A depiction of the canons down the centuries discussing the canonical vocation.

The spark that ignited this movement to "regularize" the canons was the first Lateran Council in 1059.  Cardinal Hildebrand's (a noted Cluniac monk) impassioned speech encouraging the Council Fathers to mandate the regular life for all priests did not lead to the Council Fathers to promulgate his program.  But it did lead them to commend and praise the common life for priests. Even this seemingly insignificant and innocuous proposal, in the excitement of the day was enough to ignite a struggle for the life of the clergy of Western Europe.

While there were already regular canons forming communities in several places, this council, the subsequent pontificate of Gregory VII (Cardinal Hildebrand) and his supporters among the episcopate, led to the widespread regularization of cathedral and collegiate canons as well as many new foundations for canons who wished the "regular" life.
 

The Index of Congregation and Houses is necessarily incomplete, owing to the magnitude of the Canonical Order.  Therefore check back and you will find this page frequently updated.
 

An 18th Century Canon Regular

Canons Regular of the Swiss Congregation of St. Maurice

St. Maurice of Agaunum is probably the oldest continuously inhabited abbey in the West.  The first Bishop of Valais, St. Theodorus, founded around 370 a shrine which commemorated the martyrdom of St. Maurice and companions.  Priests were probably attached to this shrine, but this is not known for certain.

In 515 King Sigismund, a convert to the Catholic faith, endowed a monastery near the shrine to St. Maurice.  The life of the monks was centered on the continual choral office and became the model for monks throughout western Europe .  Charles Martel imposed one of his generals on the abbey as superior and from 762 to 858 the abbot St. Maurice of Agaunum was also the Bishop of Sion.  Things went from bad to worse from 858 to 1032 when the abbey became the private property of the duke of Burgundy, thereafter passing to the house of Savoy.

It seems that canons replaced the monks sometimes around 820-830.  Whatever crisis precipitated this change remains unknown.  Probably these canons live under the Rule of St. Chrodegang as mitigated by the Synod of Aachen, which had been held just a few years earlier at the capital of the Frankish empire.  It seems that the nearby cathedrals of Sion, Aosta (two of whose later Bishops, Bl. Bonifacius and Bl. Emmerich, were canons regular of St. Orso in Aosta), Lausanne and Geneva all adopted this rule and that by the 11th Century the common life had fallen into disuse.

This situation changed in the 12th Century when  St. Hugh of Grenoble convinced Count Amadeus III of Savoy to abandon his claim on St. Maurice of Agaunum and restore the canonical life to its full splendor.  Amadeus agreed to this course of action, thereby setting into motion the reform of the abbey on March 30, 1128.  Until the middle of the century, canons of the Aachen observance and Augustinian canons lived side by side, seemingly harmoniously. This was typical in many houses of the canons of the Ordo Antiquus model.  As the Aachener canons died off, the community became fully "regular".

With the stabilization of the canonical life at St. Maurice, the community was able to assist other canonical houses, in particular St. Marie at Abondance and St. Marie at Sixt.  Bl. Pontius was the first abbot of Sixt.  A tradition relates that he began as a canon of St. Maurice, then went to Abondance, finally ending up at Sixt.  To encourage one another in their vocation to the regular life, the canons of St. Maurice, Abondance, Sixt and Entremont joined together to form a congregation.  This endured until Entremont split from the others to join the Congregation of the Canons Regular of St. Ruf in 1279.  Abondance fell under a commendatory abbot in 1433 and finally became a Cistercian abbey when St. Francis de Sales decided to replace the canons with monks in 1615.  Sixt however survived up until the French Revolution, enjoying a reputation for authentic religious life.

St. Maurice also lent support to the canons regular of Great St. Bernard (The Congregation of SS. Nicholas and Bernard of Mont Joux).  In 1199 the abbot of St. Maurice promoted the interests of Great. St. Bernard with the Bishop of Sion, and in 1212 Innocent III entrusted the reform of Great St. Bernard to St. Maurice and two Bishops.  In addition several other houses were founded from St. Maurice in France and Savoy.

However, the common life did not endure at St. Maurice.  Under Abbot James of Ayent (1292-1313) the monastery became a collegiate church of secular canons.  Over time the canons began to live apart in their parishes and pursue their lives independently of one another.  Moreover with the arrival of the Reformation, much of Valais fell under Protestant control and the abbey was forced to be subjugated to the Protestant lords of Bern, Valais and Fribourg.  Finally, in the early 17th Century a fire, an earthquake and finally an avalanche nearly extinguished the community.

Despair, however, did not overwhelm the canons.  Rather, the low state to which the abbey had sunk sparked a desire for reform.  The canons decided to take up the common life again.  In this they were supported by the nuncio Alexander Scappi, who wished to encourage the renewal of religious life throughout Switzerland.  In 1627 the first steps to institutionalizing the reform were taken and the rebuilt church was consecrated.  On July 20, 1642, the nuncio, Jerome Farnese consecrated Peter IV Mauritius Odet (1640-1657) abbot and approved the new constitutions, which restored the canons to the common life.  Abbot Peter also restored the abbey's relations with Sixt, which had fallen into abeyance.  As a reformer, he was supported vigorously by the Congregation of Our Savior, founded by St. Peter Fourier.  An ambitious plan was put on the table that would have united these two congregations and made St. Maurice the generalate, and the abbot the de facto superior.  However, the plan was widely opposed and did not come to fruition. 

In 1719 the abbot of St. Maurice entered into a relationship with the Lateran Congregation.  Though St. Maurice remained fully independent, the abbot was given the privileges of a Lateran abbot.  Religious life at the abbey proved healthy throughout the 18th Century.  However, the French inspired Swiss Revolution and the annexation of Valais to France, brought great dangers at the end of an otherwise happy period.  St. Maurice and Great St. Bernard were forcibly joined and a new constitution was imposed on the abbey by the French government in 1812.

With the defeat of Napoleon, St. Maurice and Great St. Bernard separated.  Subsequent attempts to enter into a voluntary union between these two houses never succeeded.  Constitutional problems plagued the community and were only resolved in 1870.  Peace restored, the community enjoyed vitality into the 20th Century.  To its traditional apostolates of teaching and care of souls was added missionary work in the Himalayas.  At the opening of the 21st Century, the canons continue to witness to Christ through the common life for priests and pastoral service to the Church through parish work and the secondary school run at the abbey. 

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Canons Regular of Mont St. Eloi

The origins of this ancient canonical house are not entirely certain.  One tradition holds that St. Eligius, Bishop of Noyon and Tournai, founded the abbey around 630.  A further tradition reports that St. Vindiciano, the Bishop of Cambrai-Arras, organized a community of priests at Mont St. Eloi in order to carry out the apostolate.  It is unclear what happened to this community.  Be that as it may, in 940 Bishop Fulbert of Cambrai-Arras established 8 canons in the abbey, whose community was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, Our Lady and St. Vindiciano.  It is reasonable to conclude that at this time these canons lived under the Rule of Aachen. 

Reform came to this house early and it followed one of the paths typical for house of the Ordo Antiquus.  In 1066 or 1068, Lieberto, Bishop of Cambrai-Arras, decided to regularize the community according to the spirit of the Gregorian reforms.  The regular canons undertook both the pastoral care of the priories and parishes which were dependents of the abbey and provided a center for intellectual life.  Though entrusted with numerous parishes and dependencies, its wealth was relatively modest.  Its greatest attraction was not, therefore its wealth, but rather the promise of intellectual vigor and piety.

Its notable members include Bl. John of Warneton and Nicholas Breakspeare (Pope Adrian IV).  The fervent intellectual life of Mont St. Eloi produced numerous Masters of Theology in the 13th and 14th Centuries who taught at the Sorbonne and were periti (experts) at the Council of Lyon.  These included Balduin de Bapaume, Jacque Desfontaines, Stephan du Fermont, Gervais, Robert d’Artois, Andrew, Jean de Mareuil and Eustace Seghin.  The intellectual strength of the house continued into the 16th Century, whereupon it began to wane.

The house declined in the 18th Century as the community became notoriously decadent and worldly, even earning the opprobrium of the vicar of Camblain, Thery, who published a tract denouncing them.  When the fury of the French Revolution arrived at their doors in 1790, the 23 canons refused to abandon their abbey, though it does appear that some did take the civil oath.  In 1792 the abbey was turned into a kind of prison for religious and in 1793 it was sold to a man named Lemaire, who destroyed the abbey and numerous churches, leaving not a trace.  The ignominious end of this great house occurred on April 24, 1794, when the last abbot, Dom Laignel and his brother, a Benedictine monk, were guillotined in Arras, martyrs to the Catholic faith.

Canons Regular of St. Ruf

In 1039 four canons of the cathedral chapter of Avignon, Arnold, Udilo, Pontius and Durandus,  withdrew from the world to follow the example of the Apostles in pursuit of the common life.  Their Bishop, Benedict, enthusiastically supported them and gave them two small churches.  They drew upon the Carolingian canonical uses, e.g. Rule of St. Chrodegang and the Rule of Aachen, and the example of other houses, including one in Narbonne, in composing their rule of life. However their historical significance lies in the fact that, as far as is presently known, they were the first religious community in the West to adopt the Rule of St. Augustine in any of its versions. This was further supplemented by numerous extracts from the writings of St. Isidore and St. Jerome, who were cited in the Rule of Aachen.

It is clear from their origins as canons seeking religious life that they belong to the Ordo Antiquus.  They transferred the traditions of the earlier Aachener canons to a new context which was taking shaping in the 11th Century.  A spirit of reform and rededication to the spiritual life led many canons to seek the religious life; one marked by simplicity, austerity and humility.  What was indeed innovative for this community was their decision to embrace the full common life with its emphasis on holding all things in common (vita apostolica).  This represented a conscious break from the past, wherein the canons had strongly upheld their right to own property according to the traditions of the Fathers (Instituta Patrum).

At the center of their life as canons was the Sacred Liturgy and their apostolates were typical: hospices for travelers, schools and the celebration of popular devotions.  Though their form of life very much resembled monks, it was never as severe, being tempered by the canonical vocation and Augustinian moderation.

The constitution and observances of St. Ruf, which were codified under Abbot Lietbert around 1100, became popular throughout France and the Iberian peninsula.  More than 50 abbey adopted them; many priories and cathedral chapters did the same.  Moreover, the relocation of the mother house to a prominent location at Valence in 1158 further enhanced the fame of the community.  St. Ruf also produced two popes, Anastasius IV and Adrian IV (1154-59), a Canon Regular of Mont St. Eloi.  A further testimony to the virtue of their way of life is illustrated by the life of St. Oldegar, who became the Bishop of Tarragona, Spain, in 1123.

As houses adopted the Consuetudines  (customary) of St. Ruf, their superiors were obliged to make an annual visit to Valence.  Moreover the abbot of St. Ruf retained the right to confirm the election of abbots in dependent houses.  In this respect, St. Ruf organized itself in a way parallel to monastic communities.  The influence of St. Ruf was much greater than its numbers.   Many canonical foundations borrowed from their customs, e.g. St. Victor and Marbach, preferring the less severe observance of St. Ruf to those of the stricter Ordo Novus (e.g. Springiersbach or Premontre).  Perhaps the most famous monastery to adopt its customs was that of the Holy Cross of Coimbra, Portugal.  Nonetheless, it would be an exaggeration to speak of a "Congregation" of St. Ruf.

The canons also suffered setbacks.  In 1210 the Albigensians destroyed the church and monastery and again during the French civil wars the mother house was destroyed in 1560.  The community was finally suppressed in 1772 as part of the program to rationalize religious life in France.

Canons Regular of San Frediano

One of the earliest houses of the regular life in Europe, these canons played an influential role in the first stages of the movement to promote the common life.  The First Lateran Council (1059) provided a strong impetus for the "regularization" of the clergy.  So too did Alexander II (1061-1073), who had already witnessed the flourishing of the common life in Lucca, where he had been Bishop. 

The canons of San Frediano (pictured on the right), founded or associated with other canonical houses in a loose fashion, similar to that of Santa Maria in Portu.  Though it was not a genuine congregation, there was as degree of unity among the houses belonging to this observance. 

Their most important foundation became the premier canonical congregation, the Canons Regular of St. John Lateran.  San Frediano and its dependencies joined the Lateran Congregation in 1512.  Honorius II belonged to this congregation.  At this time Pietro Retta († 1522), preacher and spiritual writer, belonged to this venerable canonry.

The Congregation of SS. Nicholas and Bernard of Mont Joux

This canonical foundation is representative of the hospitaller movement by which canons responded to the call to care for travelers and pilgrims.  St. Bernard of Melanthon chose a particularly audacious mission in founding a hospice upon the one of the principal routes over the Alps at Mount Jupiter (Mont Joux), sometime during the middle of the 11th Century.  Already a priest of Aosta, he went up in the Alps to resettle the abandoned hospice of St. Peter.  He attracted disciples and founded a canonry.  The canons joined the celebration of the Divine Office with love of neighbor.  It appears that they lived under the rule composed by St. Chrodegang and were not initially part of the Gregorian Reform.  In 1150 they adopted the influential Consuetudines of Marbach.  However, it was only with great effort and after several attempts that the canons finally embraced the Rule of St. Augustine sometime during the 13th Century.

The great expense of providing free hospitality and support for the community required a healthy endowment.  It came in abundance in the form of property and benefices that were not only local, but included holdings as far away as England.  While the 13th and 14th Centuries witnessed great prosperity for the hospice, it did not last.  The hospice and its holding were located in regions with strong and often conflicting loyalties.  Differences between Valais and Savoyard members of the community would also prove very destructive to the community in the 18th Century. 

Benefices abroad were progressively lost and commendatory abbots ruled from 1438 to 1586.  From 1586 to 1734 the situation improved, though the hospice had to accept the nomination of provosts from the ruling house of Savoy.  From 1734 to 1753 deep division along regional lines divided the canons seriously.  No provost acceptable to both factions could be elected.  In 1749 a provost supported by the house of Savoy and the pope was also not accepted.  Finally in 1753 the community was officially divided by Pope Benedict XIV.  This resulted in substantial losses for the hospice, since three-quarters of the canons and ninety percent of their parishes were secularized.

However the remaining canons, though small in number, heroically overcame this blow. A positive outcome was that they finally became a self-governing community with right to elect their own provost.  Their activities were now entirely restricted to Valais, where they continued to undertake pastoral work for travelers, as well as parish work. 

Unlike most religious, the canons did not suffer from the French Revolution or the Napoleonic Wars.  They provided a refuge for fleeing clergy and religious.  Napoleon perceived the utility of their apostolate vis-a-vis his designs to rule all of Europe.  He gave the canons the care of two other passages through the Alps, only one of which they were able to maintain.  In truth these were not gifts, but obligations that this small congregation could barely undertake at that time.    

While they escaped the menace of the French Revolution and Napoleon, conflict in Valais nearly destroyed the community in the mid-19th Century.  Radicals took power in Valais and  demanded 80,000 francs to help pay for their army, which was fighting in the Swiss Civil War.  The provost refused and the canons were rewarded with expropriation, imprisonment and military occupation.  Despite all this, the canons refused to surrender.  After the first wave of violence passed, the canons returned home and began their work anew.  By 1857 Conservatives had defeated the Radicals and the canons enjoyed a great deal of good will and respect for their stand against the Radicals.

The hospice again experienced a revival and its apostolates of hospitality and care of souls was zealously embraced.  Changes in modern transportation led the canons to reconsider their traditional practice of offering hospitality free of charge.  Many came to the hospice in the summer time as tourists, not as pilgrims or the poor.  The chapter decided in 1928 to make distinctions in the summer time between tourists and pilgrims.

In 1931 the canons accepted a call to the missions and agreed to evangelize Tibet.  In 1935 the construction of a hospice on the Chinese-Tibetan border began.  It did not get very far owing to the Japanese invasion of China, World War Two and the civil war that followed.  However the canons worked in the region for twenty years and established a number of parishes in China and conducted missions in Tibet.  Though they did find many receptive to the Gospel, Buddhist monks persecuted the canons and the new Christians.  Finally the Buddhists resorted to violence when they martyred Bl. Maurice Tournay on November 8, 1949.  Shortly thereafter the Chinese Communists expelled all foreign missionaries.  The missions in China ended, but a new one opened in Taiwan, where the canons arrived in 1952.

Back in Valais, the canons expanded their apostolates to include vocational education and priestly formation. 

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Canons Regular of San Quentin of Beauvais

Bishop Guido of Beauvais founded a collegiate church of secular canons in 1067.  Two year later the canons settled at the church of St. Quentin.  After ten years of strife between the canons and the diocese, the Bishop invited St. Ivo to come and regularize the community in 1078.  St. Ivo introduced the Augustinian life to the canons, many of whom were not interested in this new life.  Their persistent resistance to reform caused problems, but did not prevent the determined saint from making St. Quentin into a center of canonical reform whose effects were to be felt far and wide.

St. Ivo authored the consuetudines or customs and usages of St. Quentin.  Unlike the contemporary eremitical movement, which strongly emphasized solitude and asceticism, St. Ivo argued persuasively for the superiority of the common life.  He did so in practice through his ordo and in letters to Robert d'Abrissel and to Rinald, two leading hermits of his day.  One of the former's disciples was the spiritual father of the hermitage of canons at Chancelade.

In composing his Consuetudines St. Ivo drew upon three principal sources: the Instituta Patrum, the Regula Tertia and the Vita S. Augustani by St. Possidius.  His ordo retained the spirit of moderation with respect to fasting and abstinence, which is characteristic of St. Augustine's rule.   St. Ivo's ordo was diffused to different communities in the neighboring areas, including Mont St. Eloi, when, in 1099, Bl. John of Warneton, Bishop of Therouanne, promulgated it for his entire diocese.  In addition to the spread of the Consuetudines, St. Quentin proved particularly fruitful in fathering many new houses of canons, though it never formed a congregation or had a "mother-daughter" relationship with its new foundations.

There is a further question with respect to St. Quentin's role in introducing the canonical life to England.  At least one tradition suggests that two canons of St. Botolph in Colchester were sent to St. Quentin to study the Consuetudines of Beauvais and bring them back to England.

St. Ivo's successor, Galone, still faced some resistance to reform within the community.  Abbot Galone -- the title having been introduced during St. Ivo's reign -- governed for ten years until he became Bishop of Beauvais in 1100, while retaining the position of abbot.  Two year later he was sent to Poland as papal legate and finally became Bishop of Paris in 1104.  In each place he promoted the common life.  His successor, Eude, governed only briefly in 1105. 

It was the election of Abbot Raoul on October 4, 1105 which finally broke the impasse in the community and he governed serenely for thirty-one years.  He went to great lengths to conciliate with the Bishop and as a result, beneficial and fraternal relations developed between the canons regular and the canons of the cathedral.  The canons regular were granted certain privileges proper to cathedral canons and were welcomed to participate in the Divine Office of the cathedral.

The community was governed by the abbot, who was assisted by the prior and the administration of the household was entrusted to the praepositus.  The canons were organized by their clerical ranks or tasks within the community.  In addition to the canons, some lay people lived with the community.  This was a common practice at that time for regular canons throughout Europe.  They were conversi, sorores and pueri.  Conversi were men and woman who wished to leave the world and dedicate their lives to the Gospel.  They were often penitents.  Sorores were women who resided nearby and served the community.  Pueri were boys sent by their parents to become canons.  From the beginning it seems that the canons carried out pastoral ministry in the abbey's priories and parishes as well as providing hospitality for travelers.

Its later history follows the usual history of French canons.  Following its flowering in the 12th Century, the canons were displaced by the friars.  In the 1532 the abbey became a commenda.  They became part of the reformed Congregation of France in 1636 and were suppressed during French Revolution in 1790.

Canons Regular of St. Nikola

This important house of canons regular became the center of reform through southern Germany and Austria in the 11th Century.  St. Altmann, the Bishop of Passau and an enthusiastic supporter of the Gregorian Reforms, founded this house around 1067.  Shortly thereafter he obtained for the canons papal exemption (Libertas Romana).  It was the first house granted this dignity.  From St. Nikola he proceeded to send canons to found other houses.  In 1071 he dispatched canons to St. Florian, the oldest canonical house in Austria and thereafter founded canonries at Göttweig and St. Pölten.

These were turbulent times in the Holy Roman Empire.  In addition to an energetic reform program for the clergy, St. Gregory VII also wished to alter the relationship between Church and State, which in previous years had strongly favored the latter over the former, even with respect to the internal governance of the Church.  This led to the Investiture Struggle between the pope and emperor.  Since St. Altmann remained a stalwart supporter of the pope, Emperor Henry IV drove him and the canons out of Passau. 

Before he died in exile, St. Altmann sent some of the canons to Rottenbuch to found a new house in 1085.  Around 1100 Ulrich, Bishop of Passau, was able to recover St. Nikola and return the canons to their home.  By 1111 the canons were given care for the Lazarum of St. Elizabeth and incorporated numerous parishes.  By 1122, the canons became part of the important Salzburg Reform Union led by Bishop Konrad.  On account of this, they adopted the Consuetudines of the Canons Regular of Marbach as their rule of life, as did other houses influenced by the Salzburg reform.  The emperor's widow and wife of St. Leopold, Agnes, endowed the canons anew and was honored as a patroness of the canons at Passau as she is at Klosterneuburg.

The construction of the city wall in 1209 put the abbey outside of the city. The community was conceded a measure of self-governance and independence from episcopal visitation by 1230.  This advantage permitted the energetic community to become not only a religious center, but also culturally and economically influential.  In the 16th Century St. Nikola also became renowned for its promotion of music and the other humanities.  This was also a perilous time for the canons as Protestantism threatened their very existence. 

However, by the 17th Century, the worst of the threat had passed and the canons again flourished.  The community was again spiritually and economically healthy.  Thereupon the canons undertook an ambitious building program that extended the abbey, renovated the gothic church according to the baroque style of the times, and commissioned new frescos to adorn the interior.  The entire project was completed in 1730.  Their library was likewise famous for its vast collection of works.  The wealth of the canons was also spent on charitable projects.  One notable practice was the habit of each of the canons to underwrite the education of a young man in Passau.  In 1785 the white habit was replaced by a black one.

This thriving canonry came to a brutal end with its secularization in 1803.  In the subsequent years the wealth of the abbey was plundered and most of the buildings damaged or destroyed.  In 1945 the Sisters of the Teutonic Order obtained what was left of the abbey and the church, renovated them and adopted this venerable abbey as their mother house.

Canons Regular of Springiersbach

Around 1072-74 a new community of canons regular came into being at the abbey of Ravengiersburg.  By 1100 they had founded a number of small canonical houses throughout the region.  In 1102 Benigna, the widow of a noble minister, Ruker, decided to endow a new abbey of canons regular in Springiersbach.  Securing the support of both the count and the Archbishop of Trier, the new house was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.  In 1110, her son Richard became provost and led the abbey to its greatest splendor.  He gave the canons the common life combined with poverty and manual labor.  He took the Rule of St. Augustine and the Ordo Monasterii as the governing legislation, firmly placing this house in the reform stream of the Ordo Novus.

Under Richard the house grew rapidly, expanding to Orval (1110), Steinfeld (1121), Frankenthal (1119) and Klosterrath (1124).  Moreover a number of houses of canons and canonesses entered into a union with Springiersbach.  The Count desired to see all the houses in his lands united with Springiersbach and the canons accepted this program (1130-40).  In 1139 the Holy See granted Springiersbach the right to hold General Chapters for all its member houses.  Due to the rapid rise of the canons and the possibility that the abbot could become more powerful than the Archbishop, a struggle between Springiersbach and the Archbishop of Trier broke out.  Settled in 1145, it left the abbot of Springiersbach in a weakened position.

Thereafter the house entered a period of dissolution with poor leadership, leading to an intervention by the Archbishop and the suppression of two dependent houses.  Under Assalonne (1191-96), an attempt was made to reform the house through an association with the Canons Regular of St. Victor, the effects of which were transitory.  Wealth and a lack of a genuine canonical vocation on the part of many of the canons who were often the fatherless nobles, led to a further degradation of the canonical observance.

Though the abbey was only suppressed in 1802, its days of splendor were long passed.  Its history was marked by ongoing troubles with the archbishop, failed reforms and the loss of dependent foundations.  The abbey had fallen to such a low state that a plan was proposed in 1766 to convert the abbey into a home for knights.

Canons Regular of Rottenbuch

Rottenbuch was founded sometime during the 10th Century as hermitage.  In 1073, Duke Welf I of Bavaria, on the advice of St. Altmann, decided to found a canonry.  However due to the Investiture Struggle, the canons could not settled there until 1085, when some canons from St. Nikola (Passau) and St. Pölten arrived.  On March 6, 1090 Rottenbuch received from Pope Urban II the much desired papal exemption (Libertas Romana).  It was the first house of the later Salzburg Reform Union to attain to this privilege. This was probably due to its importance in the reform movement. Given its origins, it is not surprising that Rottenbuch was both a center of papal loyalty during the Investiture Struggle, a refuge for those exiled by the emperor and an influential leader in the canonical movement.  

The constitution of Rottenbuch, to which they remained faithful into the 15th Century, is very similar to the famous Marbach Consuetudines, which they adopted around 1150.  Rottenbuch grew very quickly and enjoyed a good reputation throughout all of Germany.  It seems that the canons provided hospitality for pilgrims and travelers on the road to Italy, and undertook the care of souls from their earliest days.  Rottenbuch, like other canonries, had a number of incorporated parishes for which the abbey was responsible. 

Though it never built a proper congregation, in the first two decades of the 12th Century canons from Rottenbuch founded or supplied canons to houses at Rolduc (Klosterrath) near Maastricht, Reichersberg, Berchtesgaden, Baumburg, Dießen, Hamersleben and Neuwerk bei Halle.  By the end of the 13th century almost 200 canonries were founded in German-speaking lands, most of which stem in some way from the reform of Rottenbuch. Under Provost Otto I (1147-1180) Rottenbuch reached its first great flourishing.  His role as a mediator between the emperor and pope gave further prestige to this canonical house.

It was in this venerable abbey that the famous Gerhoch (later of Reichersberg) entered religion, having left the unhealthy atmosphere of the cathedral canonry of Augsburg where he was active in the school. He was joined by others of his circle, among whom was Arno his brother, who succeeded him later as dean and provost of Reichersberg Abbey.

Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria elevated Rottenbuch to an imperial abbey in gratitude for their protection and assistance.  This gave the abbey greater independence and stability.  In the 15th Century Rottenbuch was again in the position to lead a reform of religious life as well as undertake cultural and economic projects, including the construction of new church towers and a prelature, and the restoration of the Romanesque church.  Pontificals were conferred on the provost in 1442 and the canons were given the privilege to wear the almutium. 

Rottenbuch remained a bastion of orthodoxy during the Protestant reformation and the canons struggled mightily to maintain the Catholic faith throughout the region under their care.  Even the peasant uprising of 1525 did not deter the canons from their mission.  The Thirty Years' War (1616-1648) was fraught with dangers for the community, but under Provost Michael Fischer (1627-1663) Rottenbuch flourished yet again until its demise in 1803 at the secularization.  In 1694 the abbey joined the Lateran Congregation.

During its last century, the church was renovated in the baroque style and the abbey, like Pölling, became a renowned center of scholarship.  It possessed an impressive library and some of the canons dedicated themselves to research, particularly in history and astronomy.  In fact the canons obtained the Mannheimer Meteorological Society's first observatory on the Hohenpeißingberg in 1781 to advance their research into the mysteries of Creation.

When the decree of secularization came in 1803, it annihilated a healthy and vivacious community of 39 canons, 5 juniors and 3 lay brothers.  The contempt and hatred for the faith with which this decree was issued, is illustrated further by the malice with which it was executed.  The commissioner in charge of the secularization wanted the entire abbey pulled down.  It was only with great effort that the church and some of the new buildings were saved. The priceless collection in the library was mostly sent to a paper mill.   

Canons Regular of St. Mark

The origins of this house of canons in Mantua are not clear.  Perhaps they were founded by a pious Countess, Matilde of Canossa († 1076), who endowed the church of St. Mark to support priests living the common life.  Another possibility is that a community was founded or reformed under the leader of Albert Spinola, a Canon Regular of Mortara, in 1194.  What is certain however is that Innocent III in 1204 approved their rule of life as canons regular while they were under the leadership of Albert of Mantua († 1210).

Their life was marked by a contemplative vocation, monastic observances and rigorous silence in the dormitory and refectory.  Communication, when it occurred at all, was through sign language.  Moreover the life was characterized by its austerities: meager diet and regular fasting (except for the sick and old).

 In 1220 five houses belonged to the congregation and by 1300 they numbered over ten.  The poet Girolamo Vida belonged to this congregation.  By Vida's lifetime, the vitality of congregation was already mostly spent and they were united first to the Umiliati (early in the 16th Century) then finally to the Camadolese in 1584.

Canons Regular of St. John Lateran

Sometime during the pontificate of Alexander II (1060-72) some of the Canons Regular of San  Frediano were brought to Rome to serve at this venerable basilica.  This was a great honor since St. John Lateran, being the cathedral of the diocese of Rome and the residence of the popes at the time, was arguably the most important church in Christendom.  However, it was later under Paschal II that the prior of San Frediano was brought to Rome and given the cathedral parish as well as the priory.  The were given care of other parishes in Rome and beyond as well. Finally in 1153 Anastasius IV confirmed the rights and privileges of canons.

The canons were given a customary, the Ordo Officiorum Ecclesiae Lateranensis, in 1145 by Prior Bernard, whom Eugene III created a cardinal that same year.  The celebration of the Divine Office occupied a significant portion of the day.  Moreover, often the Holy Father would celebrate the liturgy in his cathedral in the presence of his canons.  The observance of silence was particularly rigorous, especially during Lent.  The canons were also daily given time for reading and study.  In the morning a daily chapter of faults was held in the presence of the prior, there was reading during meals and frequent fasting.  The canons cared for the poor and pilgrims as part of their mission at the church of San Giovanni alla Porta Latina and the neighboring papal hospice, "Xenodochium Lateranense," which was entrusted to them by Lucius II.

The canons enjoyed the greatest flowering under Alexander III (1159-1181).  At this time the magnificent cloister of the cathedral was completed.  But also under this pope many inauspicious decisions were made which would lead to the decline in the canonical life.  Prebends, i.e. giving ecclesiastics a role in the governance of religious communities ostensibly to assist them, the secularization of the chapters of cathedrals and collegiate churches, as well as the non-residence of superiors, i.e. superiors who did not reside in their communities, et. al., undermined the quality of priestly life throughout the Church.

The canons regular continued to staff the basilica until 1299, when Boniface VIII replaced them with 15 secular canons of prominent Roman families.  Canons regular would not return to the cathedral for 140 years, when they would come from the Canons Regular of San Fregionaia.

Cathedral Chapters

For approximately 200 years canons regular served as the cathedral chapter of St. John Lateran.  This was a practice common especially at the end of the 11th Century and the opening decades of the 12th Century.  Though closely associated with the Gregorian Reform program, which in fact began before the pontificate of St. Gregory VII (1073- 1085) with the first Lateran Council in 1059, there were in fact already three chapters in Italy living a "regular life" (Lucca in 1048, Atino in 1056 and Florence in 1058).  The strength of this movement lay principally in Italy, southern France and Spain. 

None of this is particularly odd since the canonical life had its origins in the ancient practice of bishops living with their clergy at the cathedral, as did St. Augustine, St. Chrodegang, et al.  Chapters (from the Latin capitulum) of canons formed the bishop's senate.  These priests were not only entrusted with the task of praying the Divine Office and offering the Mass in the cathedral, but also carried out a variety of roles to support the bishop in his office as chief shepherd of the diocese.  These offices included the dean, who presided over the chapter; a canon theologian; a canon penitentiary with the authority to hear confessions throughout the diocese; treasurer; sacristan, secretary; custos, primicerius, portarius, precentor, hospitalarius, eleemosynarius or almoner, camerarius or chamberlain. 

Besides offering the bishop the manpower to govern his diocese and run his household, the chapter also formed his council, to which he was obliged, depending on the law, to ask for consent or consultation on important decisions.  In the Middle Ages chapters had the right to elect the bishop (problems with this quickly brought the Holy See to curtail this privilege significantly), and held other special privileges.

It is hardly surprising that many bishops elected to regularize their cathedral chapters since it made the cathedral a focal point for ecclesiastical reform.  This, however, often meant replacing existing bodies of secular canons or monks.  While among the secular clergy there were doubtless some who were filled with a desire for a reformed life, there were likewise many who did not wish to give up their privileges as secular canons, as was evident in the case of the chapter at St. John Lateran.  Monastic and secular chapters alike, (the former were common in England) often fought and won their right to maintain their position in the Bishop's cathedral.  For example, St. John of Chantillon tried and failed to regularize his cathedral chapter.

Whether through a holy Bishop or zealous reformer, regularized cathedral chapter were founded in Cefalu in Sicily; Gubbio (through St. Ubald), Castello, Fano, Florence, Milan, Pistoia and Lucca in Italy; Toulouse, Avignon, Nimes, Arles, Carcassonne, Pamiers, Cahors, Beziers, Narbonne, Apt, Comminges (through St. Bertrand), Mende, Albi, Nice, Bordeaux, Grenoble (through St. Hugh of Grenoble), Tarantasia, Belley and Sees in France; Pamplona, Jaca, Dertosa, Vich, Osma, Toledo, Lerida, Tarragona and Zaragoza in Spain; Haberstadt and Neumünster in Germany; Salzburg and Gurk in Austria; Down Clogher (through St. Malachy) and Dublin (through St. Lawrence O'Toole) in Ireland; St. Andrew's and Whitehorn in Scotland and Carlyle in England.

St. Peter Arbues and St. Raymund belonged to cathedral chapters and the founder of the Order of Preachers, St. Dominic, pictured on the right as a canon, belonged to the cathedral chapter of Osma.

 
Canons Regular of Herival

Located in Lorraine, Herival is a textbook example of a Ordo Novus house that sprang from the eremitical movement.  In 1080 by a certain Engibald, a priest of Remiremont, came to Herival to withdraw from the world and dedicate himself completely to God.  Like other hermits, his example attracted disciples and a hermitage grew up around him.  When Engibald died in 1122, his brother and successor, Vicadio, introduced various observances and usages derived from the writings and examples of the Desert Fathers, St. Columban and other monks.

Some years later, under the prior, Constantine, the hermits of Herival and two other houses, Bonneval and Aubiey, joined together under the leadership of Constantine.  They adopted the Rule of St. Augustine, embraced the canonical life and Constantine composed a "Rule of Herival," which attempted to integrate their eremitical heritage into their canonical vocation.  These statues were noted for their austerity with respect to fasting, abstinences and other penances and went beyond those practiced by the Carthusians, Cistercians, and the reformed canons of Premontre.  In fact, so severe were these statues, that popes  Honorius III and Innocent IV introduced various mitigations into the statutes. 

The congregation was governed by a life-long elected prior or master, pointing again to its eremitical origins. The life of the canons was principally contemplative.  However with the intrusion of pastoral responsibilities beginning in the 14th Century, it became harder to balance the two.  Among these was a hospital at Plombieres and several parishes.  Social instability, plagues, war and pastoral duties led to relaxation of the rule at the end of the 15th Century.  A reform of the congregation occurred und Prior Sebastian Valdenaire, who promulgated new statutes, which were considerably milder than those of Constantine.  These were observed up until 1742, when Jean-Francois Callot promulgated new ones.

The Congregation of Herival ceased to exist as an independent body in 1747, when the Duke of Lorraine joined them to the newly founded Congregation of Our Savior.  The French revolutionary government nationalized the priories at the end of the 18th Century and all the buildings except for the guest house were destroyed. 

Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Mortara

Mortara lay along one of the most important pilgrimage routes in Europe between Rome and Santiago de Compestella.  The marquis, Adam del Bosco of Mortara, a wealthy priest, decided to endow a monastery, church and hospice for pilgrims in 1082.  He was a friend of Gregory VII and shared his hopes for the reform of the clergy. 

However he thought that Cistercians would be quite suitable for his plan until he came to realize that monks were not able to do the priestly work, which he had envisioned.  So instead in 1083 he gather a group of his friends in the priesthood together in the house and they began to live the common life, celebrate the liturgy and carry out works of mercy.  The first prior – Gandalf of Garlasco – gave them the name Canons of Mortara to distinguish the community from monks.  As they grew, they established other houses along the pilgrim route.  In 1097 Urban II visited and he consecrated the high altar of their church.

Initially this house was under episcopal jurisdiction since it did not belonging to the order of canons regular.  They probably lived under the Instituta Patrum or some version thereof.  Their work centered on service to travelers, pilgrims, the sick and the poor.  As they continued to expand, they began to seek a more regular status for their community.  In 1120 they embraced the Rule of St. Augustine "ad experimentum"; in 1134 a papal bull referred to them as canons regular; and finally in 1168 they officially and definitively became part of the canonical order.

They continued to grow rapidly and accepted the responsibility for the pastoral care of several parishes in Lombardy and Piedmont.  During the pontificate of Innocent II, they embraced 14 abbeys and priories and by that of Urban III, 43 abbeys and priories.  It was at this time that the canon counted among their numbers, St. Quirinus (Guarinus). A second saint, St. Albert, would later become patriarch of Jerusalem and give a rule of the Carmelites.  Others became Bishops as well including Bl. Thomas of Milan.

Due to political instability and social unrest, the canons and their houses declined.  In 1448 Rafaele Salviati convoked the General Chapter to decide the fate of the congregation.  Their attempts at reform were not successful and the townsmen of Mortara no longer wished their presence.  In exile, Salviati decided to seek the protection of the flourishing reform congregation of Canons Regular of the Lateran for his community.  They joined to the Lateran Canons in 1449, while retaining the privilege of using their own customs and traditions.  Moreover it was through the efforts of the Lateran superior general that the Mortara canons were finally able to return to their home in Mortara.

Mortara was suppressed along with the other houses of the Lateran Congregation in the lands ruled by the King of Savoy in 1798.
 

San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro

Perhaps the most important church in Pavia, San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro became home to canons regular of Mortara in 1221, though there were probably other canons there earlier.  This church has a special importance for both the canons regular and the Augustinian friars since St. Augustine's relics were translated to it.  Probably the Bishop of Pavia, St. Folco, who was a canon regular from Piacenza, introduced those of Mortara to San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. 

The house has played an important role in the reform of canonical life.  On two occasions this house gave its members to new influential new foundations in the 14th and 15th Centuries.  This houses seems to have supplied canons regular to help found the first Czech canonry at Raudnitz in 1333.  Nearly 70 years later, with the permission of the abbot of San Pietro, two reform minded canons, the prior, Leone Gheradini da Carate, and Taddeo da Bagnasco, joined Bartolomeo da Roma in 1402 and relocated to Lucca where they founded the reformed Canons Regular of Fregionaia.  Just 47 years later, the entire Mortara Congregation joined this new congregation, by then called the Lateran Canons.

San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro continued to be an important house of the congregation until its suppression with other house of the Lateran Congregation in Lombardy by Joseph II, Emperor of Austria, in 1781.  This was a particularly painful blow to both the canons and friars, who considered this house, which they shared, to be a spiritual center of their respective orders.

Canons Regular of Arrouaise

Located in the dense forest of Artois through which ancient Roman roads connected France to the Low Countries and England to the continent, a layman named Ruggerius established a hermitage where he provided a place of rest and safety for travelers.  This was a dangerous place, home to an infamous brigand, Berengarius who murdered many, including two Irish missionaries (Luglio and Lugliano).

In 1090 Bl. Heldemar of Tournai and Kuno, a German, arrived at the hermitage.  Together with Ruggerius they began to live the common life.  Since Artois belonged to the Normans, it connected them to France, the Low Countries and England.  Men from these lands came to Arrouaise seeking the common life and its apostolate of hospitality.  Heldemar and Ruggerius died early, leaving Kuno alone to guide the fledging community according to their vision.  In 1097 Bishop Lambert of Arras recognized the hermitage as a religious community

A few later Kuno traveled to Rome to obtained papal recognition.  On account of this visit, the community received papal recognition, but lost Kuno, whom Paschal II decided to make cardinal-Archbishop of Palestrina (1107-1121).  The community enjoyed good relations with the Bishop of Therouanne, Bl. John of Warneton,  a Canon Regular of Mont Saint Eloi and the Bishop of Chartres,  St. Ivo, a Canon Regular of St. Quentin, both of whom were promoters of the canonical life among the French clergy.

In 1121 the community elected its first abbot, a young canon, named Gervais, who was a cleric in the court of Boulogne.  Under his long reign (1121-47), the members of the community took the title of canons in place of the original title of hermit and its golden age commenced.  The Rule of Arrouaise, which combined the Regula Tertia of St. Augustine with the customs of the hermitage, was identified with the success of the community and thereupon became a power incentive for other canonical houses to associate with Arrouaise.  Moreover, on account of the fact that Abbot Gervais came from a port town, the fame of the house spread swiftly to England and Ireland.

Arrouaise is historically significant because it made an attempt to create a centralized congregation, like that of Citeaux or Premontre.  When a house joined the congregation of Arrouaise, their abbot was obliged to attend the annual Chapter.  It was through this mechanism that Arrouaise hoped to oversee its burgeoning congregation.  The Abbey of Henin-Lietard was the first house to join in 1123.  During the next 10 years, the congregation expanded throughout Artois, including the cathedral chapters of Theouanne, Boulogne, Noyon and Soisson.  In 1133 the first English house in Lincoln joined and in 1139 the Bishop of Carlisle regularized his cathedral chapter according to the Rule of Arrouaise. 

At the same time in Ireland, St. Malachy was promoting the customs of Arrouaise as a mean of reform.  Later, in 1160 St. Lawrence O'Toole regularized the cathedral chapter in Dublin.  The Rule of Arrouaise found widespread adherence in Ireland, but the Irish were often unwilling to attend the annual Chapters, leading to tensions between Arrouaise and the Irish houses (go to canons regular in Ireland).  Arrouaise also claimed houses into Germany, Spain and Poland (Silesia, Stift Sagan).

Stagnation followed Gervais’ resignation in 1147 until 1180, when Gualterius became abbot.  He reorganized the order by dropping difficult or distant houses and clarified the rights and obligations of member abbeys.  Though his efforts were valiant, larger forces, especially political intrigues between France and Flanders, prevented them from being successful.  At the opening of the 13th Century, the congregation was already in decline.  Monastic observances were added to the Rule, which opened up a division in the congregation between those who accepted these innovations and those who did not.

Though it lost much of the importance it had in the 12th Century, it still exerted influence in Artois and in England up until the Reformation.  The second major blow came with the French invasion of Artois in the 15th Century.  The instability and frequent warfare, which afflicted this region, put a constant strain on the health of this congregation.  However, the canons regular of Arrouaise did persist in very small numbers up until the French Revolution, when they were suppressed in 1790.

Canons Regular of Marbach

Though it was founded at the end of the 11th Century, this house would rise to become one of the most important centers of canons regular in the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th Century and therefore also for the entire Church because its customs were widely diffused throughout all the German speaking lands of that time.  What made this house so influential was its customs or Consuetudines of Marbach, which had the benefit of moderating the more severe aspects of life of Ordo Novus canons, e.g.  Springiersbach, Rolduc (Klosterrath) or Premontre.  Practically, this left room for pastoral work.  Therefore many Ordo Antiquus houses of canons adopted these customs as a means of introducing the regular life.

The community, located just southwest of Colmar in Marbach, was founded in 1089 by Manegold of Lautenbach, who has been for a brief time the dean of Rottenbuch in Bavaria and Burkhard of Geberschweier, a vassal of the Bishop of Strasbourg.  In 1096 and again in 1103 they obtained papal recognitions and privileges.  In 1105 the Bishop of Geneva consecrated the abbey church of St. Augustine.  Through the 12th Century this house gave the Church a number of reformer Bishops and other houses were founded or joined Marbach.  However, the great importance of this house belongs to its Consuetudines, to which we now turn in depth.

The Consuetudines of Marbach reflect their author's experience, spirituality and understanding of the canonical vocation.  Every aspect of this life is addressed in the Consuetudines.  With respect to the acceptance of novices, Manegold placed "utility" (the term evidently comes from the Synod of Lerida in 524) above all other considerations when evaluating a candidate.  One must be careful not to project a modern understanding of this word, which would suggest a dehumanizing objectification of the canon.  Rather, what Manegold has in mind is one's usefulness with respect to the mission of the Church and the apostolate of the priesthood.
 

St. Augustine presents His Rule and the Consuetudines of Marbach
to the canons and canonesses

One of the chief concerns of the Consuetudines is pride.  Since the canons play the principal role in the liturgy and were responsible for preaching, the temptations to pride were in fact enormous.  To counter this tendency, Manegold stipulated poverty, readiness to serve generously as both a form of witness to the Gospel and an expression of love for neighbor and finally he mandated a careful examination of the motivation for entrance into the community.  If one came without the right intentions, then one ought not be admitted to the canons.

Manegold placed prayer at the center of the life of the canons.  Not only liturgical prayer, but also private personal prayer was expected.  Therefore new member of the community were to be instructed in different forms of prayer with particular emphasis on contrition.  Prayer itself was an offering to God and what was said in prayer mattered less than that it was said at all.  The gift of time, its regularity and persistence were the qualities prized about all.

With prayer, Manegold also coupled the practice of silence, whose benefits not only included the facilitation of recollection and meditation, but also expressed an important form of charity for one's neighbor.  During recreation, conversation was directed to whatever was edifying and beneficial, while work was done in silence with signs used in place of spoken words.

Manegold place a strong emphasis on the Rite of Investiture, which at Marbach had a sacramental character.  The rite itself contained a prayer for forgiveness which came from an ancient rite of reconciliation of penitents.  The superior invoked the Holy Spirit over the newly clothed novice, asking that the new habit should symbolize a genuine interior renewal.

Given the thorough and profound nature of the Consuetudines, many houses of German speaking canons chose to adopt them in part or whole as a charter for reform.  A number of priories actually became dependant houses of Marbach; others accepted superiors from Marbach and the Consuetudines; others entered a kind of confraternity with Marbach or adopted some of the statues and still others remained entire autonomous, but borrowed from the liturgical practices and Consuetudines of Marbach, freely combining them with those of other houses, e.g. Rottenbuch.

In addition the 36 communities in Alasce, Switzerland, Germany and Austria, there were another 20 to 30 dependent houses of the Salzburg Union and Rottenbuch that adhered in part or in whole to the Consuetudines.

After the 12th Century, as a result of epidemics, social instability and other problems, the discipline of the Marbach waned and the community declined.  In 1464, the canons adopted the observance of the Windesheim Congregation, which remained in force until 1769. 

Canons Regular of Santa Maria in Portu

Though the first recorded mention of this canonry occurs in 1103, it is probably 11th Century springing out of the ferment of the Gregorian Reforms.  In 1106, Peter of Onesti arrived at the church of St. Maria in Portu on the isle of Corizo near Ravenna, where he renovated the church and built a cloister on the earlier 11th Century foundation.  He was pious and hardworking and attracted disciples.  Together they began to live the full common life (vita canonica) and he became prior of the community.

The canons received papal recognition from Paschal II, who congratulated Peter in a letter dated May 7, 1114 for leading the regular life “secundum sanctorum Patrum institutionem."  Shortly thereafter a new rule of life, called the Portuense Rule, was promulgated for the community.  It bears many similarities to the Rule of St. Augustine and the Aachen Statutes.  With respect to its origins, there is some dispute over whether Peter composed it specifically for this community at Santa Maria in Portu or an earlier one.  Either way it was approved by Paschal II on Dec. 21. 1116.

Peter died prematurely, but he left his foundation is good shape.  It grew rapidly and expanded to other places.  Within a few years, there were eight dependent houses belonging to the abbey, though they were only loosely joined together and not a genuine congregation.  The rule enjoyed a much broader diffusion to Italy, France, Germany and Spain.  For example,  St. Ubald introduced the rule to the canons of the cathedral at Gubbio. 

The canons were models of priestly sanctity.  Most famous in this tradition is St. Hildebrand, who was educated by the canons, became one himself and later served as provost in Rimini and Bishop of Fossombrone.

By the 15th Century, moribund community nearly slipped into extinction on account of the absence of leadership and direction that was a direct result of the practice of commendatory abbots.  With no one in charge, buildings fell into disrepair and were abandoned and vocations plummeted until finally in 1419 the community dwindled to just two: the prior and one canon.  However, a pious aristocrat from Ravenna, Obizone, took it upon himself to make sure that this ancient canonical house should not die.  He arranged a union between Santa Maria in Portu and the newly founded Canons Regular of Fregionaia.  Like a sickly branch grafted onto a healthy vine, it drew revitalizing sap from this reform congregation and was soon again filled with vigor and vocations.

Its fate, like the other houses were grafted onto the canons of Fregionaia, was bound to the health and well being of their successor body, the Lateran Congregation, which was suppressed by Napoleon in 1799.

 
Congregation of the Canons Regular of Chancelade

Around 1120 a portion of the secular canons of Perigueux, accompanied by other ecclesiastics and laymen, withdrew from the world to found a community to study and pray.  This simple hermitage was overseen initially by Foucauld, a hermit disciple of Robert d’Arbrissel.  Unlike other eremitical movements of this time however, this one developed rather quickly into canons regular, though some resisted and remained hermits.  The church was dedicated in 1129 and Gerard of Montlava became the first abbot of this new community.  Upon the completion of the abbey, i.e. the church and residence, in 1132, the first canons professed vows in 1133.  The community numbered ten members, including seven priests and three laymen.  They first took their rule of life from canons of La Corona in the diocese of La Rochelle; only later did they embrace the Rule of St. Augustine.

The abbey was now poised to take off, which it proceeded to do.  During the next one hundred years, new houses were founded and existing ones joined.  The benefactors of the community were numerous and generous.  As its numbers grew, so too did its responsibilities.  Parish work was added to the contemplative vocation of Chancelade.

Beginning in the 15th Century, Chancelade suffered from the instability and poverty caused by social unrest and wars.  By the arrival of the 17th Century, the abbey was in dire straits.  The liturgical and canonical life of the abbey was in free fall; the canons did little pastoral work and there were barely any signs of life at all for this once thriving abbey.

But there was hope.  The vision of the Council of Trent was beginning to enter the Church in France.  The 17th Century witnessed a great flourishing of holiness and zealous reform throughout France manifested in the saints, e.g. St. Vincent de Paul, St. Louise de Marillac and many others.  When a first attempt to reform the community had failed, the reformer, Arnald, decided to try a different strategy.  He decided to send his nephew Bl. Alanus de Soliminhac to take over the community and restore the canonical life to its earlier vigor.  In order to do this, Alanus went to learn the canonical life from the Canons Regular of St. Vincent de Senlis, a house of reformed canons, where the Congregation of France originated under the direction of Charles Faure.  He spent four years living with this community before he returned to Chancelade in 1623 to become abbot.
While it does happen that communities do not want to be reformed and tenaciously resist every attempt to do so, the canons of Chancelade welcomed Alanus for the most part.  As a result of their openness to reform, God blessed their community with abundant vocations.  Additionally the community was able to build a badly needed new abbey, which was completed in 1633.

The heart of Alanus' reform was the re-establishment of the common life.  This meant the return to common meals, recreation taken together and common prayer.  Again at Chancelade the faithful were able to attend the solemn and public celebration of the Divine Office: all the hours were recited in common, Vespers were sung and the Office of Readings were held at midnight.  Moreover, daily there was a sung Mass.

Alanus wanted the canons to be outstanding in their care of souls.  To this end he formed them to exercise of pastoral ministry with zeal and excellence.  He emphasized preaching and catechism, visits to the poor and sick and confession.  Moreover to insure the quality of the canons and the longevity of the reform, Alanus took a direct interest in the novices and their formation of future canons.  Not only concerned for his community, he worked closely with the Bishop to reinvigorate the life of the diocese. 

His program is summed up in these words of his: "The canon ought to sing day and night to the praise of God, to offer the  sacrifice of the Mass with great solemnity, to dedicate himself to preaching and the administration of the sacraments to the sick.”  To his great credit, his reform endured even after he was elevated to the episcopate as Bishop of Cahors, where he spent the rest of his life.

The reform of Chancelade spread to three other houses of canons before Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld, the patron of the Congregation of France, checked its growth.  Though both the blessed and the Cardinal were reformers, their visions of the canonical life were rather different.  Bl. Alanus' reform was a traditional reform.  He desired to return the canons to their roots and revitalize them according to their more ancient forms of life.  The Cardinal preferred a modern canonical life that was based on provinces and a national congregation and not on individual abbeys.  In fact the Cardinal even intrigued against Alanus to destroy his reform, but he was thwarted.  In fact, Charle Faure, the superior of the Congregation of France was a friend of Alanus and refused to take part of this conspiracy. 

Though two of the four houses did eventually join the Congregation of France, a small congregation of Chancelade endured until the French Revolution, made up of two abbeys and a priory which Bl. Alanus had founded in Cahors, so that he could continue to live the common life while he was Bishop.  This small congregation seems to have faired better than the Congregation of France.  Bl. Alanus gave them a strong canonical vision and when the French revolutionaries suppressed the abbey on February 2, 1790, three of the canons gave their lives as witnessed to Christ.  Those that survived the chaos of those times became secular priests.