Christian Cyclopedia

(1) Religious orders and socs. founded in the 14th–16th cents. in Milan and elsewhere in N It.; named after Ambrose,* whom they chose as patron. The order of the Brethren of St. Ambrose of the Grove, founded before 1350 at Milan, was given the Augustinian* rule 1375 by Gregory XI (see Popes, 14); united 1445 with Ambrose brotherhoods at Genoa, Gubbio, and Recanati; dissolved ca. 1646 by Innocent X (see Popes, 23). (2) 16th-c. Anabap. sect that, on basis of Jn 1:9, denied need of priests and claimed direct communication with God through the Holy Spirit and revelation of higher authority than Scripture; leader named Ambrose. (3) See Annunciation, Orders of the, 3.