APOSTOLINES (APOSTOLIC FRIARS). - A religious congregation of the 15th century, so called by the people because its members, renouncing the vanities of the world, led a poor life according to the Gospel, after the example of the apostles, at first as hermits, then united in a congregation. The movement of the pseudo-apostles of Segurelli and of Dolcino aroused a reaction in the Catholic sense among men desirous of living truly according to the norms of the Gospel under the obedience of the bishops; thus arose the congregation of the A., on whose origins the silence of contemporaries nevertheless reigns. The first reliable notice is from the beginning of the 15th century, in the testament of Angelo, bishop of Recanati, vicar of Gregory XII for the Marches.
Under Eugene IV, who granted them the convent of Sts. Simon and Jude in Viterbo, the A. are already officially designated as friars of the Order of the A., living under the jurisdiction of the bishops. Innocent VIII determined the habit they were to wear, and Alexander VI solemnly approved them, subjecting them to the rule and obedience of the Augustinians. They were spread especially in central and northern Italy. The first convent built by them was that of Siena; at Recanati, where they were much esteemed by the people and the authorities, they occupied a monastery left by the Benedictines. The most representative figure is Blessed Placido or Bartholomew of Fermo, commonly called of Recanati. After about a century of life, in 1589, Sixtus V united them to the Congregation of the Ambrosians and ad Nemus and of Milan; but since the union did not bring the hoped-for fruits, Urban VIII in 1643 suppressed them as a congregation, subjecting the members and their goods to the diocesan ordinaries. Innocent X confirmed the suppression, and from then on every trace of the A. disappeared.
Bibliography5 works
Agostino Amore