Augustinian Order

Timeline

1. 1256Rome · LazioPope Alexander IV issued the bull Religionis cura and other decrees merging the Tuscan hermits, Lombard hermits, and other groups into a unified Augustinian Order, establishing a common rule and the office of prior general.
2. c. 1261–1270Italian Peninsula · ItalyWithin a dozen years of its founding, the order rapidly established monasteries and university colleges in Italy, southern France, and the Iberian Peninsula, taking part in urban preaching and scholarly education, and becoming a major mendicant order alongside the Franciscans and Dominicans.
3. c. 1300–1500University cities across Europe · EuropeIn the late Middle Ages, Augustinians held important chairs in university theology and traditional scholastic philosophy, while facing the impact of the Reformation and internal disciplinary reform; some monasteries turned to stricter practices of communal life.
4. c. 1500Global network of Augustinian monasteries · GlobalAfter the Reformation, the order survived in Catholic regions and expanded to mission territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia; the prior generalcy and the Rule of Saint Augustine remain the basis of the order's governance, with members in dozens of countries worldwide.