Word of the Day
Abbe (AB-ay)
Title for lower-ranking Catholic clergymen in France
Common clues: French clergy; Cannes cleric; Cleric title
Crossword puzzle frequency: 3 times a year
Frequency in English language: 39403 / 86800
Abbé (from Latin abbas, in turn from Greek αββας = abbas father, from Aramaic abba) is the French word for abbot. It is the title for lower-ranking Catholic clergymen in France.
A concordat passed between Pope Leo X and Francis I of France (between 1515 and 1521), gave the kings of France the right to nominate 255 Abbés commendataires for almost all French abbeys, who received income from a monastery without needing to render a service.
Francis
I and Pope Leo X
Since the mid-16th century, the title abbé has been used for all young clergymen with or without consecration. Their cloths consisted of a black or dark violet robes with a small collar; they were tonsured.
Since those abbés only rarely commanded an abbey, they often worked in honourable familes as tutors, spiritual directors, etc.; others became writers.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Abbé".
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