Mendicant friars

From Latin mendicant/mendicantem: mendicare (to beg); mendicus (beggar)

Mendicant Friars are members of those religious orders which do not own property, either individually or collectively, and have taken a vow of poverty. They rely for their support on charity and on their own work.

During the Middle Ages there were many mendicant orders, but only four remain today: The Order of Preachers (Dominicans), the Friars Minor (Franciscans), the Carmelites, and the Hermits of St. Augustine (Augustinians).