The Canons Regular

The clergy of every large church were in ancient times called canonici—canons—as being on the list of those who were devoted to the service of the Church.  In the eighth century, Chrodegand, bishop of Metz, formed the clergy of his cathedral into a body, living in common under a rule and bound to the public recitation of the Divine Office.  They were known still as canons, or those living under a rule of life like the monks, from the true meaning of κανών, a rule.  The common life was in time abandoned in spite of the provisions of several Councils, and then institutions other than Cathedral Chapters became organised upon lines similar to those laid down by Chrodegand, and they became known as Canons Regular.  They formed themselves generally on the so-called Rule of St. Augustine, and became known, in England at least, as Augustinian Canons, Premonstratensian Canons, and Gilbertine Canons.

The Premonstratensian Canons

This branch of the Canons Regular was established by St. Norbert in A.D. 1119 at a place called Prémontré, a lonely and desolate valley near Laon in France.  Their founder gave them the Rule of St. Augustine, and they became known either as Premonstratensians, from their first foundation, or Norbertines, from their founder.  The habit of these canons was white, with a white rochet and even a white cap, and for this reason they were frequently known as White Canons.  Besides following the ordinary Augustinian Rule, these Canons made Prémontré into a “mother-house,” and the abbot of Prémontré was abbot-general of the entire Order : having the right to visit, either by himself of deputy, every house of the congregation ; to summon every superior to the yearly General Chapter ; and to impose a tax for the use of the Order upon all the houses.  This, so far as England is concerned, lasted in theory until A.D. 1512, when all the English houses were placed under the abbot of Welbeck.  Previously they had been for more than thirty years supervised on behalf of the abbot of Prémontré, by Bishop Redman, who also continued to hold the office of abbot of Shap.  In England, just before the dissolution, there were some thirty-four houses of the Order.