mendicant orders 4851300–1600,trans. Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber
(London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973); Steven Runci-
man, The Fall of Contantinople, 1453(Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1965).
Meister Eckhart SeeECKHART,MEISTER.
Melfi, Constitutions of SeeFREDERICKII; SICILY.
Memling, Hans (Memline) (ca. 1433/40–1494)Flemish
painter
Hans Memling was born probably at Seligenstadt near
Frankfurt between 1430 and 1440. After studying in
COLOGNE, he worked in Roger van der WEYDEN’s work-
shop in 1459 and 1460. On January 30, 1465, he
acquired citizen’s rights at BRUGES, where he was to pay
some of the highest levels of taxes in the city and worked
until his death on August 11, 1494. He worked mostly
for wealthy merchants. Some of his early work was done
for Italian patrons, including a Last Judgmentfor Angelo
at Trani in Sicily and a Passionfor Tommaso Portinari. He
made a number of fine portraits of burghers from Bruges.
His art was eclectic, combining ideas and forms from dif-
ferent masters, and was known for its fine drawing and
elegance of forms.
See alsoEYCK, HUBERT VAN, ANDEYCK, JAN VAN.
Further reading:K. B. McFarlane, Hans Memling,ed.
Edgar Wind (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971); Dirk de
Vos, Hans Memling: The Complete Works (New York:
Harry N. Abrams, 1994); Maximilian P. J. Martens, Bruges
and the Renaissance: Memling to Pourbus (New York:
Harry N. Abrams, 1998).mendicant orders A number of medieval religious
orders formed in the 13th century were mendicant, that
is, made up of monks who practiced a form of poverty
that involved a whole community. In contrast to the old,
rich, and stable monastic tradition, the mendicants ini-
tially renounced landed property and rents, to live only
by the alms of the faithful and payments for pastoral care.
Their role was primarily to preach to the LAITYand com-
bat HERESY. They promoted devotion to MARY, the Blessed
Virgin; the cult of the saints; a higher standard of clerical
education; and sacramental participation by the laity.
Their legal definition, long contested by the traditional-
ists, had to wait until 1274 and the Second Council of
Lyon, which also forbade the formation of any new reli-
gious orders devoted to mendicancy.
Their rise was linked to the development and prolif-
eration of urban life and a more elaborate money econ-
omy. They had to be able to beg among concentrations of
people who had liquid wealth. The appearance of the
mendicant orders was also a response to criticism leveled
at the church for its excessive accumulation of wealth in
the 12th century. Their ideas about the imitation of
Christ or the apostolic life were based on a perceived
Christian indifference to the material world. They were
very popular with the laity who gave them large quanti-
ties of money to build churches in cities. The other
CLERGYdid not welcome their draining income from the
parish and secular clergy. This rivalry extended to univer-
sities and Scholastic thought.
These orders all went through various reform move-
ments throughout the later Middle Ages. The PAPACY
tended to favor mendicants, since they were supposed to
be independent of the diocesan system and the episco-
pacy and more likely to further the interests of a pope
and to enforce orthodoxy against heretical ideas. On
occasion, however, the mendicant ideals of clerical
poverty clashed with papal ambitions.
See also AUGUSTINIAN(AUSTIN) FRIARS OR HERMITS;
CARMELITES; DOMINICAN ORDER; FRANCIS OFASSISI, SAINT;
FRANCISCAN ORDER; MONASTICISM; SPIRITUALFRANCISCANS.
Further reading:Louis Duval-Arnould. “Mendicants
and Seculars,Quarrel of,” EMA,2.939; Richard Emery,Mehmed II the Conqueror, the sultan responsible for the
conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Gentile Bellini (1429–
1507). Oil on wood, National Gallery, London (Erich
Lessing / Art Resource)