Girolamiti

GIROLAMITI. - With this name were called certain Congregations of hermits that arose in Spain and Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries. They followed the so-called

Rule of St. Augustine, revised with additions taken from the writings of St. Jerome and from other rules, and they regarded St. Jerome as their founder.

I. SPANISH HERMITS OF ST. JEROME

They were founded by Pietro Fernandez Pecha of Guadalajara (d. 1374), chamberlain of King Peter the Cruel. He, his brother Alfonso, bishop of Jaén, and the Portuguese Basco joined some Italian hermits who professed the Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, had been disciples of Tommasuccio of Siena, and had settled at Lupiana near Toledo. Soon other autonomous hermitages arose. In 1374 Pecha obtained from Gregory XI at Avignon the confirmation of the institution, but the so-called Rule of St. Augustine had to be adopted. Cardinal Ximenez sent the G. to America for the evangelization of the Indians, and the monastery of the Escorial was entrusted to them by Philip II. Members of the G. included Fernando de Talavera y Mendoza, first archbishop of Granada, Pedro de Cabrera, commentator on St. Thomas, Francesco de Geronimo and Antonio de Rosario, well-known composers.

In 1375 a female branch also arose, the Gerolamine, founded by Maria Garcias (d. 1426) at Toledo and developed in the principal cities of Spain and in Mexico.

II. POOR HERMITS OF ST. JEROME OF THE CONGREGATION OF PISA

Founded by the blessed Pietro dei Gambacorta of the lords of Pisa (d. 1435). In 1377 the blessed Pietro, a young man of twenty-five, became a hermit on Montebello near Urbino and within a few years founded other hermitages which were united into a Congregation, following the Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis and practicing the harshest penance. Soon the G. established themselves in Venice, Padua, Treviso, Vicenza, and in 1434 founded the convent of St. Onuphrius in Rome. At the end of the 17th century they also made some foundations in Austria and Bavaria. In 1368 Pius V had them adopt the so-called Rule of St. Augustine with their own constitutions and solemn vows. Having been reduced to very few religious, the Congregation was suppressed in 1933 by Pius XI with the apostolic letter Inter Iustituta (AAS, 25 [1933], p. 147 ff.).

III. GIROLAMITI OF THE OBSERVANCE OR OF LOMBARDY

They arose from the Congregation of the G. of Spain through a reform movement promoted by their general Lope de Olmedo (d. 1433), who in 1424 added to the Rules very strict constitutions taken from the Carthusians: absolute abstinence from meat, a Lenten fast from Sept. 30 (St. Jerome) to Easter, etc. Martin V approved the reform, constituted the members as an autonomous Congregation and assigned them the church of S. Alessio on the Aventine. The G. of the Observance spread through Spain and Italy, especially in Lombardy. In 1595 the Spanish convents reunited with the G. of Spain, and the Italian monasteries, having become autonomous, had their own general who resided at Ospedaletti near Lodi. The Congregation then died out.

IV. HERMITS OF ST. JEROME OF THE CONGREGATION OF FIESOLE

In 1360 Carlo dei conti Guidi di Montegranelli, a priest and Franciscan tertiary, established a small convent at Fiesole; convents of the same type arose at Venice, Verona and elsewhere. Gathered into a Congregation by Innocent VII (1406) and approved by Gregory XII, with Eugene IV in 1441 they adopted the so-called Rule of St. Augustine. Paul V gave them the convent of Sts. Vincent and Anastasius at Piazza Trevi (Rome). Reduced to a few members, in 1668 Clement IX dissolved the Congregation, uniting it with that of the G. of the Bl. Peter of Pisa.

Piero Sannazzaro