Mendicants

(měn'de-kants.) [ From L. mend ico, I beg.] (Eccl. Hist.) A name formerly a umed by certain orders of monks who made existence upon charity and self-humiliation their rule of religious life. The Council ofLyon, 1274, limited such orders to 4; viz., the Carmelites, Aug us tines, Do mini cans, and Francis cans, q.v. [s. 591]