Term

regular clergy

Tonsured clerics, such as monks and mendicants, who have professed vows and live according to a religious or monastic rule.

Filed underEcclesiologyChurch History

Definition

The tonsured clerics who have professed vows in a religious or monastic order and therefore lived according to a rule (regula). This category includes all monks, mendicants, canons regular, and clerics regular.

Connections

Follow this entry through the Lexicon.

Narrower than
Contrasted with

Last revised August 14, 2026