Changes of all kinds took place in those long centuries. Large abbeys had sunk into poverty, and others arisen in their places. The monks had been subdivided into orders, each having its own peculiar rules. The oldest of these was the Benedictine, or Black Monks, who held most of the largest monasteries--as many as 156 in number. From this Order arose the Cistercians, even more severe in their regulations--popular in England, probably from having had an Englishman as their founder, Stephen Harding, head of the Monastery of Citeaux (Cistercium) about the year 1125. This order had been approved by the Pope twenty-five years previously. Gasquet gives the names of 86 Cistercian houses in England, the Cluniac as 26, and Carthusian as 9. These lesser orders had each its own distinctive rules, but, as the above figures show, were less popular than the older orders of monks. The number of nunneries was also very large (Gasquet gives 140). These were principally of the Benedictine Order. I have seen it stated that there was only one house of White Nuns in England, that of Grace Dieu, in Leicestershire, but this is not correct. As the old Benedictine Order relaxed in severity, the Cistercians came forward, and when these were no longer conspicuous for piety and austerity, there arose the wandering missionaries known as Friars, who were also eloquent preachers, a marked contrast to the half-educated clergy. These friars were mendicants, bound by oath neither to possess land nor money, nor to enjoy luxury. They went about preaching throughout the country; it was the old story of the ‘house divided against itself being unable to stand.’ The friars preached against the monks, and the monks opposed the clergy, ending in the downfall of the three rivals under Henry VIII. The first order of friars was of Spanish origin, founded by Dominic A.D. 1204, and confirmed in 1215. They wore a brown habit of coarse hair-cloth. A few years later St. Francis of Assisi founded the Grey Friars, called after him Franciscans. These came to England A.D. 1224, where they became very popular. Like the monks, lesser orders arose out of these. The Premonstratensians gained little ground in England, but the Augustinian or Austin Friars had many followers, both men and women.