Humiliati
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [1]
a monastic order founded about 1134 by some Italian noblemen whom the emperor Henry II had sent as hostages to Germany. In 1151 they were transformed into canons of St. Benedict, and as such received the sanction of pope Innocent III in 1200. A corresponding order of nuns was afterwards organized in Milan by a lady name(d Blassoni (whence they were also called Nuns of' Blassoni). Notwithstanding the numerous disorders they occasioned, these nuns did great good as nurses, etc.; their rule was adopted in some ninety-eight convents, but they were finally suppressed by Pius V in 1571. A few convents, without particular attention to dress and observances of the old order, still remain in Italy. The habit of the order consisted in a white dress and cloak, to which a white scapulary was afterwards added; also a small hood. The nuns' dress was white, with gray under-garments, or vice versa. — Pierer, Univers. Lexikon, 8, 609; Fehr, Allgem. Gesch. der M Ö nchsorden (T Ü b. 1845), p. 132 sq.; Helyot, Geschichte d. Kl Ö ster u. Ritterorden, 6; 179 sq.; Aschbach, Kirchen- Lexikon, 3, 347; Wetzer und Welte, Kirchen-Lex. 5, 396 sq. (J. H.W.)
