po MENDI 
Turks on his paftage, he was carried -to Mocka, and fold 
to a Greek renegaclo, and afterwards to a Jew, in wliofe 
polfelfion he continued till he was redeemed by the go¬ 
vernor of Ormus, a Portuguefe fort. The governor pro¬ 
cured him an opportunity of going out to India, agreea¬ 
ble to his firll defign. During a refidence of twenty- 
one years in that country, he was witnefs to very im¬ 
portant tranlaftions, and experienced many lingular ad¬ 
ventures. He returned to Portugal in 1558, where he 
enjoyed the reward of his labours, after having been 
thirteen times a (lave and lixteen times fold. A very cu¬ 
rious account of his travels was written by hiinfelf, and 
publilhed at Lifbon, 1614, in folio. This work was 
tranflafed into French by Bernard Figuir, a Portuguefe 
gentleman, and printed at Paris, 1645, in 4to. It is 
written in a very jnterefting manner, and in a ftyle more 
elegant than might have been expefted from a man whole 
whole life was l'pent in the camp and in flavery. It elu¬ 
cidates a great variety of particulars relating to the geo¬ 
graphy, hiltory, and manners, of the inhabitants of China, 
Japan, Pegu, Siam, Achem, Java, &c. Many of his facts 
appeared fabulous; but their truth has been fince afcer- 
tained. M. de Surgi compiled an interefting hiltory from 
the molt Angular parts of Mendez Pinto’s relation, which 
he publilhed in the Vicijjit tides de la Fortune, Paris, 
a vols. 8vo. 
MEN'DICANCY, f. [from mendicant.\ Beggary.—No¬ 
thing, I am credibly informed, can exceed the lhocking 
and difgufting fipeftacle of mendicancy diiplayed in that 
capital. Burke. 
MEN'DICANT, adj. [mendicans, Lat.] Begging ; poor 
to a Hate of beggary.-—Be not righteous over-much, is 
applicable to thole who, out of an excels of zeal, prac- 
tife mortifications, whereby they macerate their bodies ; 
or to thole who voluntarily reduce themfelves to a poor 
and mendicant Hate. Fiddes. 
MEN'DICANT, J'. A beggar. One of fome begging 
fraternity in the Romilh church.—Moll of the theological 
profellbrs in the univerfity of Naples were taken from the 
mendicants. 1 \ Warton. 
MEN'DIjCANTS, or Begging Friars, feveral orders 
of religious in popilh countries, w ho, having no fettled 
revenues, are lupported by the charitable contributions 
they colleft from door to door. 
This fort of fociety, which, for a time, furpafled all the 
reft in the purity of its manners, the extent of its fame, 
the number of its privileges, and the multitude pf its 
members, w’as firll ellablilhed in the 13th century; and by 
the tenor of the inllitution, they w'ere to remain entirely 
dellitute of all fixed revenues and pofielfions. The Hate 
and circumftances of the church at that time rendered 
the eftablilhment of fuch an order abfojutely necelfary. 
'I'he monaftic orders, who wallowed in opulence, were, 
by the corrupting influence of their ample poffelfionsj 
lulled in a luxurious indolence. They loft fight of all 
their religious obligations, trampled upon the authority 
of their fuperiors, fullered herefy to triumph unreftrained, 
and the ledlaries to form alfemblies in feveral places ; in 
Ihort, they were incapable of contributing in any refpeft 
to promote the true interefts of the church, and aban¬ 
doned themfelves, without either fliame or remorie, to all 
manner of crimes. On the other hand, the enemies of 
the church, the various lefts which had left its commu¬ 
nion, followed certain auftere rules of life and conduft, 
which formed a llrong contrail between them and the 
religious orders, and contributed to render the licen- 
tioulnefs of the latter Hill more oftenfive and Ihocking 
to the people. Thele fefts maintained, that voluntary 
poverty was the leading and elfential quality in a fervant 
of Clirift ; obliged their doftors to imitate the fimplicity 
of the apoftles; reproached the church with its over- 
crown opulence, and the vices and corruptions of the 
clergy, that flowed from thence as from their natural 
fource ; and, by their commendation of poverty and con¬ 
tempt of riches, acquired a high degree of refpeft, and 
gained a prodigious afcendaut overthe minds of the roul- 
CANTS. 
titude. All this rendered it abfolutely necelfary to in¬ 
troduce into the church a fet of men, who, by the aufte- 
rity of their manners, their contempt of riches, and the 
external gravity and fanftity of their conduft and 
maxims, might referable the doftors w'lio had gained 
fuch reputation to the heretical lefts, and who might 
be fo far above the allurements of worldly profit and 
pleafure, as not to be leduced, by the promiles or threats 
of kings and princes, from the performance of the duties 
they owed to the church, or from perfevering in their 
fubordination to the Roman pontiffs. Innocent III. 
was the firll of the popes who perceived the neceflity of 
inllituting fuch an order ; and, accordingly, he gave 
fuch monaftic focieties as made a profelfion of poverty 
the moil diilinguilliing marks of his protection and fa¬ 
vour. They w'ere alfo encouraged and patronized by the 
fucceeding pontiffs, when experience had demonftrated 
their public and exteniive ufefulnefs. But, when it be¬ 
came generally known that they had fuch a peculiar 
place in the efteem and proteftion of the rulers of the 
church, their number grew to fuch an enormous and un¬ 
wieldy multitude, and fwarmed fo prodigioufiy in all the 
European provinces, that they became a burthen, not 
only to the people, but to the church itfelf. The great 
inconvenience that arofe from the excefllve multiplica¬ 
tion of the mendicant orders, was remedied by Gregory X. 
in a general council which he alfembled at Lyons in the 
year 1272. For here all the religious orders that had 
Iprung up after the council held at Rome, in the year 
1215, under the pontificate of Innocent III. w'ere lup- 
prefled; and the extravagant multitude of mendicants, as 
Gregory called them, were reduced to a fmaller number, 
and confined to the four following focieties, or denomi¬ 
nations ; viz. the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the 
Carmelites, and the Augustines, or Hermits of St. 
Auguftine. 
As the pontiffs allowed thefe four mendicant orders 
the liberty of travelling wherever they thought proper, 
of converling with perions of all ranks, of inllrufting the 
youth and the multitude w'herever they went; and as 
thefe monks exhibited, in their outward appearance and 
manner of life, more ftriking marks of gravity and lioli- 
nefs, than were obfervable in the other monaftic focieties ; 
they arole all at once to the very fummit of fame, and 
were regarded with the utmoft efteem and veneration 
throughout all the countries of Europe. The enthufiaftic 
attachment to thefe fanftimqnious beggars went fo far, 
that, as we learn from the moll authentic records, feveral 
cities were divided, or cantoned out, into four parts, with 
a view' to thefe four orders : the firll part was alligned to 
the Dominicans ; the fecond, to the Francifcans ; the 
third, to the Carmelites ; and the fourth, to the Augulli- 
nians. The people were unwilling to receive the lacra- 
ments from any other hands than tliofe of the Mendi¬ 
cants, to whole churches they crowded to perform their 
devotions while living, and were extremely deiirous to 
depoiit there alfo their remains after death ; all which 
occafioned grjevous complaints among the ordinary 
priells, to whom the cure of fouls was committed, and who 
confidered themfelves as the fpiritual guides of the mul¬ 
titude. Nor did the influence and credit of the Mendi¬ 
cants end here; for we And in the hillory of this and of 
the fucceeding ages, that they were employed, not only 
in fpiritual matters, but alfo in temporal and political 
affairs of the greateft confequence, in compoiing the dif¬ 
ferences of princes, concluding treaties of peace, concert¬ 
ing alliances, preliding in cabinet-councils, governing- 
courts, levying taxes, and other occupations, not only 
remote from, but abfolutely inconflllent with, the mo- 
naftic charafter and profelfion. 
We mull not however imagine, that all the mendicant 
friars attained to the fame degree of reputation and au¬ 
thority; for the power of the Dominicans and Francif¬ 
cans furpafled greatly that of the other two orders, and 
rendered them Angularly confpicuous in the eyes of the 
■world. During three centuries, thefe two fraternities go- 
j verned* 
