Editing Servite Order (section)

===Foundation===
[[Image:Amadio 123.JPG|thumb|right|200px|[[Amadeus of the Amidei]] (d. 1266), one of the seven founders of the Servite Order.]]

The order was founded in 1233 by [[Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order |"the seven holy founders"]], each a member of a patrician family of Florence, Italy. These cloth merchants left their city, families, and professions and withdrew to [[Monte Senario]], a mountain outside the city of Florence, for a life of poverty and penance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tylenda |first1=Joseph N. |title=Saints and Feasts of the Liturgical Year |date=2003 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=978-0-87840-399-8 |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=61MmDwAAQBAJ&q=Benedict+dell%E2%80%99Antella+canonization&pg=PA39 |language=en}}</ref> The seven were: Bonfilius of Florence, born Bonfilius Monaldi (Buonfiglio dei Monaldi); Alexis of Florence, born [[Alexis Falconieri]] ({{langx|it|Alessio Falconieri|italic=no}}) (1200 – 17 February 1310); Manettus of Florence, born Benedict dell'Antella (Benedetto dell' Antella); [[Amadeus of the Amidei |Amideus of Florence]], born Bartholemew Amidei (died 1266) (also known as Bartolomeo degli Amidei); [[Hugh dei Lippi Uggucioni|Hugh of Florence]], born Ricovero Uguccioni (Hugh dei Lippi Uggucioni (Ricovero dei Lippi-Ugguccioni)); Sostene of Florence, born Gerardino Sostegni (Gherardino di Sostegno); and Buonagiunta of Florence, born John Manetti (Giovanni di Buonagiunta (Bonajuncta)).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=William M. |title=Encyclopedia of Monasticism |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-78716-4 |page=1153 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iepJAgAAQBAJ&q=Benedict+dell%E2%80%99Antella+canonization&pg=PT1211 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tylenda |first1=Joseph N. |title=Saints and Feasts of the Liturgical Year |date=2003 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=978-0-87840-399-8 |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=61MmDwAAQBAJ&q=Benedict+dell%E2%80%99Antella+canonization&pg=PA39 |language=en}}</ref> They were canonized by Pope Leo XIII on 15 January 1888.<ref name=grotto>[https://thegrotto.org/the-servites/ "The Servites", The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother]</ref>

[[Image:Sant Alessio Falconieri.gif|thumb|200px|[[Alexis Falconieri]] (d. 1310), one of the seven founders of the Servite Order.]]
The members of the order dedicated themselves to Mary under her title of Mother of Sorrows ({{langx|it|Madonna Addolorata|italic=no}}).<ref name=grotto/> Dedicating their devotion to the mother of Jesus, they adopted Mary's virtues of hospitality and compassion as the order's hallmarks.<ref name="owen">{{Cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-06-13/news/0806120662_1_virgin-mary-servites-order|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150718113602/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-06-13/news/0806120662_1_virgin-mary-servites-order|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 18, 2015|title=West Side basilica celebrates Servite order's 775th anniversary|work=tribunedigital-chicagotribune|access-date=2017-05-25|language=en}}</ref> The distinctive spirit of the order is the sanctification of its members by meditation on the Passion of Jesus and the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, and spreading abroad this devotion.<ref name="servants">[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09750a.htm "Servants of Mary (Order of Servites)." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.{{PD-notice}}</ref>

The [[Bishop of Florence]], Ardengo Trotti (Ardengo Dei Foraboschi), approved the group as a religious order sometime between 1240 and 1247. The Servites, like other new orders before them such as the [[Trinitarian Order|Trinitarians]] and the [[Order of Preachers|Dominicans]], decided to live by the ancient [[Rule of St. Augustine]], and added to the rule further guidelines that were the expression of their own Marian devotion and dedication. By 1250 a number of Servites had been ordained to the priesthood, thus creating an order with priests as well as brothers.<ref name="secular">{{Cite web|url=http://website.lineone.net/~alexis_pottinger/ssi/order.htm|title=The Servite Order|website=website.lineone.net|access-date=2017-05-25}}</ref>

[[Pope Alexander IV]] favored a plan for the amalgamation of all orders which followed the Rule of St. Augustine. This was accomplished in March 1256, but about the same time a [[rescript]] was issued confirming the Servite Order as a separate body with power to elect a general. Four years later a general chapter was convened at which the order was divided into two provinces, Tuscany and Umbria, the former being governed by Manettus and the latter by Sostene. Within five years two new provinces were added, that of Romagna and that of Lombardy.<ref name="griffin">[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13736a.htm Griffin, Patrick. "Order of Servites." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912{{PD-notice}}</ref>