This concise one-volume dictionary covers some 1450 existing and defunct Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant orders, with additional entries covering the major and lesser-known chivalric Orders as well as many of the newer Secular Institutes and Lay Movements. It provides details otherwise found only in current multi-volume works and antiquarian sources, mostly in Italian or French, and in small information books produced by the various Orders.
Each entry is arranged in two parts. An information section lists the current headquarters, the date of foundation and the name of the founder, together with details of the original habit. There then follows a brief history of the Order and an account of the present-day activities of the communities. Sub-families of the major Orders have also been included.
This much-needed, unique work, contains information that will be invaluable to researchers in many fields: librarians, church administrators, clergy, students, media professionals, writers and others in need of an easy reference to facts otherwise difficult to find.
