These religious were founded by SS. John of Matha and Felix of Valois about A.D. 1197 for the redemption of captives. They were called “_Trinitarians_,” because by their rule all their churches were dedicated to the Holy Trinity, or “_Maturines_,” from the fact that their original foundation in Paris was near St. Mathurine’s Chapel. The Order was confirmed by Pope Innocent III., who gave the religious white robes, with a red and blue cross on their breasts, and a cloak with the same emblem on the left side. Their revenues were to be divided into three parts; one for their own support, one to relieve the poor, and the third to ransom Christians who had been taken captive by the infidels. They were brought to England in A.D. 1244, and were given the lands and privileges of the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre on the extinction of that Order. According to the _Monasticon_, they had, in all, eleven houses in this country; but these establishments were small, the usual number of religious in each being three friars and three lay brothers. The superior was named “minister,” and included in his office the functions of superior and procurator; and the houses were united into a congregation under a _Minister major_, who held a general Chapter annually for the regulation of defects and the discussion of common interests. vi. _Crutched, or Crossed Friars_ The Crossed Friars are said by some to have taken their origin in the Low Countries, by others to have come from Italy in very early times, having been instituted or reformed by one Gerard, prior of St. Maria di Morella at Bologna. In 1169 Pope Alexander III. took them under his protection and gave them a fixed rule of life. These friars first came to England in the year 1244. Matthew Paris, writing of that time, says that they appeared before a synod held by the bishop of Rochester, each carrying a stick upon which was a cross. They presented documents from the pope and asked to be allowed to make foundations of their fraternity in England. Clement Reyner puts their first establishment in this country at Reigate, in 1245, and their second in London in 1249. This last is the better known, as it has given the name of Crutched Friars to a locality in the city of London. The friars had a third house at Oxford, and altogether there were six or seven English friaries. Besides the cross upon their staves, from which they originally took their name, the friars had a red cloth cross upon the breasts of their habits. vii. _The Bethlemite Friars_