Who were the Donati?

Who were the donati? 

A category of religious people during the Middle Ages consisting of lay men and women who had given themselves and their possessions to the Order. They lived within the confines of the community under set guidelines, wore prescribed garb and were usually employed in caring for the sick and the poor.  The Trinitarian donati wore the white habit without the capuche. Some distinguished ones because of their holiness were:  Pedro of the Magdalene, Cristóbal of the Saints and Toribio of the Virgin. There is a notarized act from 1236 in which two married persons of Provence donated themselves and their movable and immovable possessions to the House of the Holy Trinity in Chateauneuf.   In 1634, Pope Urban VIII abolished the category of donati by legislating that there be only one category of religious lay brothers. 

Contributed by Sr. Coraly