mendicant

(noun)

Certain Christian religious orders that have adopted a lifestyle of poverty, traveling, and living in urban areas for purposes of preaching, evangelization, and ministry, especially to the poor; more generally an ascetic lifestyle that includes poverty and begging.

Related Terms

Examples of mendicant in the following topics:

  • The Rise of the Monasteries

    • They were called the mendicant, or begging, orders because their members begged for the food and clothes.
    • By contrast, the mendicants avoided owning property, did not work at a trade, and embraced a poor, often itinerant lifestyle.
    • Like his contemporary, Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization, and the quick growth of the Dominicans and Franciscans during their first century of existence confirms that the orders of mendicant friars met a need.