A French word
meaning primarily and strictly an abbot or superior of a monastery
of men. It came eventually to be applied, in France, to every man
who wears the dress of a secular ecclesiastic (Littré). This
extension of meaning dates from the time of Francis I (1515-47),
who, by consent of the Holy See, named secular clerics Abbots in
commendam (See ABBOT, under III, Kinds of Abbot). During the
following centuries the name was applied to clerics, often not in
sacred Orders, engaged as professors or tutors, or in some similar
capacity in the houses of the nobility.
JOHN J. A'BECKET
