APOSTOLINI (FRATI APOSTOLICI). - A religious congregation of the 15th century, so called by the people because its members, renouncing the vanities of the world, led a life of Gospel poverty, following the example of the apostles, first as hermits and then united in a congregation. The movement of the pseudo-apostles of Segreuli and Dolcino provoked a reaction in a Catholic sense among men desirous of truly living according to the Gospel norms under the obedience of the bishops; thus arose the congregation of the A., on whose origins, however, the silence of contemporaries prevails. The first certain news dates from the beginning of the 15th century, in the testament of Angelo, bishop of Recanati, vicar of Gregory XII for the Marches.
Under Eugenius IV, who granted them the convent of SS. Simone e Giuda 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 especially widespread in central and northern Italy. The first convent built by them was that of Siena; in Recanati, where they were highly esteemed by the people and authorities, they occupied a monastery left by the Benedictines. The most representative figure is the blessed Placido, or Bartolomeo da Fermo, commonly called da Recanati. After about a century of existence, in 1589 Sixtus V united them with the Ambrosian Congregation «ad Nemus» of Milan; but since the union did not yield the hoped-for fruits, Urban VIII suppressed them as a congregation in 1643, placing the members and their goods under the jurisdiction of the diocesan ordinaries. Innocent X confirmed the suppression, and from then on every trace of the A. disappeared.