Regular Canons

Regular Canons (Lat. Canonici Regulares, canons bound by rule), the name given, after the reform introduced into the system of cathedral clergy in the 11th century, to the members of those canonical bodies which adopted that reform. They were thus distinguished from the so-called "secular canons," who continued exempt from rule, and who are represented down to modern times by the canons, prebendaries, and other members of cathedral chapters, in those churches in which the full cathedral system of the Romiia' Catholic Church is maintained. The rules of the regular canons being variously modified in different countries and ages, a variety of religious orders arose therefrom — Augustinians, Premonstratensians, etc. SEE CANONS, REGULAR.