Abbot

An abbot (from the Hebrew ab, "a father", through the Syriac abba, Latin abbas (genitive form, abbatis), Old English abbad, ; German Abt; French abbé) is the head and chief governor of a community of monks, called also in the East hegumenos or archimandrite. The English version for a female monastic head is abbess.

Abbots not as Superior

The title abbé (Ital. abbate), as commonly used in the Catholic church on the European continent, is the equivalent of the English "Father," being loosely applied to all who have received the tonsure. This use of the title is said to have originated in the right conceded to the king of France, by the concordat between Pope Leo X and Francis I (1516), to appoint abbes commendataires to most of the abbeys in France. The expectation of obtaining these sinecures drew young men towards the church in considerable numbers, and the class of abbés so formed--abbes de cour they were sometimes called, and sometimes (ironically) abbes de sainte esperance, abbés of St Hope--came to hold a recognized position. The connection many of them had with the church was of the slenderest kind, consisting mainly in adopting the name of abbe, after a remarkably moderate course of theological study, practising celibacy and wearing a distinctive dress--a short dark-violet coat with narrow collar. Being men of presumed learning and undoubted leisure, many of the class found admission to the houses of the French nobility as tutors or advisers. Nearly every great family had its abbé. The class did not survive the Revolution; but the courtesy title of abbé, having long lost all connection in people's minds with any special ecclesiastical function, remained as a convenient general term applicable to any clergyman.

Related Topics:
Abbé - Tonsure - Concordat - Pope Leo X - Francis I - Sinecure - Celibacy - Revolution - Courtesy title

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