mendicant orders was partly the consequence of a reform program called for by Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. It desired to put an end to groups of preachers and religious lay groups who formed spontaneously and then operated without much structured control by the Church. It also desired to make more stable and effective the positive values that these new groups of preachers were trying to adopt, i.e., community life, poverty and official public ministry in the cities that were then rapidly increasing in size and cash economies blossomed.

As well as continue the reform program of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, Pope Alexander IV undertook the Grand Union of the Augustinians because of his positive support of the mendicant movement. Similar steps taken almost fifty years previously to form the Franciscan and Dominican Orders had already succeeded. In October 1256, the Pope praised the Franciscans and Dominicans "for your zeal in the promotion of the Christian faith, in the advancement of religious studies, and in working for the greater spiritual welfare of the Church."

A general belief held until recently that the Grand Union was intended only for groups already living the Rule of Augustine is definitely incorrect. The bull of 1256 by Pope Alexander IV clearly instructed his nephew, Cardinal Richard Annibaldi, to combine "all hermits of any Order whatsoever" (Richardus... qui auctoritate nostra omnes heremitas cuiuscumque ordinis uniens). The bull shows that Richard did not plan to unite only hermits following  the Rule of St Augustine — as has subsequently been the earlier favoured opinion within the Augustinian Order — but to unite all Tuscan hermits, regardless of whether they belonged to the Augustinian tradition or to any other tradition.

It is reasonable to speculate that it was actually Annabaldi, who since 1244 had been the Cardinal Protector of the Fratres Heremitarium in Tuscia Ordinis Sancti Augustini ("The Brothers Hermits in Tuscany of the Order of St Augustine"), who first suggested the reorganization of the houses of the Little Union of 1244 with all other eremitical ("hermit") groups that were Tuscan-based, even this time including the Williamites who, living according to the Rule of St Benedict, had been pleased to have been exempted from the amalgamation that took place in 1244.

Certainly, as one of the most influential members of the Roman (papal) Curia, as a nephew who had the ear of his uncle, the Pope, and as a known advocate of such a Grand Union, the speculation is certainly far from being groundless. The papal intention was to gather all hermit groups into one order of the mendicant model. Annibaldi partially failed in this goal, and possibly his failure was inevitable because only homogenous groups can be welded into a body that is uniform in its outlook and action. 

Photo (above): The Church of S. Maria del Popolo in Rome. It has been in Augustinian charge since 1250.

The groups of Tuscan hermits, who had been amalgamated under the guidance of Cardinal Richard Annibaldi at the Little Union of 1244, would become part of a new Order of Brothers Hermits of Saint Augustine (i.e., no longer with "of Tuscany" as part of their official name), formed by the same Annibaldi at the Grand Union of 1256. The document of invitation from the Pope stressed that all came to the Grand Union as equals so that they could form a mutual union in which no one previous group would dominate or prevail.

No group was to impose anything on the others, and everything was to be decided by common consent. The Prior General was to be chosen by Cardinal Annibaldi. The Cardinal told them that it was for the delegates, by their consent, to make the intention of the Pope their own intention as well. In other words, they were to accept the papal order to unite themselves "in a single profession and regular observance in the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine." The word hermit was included therein possibly to distinguish the new Order from the Canons Regular of St Augustine, and/or to acknowledge the eremitical (hermit) origins that the new Order was officially leaving behind.

It all happened as planned. The Grand Union took place at Santa Maria del Popolo, and began on 1st March 1256. It was orchestrated at the request of Pope Alexander IV by Cardinal Richard Annibaldi. Although no records of the meeting any longer exist, what it decided is clearly known from the papal bull, Licet ecclesiae Catholicae of 9 April 1256 which promulgated its decisions. This bull still exists.

The bull is a masterpiece of conciliation and restraint. It scarcely suggested the conditions favouring the union of these religious groups. Nor did it attempt to explain why the Williamites, who followed the Rule of Saint Benedict and had a different viewpoint about poverty, were drawn into the Great Union (although subsequently most of their houses persisted in obtaining permission to withdraw).

It is known from Licet Ecclesiae catholicae, the papal bull of the Grand Union, that it was Annibaldi who gave the Order its formal name. Annibaldi also indicated its new mendicant direction and purpose, decided on the colour and the form of the religious habit to be worn by the friars, and chose its first Prior General.Under the watchful eye and forceful personality of their Cardinal Protector, Richard Annibaldi, the Order of Saint Augustine moved to bring into practice the decisions of the Grand Union.

One obvious initial challenge was to convey the outcome to those communities that had not sent representatives to the Grand Union, but now nevertheless were obligated to implement them.  It is not thought that communities outside of Italy had delegates at the Grand Union. This probably included the following number of houses in the following countries: Germany 29, France 12, England 9, Hungary 7, Belgium 6, Spain 4, Portugal 3, Switzerland 2, and Austria 2.

Challenges

For all houses no matter in what country, however, there were almost always four immediate challenges.

These were: (1) the integration of members from the different pre-1256 constituent religious orders, (2) decisions about the degree of poverty to be observed, (3) the placing aside of the eremitical (hermit) life for the sake of a more intensive and active Christian ministry within the official pastoral ministry of the Church, which would acceledrate the general movement from the countryside into the growing cities and towns, and (4) the uniform use of the same religious habit.

Regarding the first challenge, in northern Italy particularly, the question of houses of the pre-1256 constituent religious orders located near one another needed to be addressed.

A typical case was at Faenza, Italy. The Gianboniti had the convento of Saint Albert, the Brettini had the convento of St Mary Magdeline and the Tuscan Hermits (i.e., founded by the Little Union of 1244) had the convento of Saint Augustine of Malta. Months after the Grand Union in 1256, these three houses were all closed and sold, and replaced with one house near the city gate of Faenza.

Regarding the second challenge, a response with limited flexibility was devised. Different constituent religious orders coming to the Grand Union had different traditions regarding poverty. For example, houses of the former hermits of Brettino ("Brettini") had between 1244 and 1256 adopted a rigorous standard of poverty after the example of the Franciscans, whereas the Augustinian Hermits of Tuscany had allowed for the community ownership of property.

In a letter dated 15th May 1257 Annibaldi decided the matter and, in the name of the Church, Pope Alexander promulgated it in his bull, Iis quae nostri, of 13th June 1257. It was decreed that both individual and collective poverty was to be observed in all communities that were able to live by alms, and that other houses could have common ownership of whatever was necessary to continue their life as a community. This was a satisfactory arrangement that worked well for the Order in the following centuries, when the topic of poverty (or, rather, the visible lack of it) caused concern and even division within some other religious orders.

(Continued on the next page)

For an Augnet page on the question of poverty, click here.

Photo Gallery 

For the Augnet photo gallery on the Church of S. Maria del Popolo in Rome (including the above two pictures), click here.

For further reading

Cardinal Richard Annibaldi. By Francis Roth O.S.A. A lengthy article that appeared in English in successive issues of the scholarly historical periodical, Augustiniana, of the Augustinian Historical Institute of Louvain, in 1952-1954. Part of Chapter 3 of the article, in Augustiniana of December 1952, specifically deals with this topic. Cf. pp. 230-247.

The Foundation of the OESA: A Reconsideration. This scholarly article written by Assistant Professor Eric Saak Ph.D. is available on Augnet. For a PDF file, click here. 

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