The history of the popes, from the close of the middle ages : drawn ...

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HISTORY OF THE POPES.
three solemn vows of religion, and adopt a definite religious
rule, and were forced to expel those of their number who would
not agree to this.^ Of no less vital importance for the religious
without solemn vows was another regulation concerning
ordination to the priesthood. In order that priests, to the
lowering of their dignity, should not have to beg for alms
publicly, or provide for their support in some other undig-
nified way, the Council of Trent had ordered that in the case
of the secular clergy only those should receive priests' orders
who either possessed a benefice or were able to live upon their
own patrimony. 2 Pius V. now extended this order to all
religious who had not taken solemn vows.^ Solemn vows
are distinguished from simple ones by their almost indissoluble
character ; dispensation from the simple vows of religion
can be easily obtained, but solemn vows, on the other hand,
are hardly ever dispensed, not even if a person leaves his
Order. Moreover, certain special canonical effects are at-
tached to solemn vows ; marriage, for example, is invalid in
the case of those bound by them, whereas, in se and per se,
it is only illicit for those who have taken simple vows. The
ancient monasticism did not recognize the solemnity of vows,
but St. Thomas Aquinas considers them an essential part of
the religious state.
That Pius V. did not look with favour upon religious with
only simple vows is made clear by the bulls already spoken of,
and still more by his attempts to change the constitution of the
Society of Jesus.
Ignatius of Loyola and his first companions had all passed
through the complete course of philosophy and theology at
Paris, at that time the fi.rst university in the world, and had
obtained the degree of master. When they gave their hitherto
free company the form of a religious Order with solemn vows,
they aimed at maintaining the high standard of learning
which they had thus attained, and they therefore decided
^ Bull of November 17, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 725 seq.
^ Bess. 23, de ref. c. 2.
=> October 14, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 723.