Hieronymites

Hieronymites, one of the many hermit orders established in the course of the 13th and 14th centuries. The Hieronymites grew out of the Tertiaries or third order of Franciscans (q.v.). Some of the followers of Thomas of Sienna, one of the Franciscan rigorists, having established themselves in various places among the wild districts which skirt the Sierra Morena in Spain, by degrees formed into a community, and obtained in 1374 the approval of Pope Gregory XI., who confirmed their rule, which was founded on that of St Augustine. The institute extended into other provinces of Spain, into Portugal, later into Italy, Tyrol, and Bavaria.