Prior (or prioress) is an

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor In many monasteries, especially larger ones, the claustral prior is assisted by a sub-prior, who holds the third place in the monastery. In former times there were in larger monasteries, besides the prior and the sub-prior, also a third, fourth and sometimes even a fifth prior. Each of these was called circa (or ''circator''), because it was his duty to make the rounds of the monastery to see whether anything was amiss and whether the brethren were intent on the work allotted to them respectively. He had no authority to correct or punish the brethren, but was to report to the claustral prior whatever he found amiss or contrary to the rules. In the

Congregation of Cluny Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...

and others of the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries there was also a greater prior (''prior major'') who preceded the claustral prior in dignity and, besides assisting the abbot in the government of the monastery, had some delegated jurisdiction over external dependencies of the abbey. In the high days of Cluny, the abbot was assisted by a

coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

styled Grand-Prior (''Grand-prieur'' in French). The Conventual prior (Latin ''prior conventualis'') is the independent superior of a monastery that is not an abbey (and which is therefore called a "priory"). In some orders, like the Benedictines, a monastery remains a priory until it is considered stable enough and large enough to be elevated to the rank of an abbey. In other Orders, like the

Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona ( la, Congregatio Eremitarum Camaldulensium Montis Coronae), commonly called Camaldolese is a monastic order of Pontifical Right for men founded by Saint Romuald. Their name is derived from the Holy Hermita ...

and

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

, conventual priors are the norm and there are no abbots. (The superior of the major houses of Camaldolese nuns, however, is called an

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

.) This title, in its feminine form prioress, is used for monasteries of nuns in the Dominican and Carmelite orders. An Obedientiary Prior heads a monastery created as a satellite of an abbey. When an abbey becomes overlarge, or when there is need of a monastery in a new area, the abbot may appoint a group of monks under a prior to begin a new foundation, which remains a dependency of the mother abbey until such time as it is large and stable enough to become an independent abbey of its own. A Prior Provincial is the regional superior of certain Orders, such as the

Order of Friars Preachers The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

Dominicans or the

Carmelite friars , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

. In this last case, the head of the whole Order is called the prior general. Among communities of friars, the second superior is called the sub-prior and his office is similar to that of the claustral prior in the Benedictine Order.

Chivalric Orders

In the medieval order of St.John(also known as the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

), a Grand Prior acted as the administrator of an order province known as a Grand Priory. These Grand Priories were joined into larger administrative units known as "Langues", which roughly encompassed all of the order properties within a single language sphere. The grand priories were sometimes subdivided into smaller priories and bailiwicks, and at the lowest level, into commanderies. While the subdivision into langues was abolished in 1798, the subdivision into grand priories still exists within the

sovereign Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

, the modern successor of the historical Order of St.John. Other chivalric orders, such as the

military Order of Christ The Military Order of Christ is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910 it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was ...

, the

Knights of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgr ...

, or in general, the Orders founded in the context of the

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

, only had one Grand Prior who acted as the Orders' Chief-cleric. During the peak of the Orders' influence, the chivalric Grand Priors were considered to be equal in rank with a bishop. Since 1953, the priories of the Spanish Chivalric Order have been held in personal union by the Bishop of Ciudad Real. Within the Order of the Holy Sepulcher, the title of Grand prior is held in personal union by the

Latin patriarch of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( la, Patriarchatus Latinus Hierosolymitanus) is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, wit ...

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Authority control Ecclesiastical titles Organisation of Catholic religious orders Religious leadership roles

Chivalric Orders

See also

References

Bibliography

External links