Who were the Black Canons on the Augustinian Priory of Inchmahome in Scotland?

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"Black Canons" is another name for Augustinian canons regular. They are "black" because of their habit, according to the OED:

black canon n. [from the colour of the habit worn; compare post-classical Latin canon niger (c 1220)] now chiefly hist. a canon regular of St Augustine (see note at canon n.2 1).

Canons regular are

Priests who are bound by religious vows and who live in community under a distinctive rule. Originating in the eleventh century, in connection with the reform movement of Pope Gregory VII, they have mainly adopted the Rule of St. Augustine.

A "canon" (Greek: κανών = "rule") is a priest who lives communally with other priests (although the exact meaning has changed throughout history), and "regular" means they follow a rule (Latin: regula) or conduct of life. The Church approves 4 main religious rules properly so-called:

  1. St. Benedict's,
  2. St. Basil's,
  3. St. Augustine's (which the Dominicans also use), and
  4. St. Francis of Assisi's.

Other religious orders use sign language, too, to foster an atmosphere of silence (cf. St. Benedict's Rule ch. 38: "should anything be wanted, let it be asked for rather by a sign than by a word.")

Rising in the middle of the night is normal for all orders' monks; the midnight prayers are called matins, which means "morning" (cf. St. Benedict's Rule ch. 8 or Ps. 118:62: "I rose at midnight to give praise to thee.").

What you quote of St. Augustine comes from ch. 3, ¶2 of his Rule. St. Benedict's Rule ch. 38 is similar; he prescribes a weekly reader, who reads aloud for the other monks while they eat: "[Spiritual] Reading must not be wanting at the table of the brethren when they are eating."


habit of a Canon Regular of St. Augustine

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Who were the Black Canons on the Augustinian Priory of Inchmahome in Scotland?

The Priory of Inchmahome was founded in 1238 by the Earl of Menteith, Walter Comyn, for a small community of the Augustinian order also called the Black Canons because of the color of their habits.

What are Canon Regulars?

Priests who are bound by religious vows and who live in community under a distinctive rule. Originating in the eleventh century, in connection with the reform movement of Pope Gregory VII, they have mainly adopted the Rule of St. Augustine. - Canon Regular (Catholic Culture)

Thus the Augustinians are Canons Regulars. Benedictine monks are considered to be a monastic order and are not considered Canons since they permit lay brothers to take vows who are not required to say the entire Divine Office. They also permit laymen to dwell within their monasteries. Dominicans and Franciscans are considered to be mendicant orders and not Canons. They too permit lay brothers to take vows.

The name Austin (or Augustinian) Canons is commonly used instead of Canons Regular, and there are some who think that Austin Canons are so styled because they were instituted by St. Augustine. This is a wrong notion. St. Augustine did not found the order of canons regular, not even those who are called Austin Canons. There were canons regular before St. Augustine. The various authorities quoted in this article prove it. All St. Austin did was to induce his clergy to live secundum regulam sub sanctis Apostolis constitutam, which he had seen practiced at Milan, adding to the Apostolic Rule hitherto observed by clerics living in common, some regulations, afterwards called the "Rule of St. Augustine." Or, in the words of Pope Paschal II in a Bull quoted by Pennott, "Vitæ regularis propositum in primitiva ecclesia cognoscitur ab Apostolis institutum quam B. Augustinus tam gratanter amplexus est ut eam regulis informaret" (A regular mode of life is recognized in the Early Church as instituted by the Apostles, and adopted earnestly by Blessed Augustine, who provided it with new regulations) — Hist. Tripart., Lib. II, c. iv, 4. These regulations which St. Austin had given to the clerics who lived with him soon spread and were adopted by other religious communities of canons regular in Italy, in France, and elsewhere. When, in and after the eleventh century, the various congregations of canons regular were formed, and adopted the Rule of St. Augustine, they were usually called Canonici Regulares Ordinis S. Augustini Congregationis, and in England Austin Canons, or Black Canons. but there have always been canons regular who never adopted the Rule of St. Augustine. Giraldus Cambrenisis mentions some in his day in England. In a word, canons regular may be considered as the genus, and Austin Canons as the species; or we may say that all Austin Canons are canons regular, but not all canons regular are Austin canons. - Canons and Canonesses Regular

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