ALBATI

A sort of Christian hermits (so called from the white linen which they wore). Anno 1399, in the time of Pope Boniface IX., they came down from the Alps into several provinces of Italy, having for their guide a priest clothed all in white, and a crucifix in his hand: he pretended so much zeal and religion, that he was taken for a saint, and his followers multiplied so fast, that the pope, growing jealous of their leader’s aiming at his chair, sent soldiers, who apprehended and put him to death, upon which his followers dispersed. They profe ed sorrow and weeping for the sins and calamities of the times, they ate together in the highways, and slept promiscuously like beasts.