MAGDALEN, MARY. See MARY.
Religious of St MAGDALEN, a denomination given to different communities of nuns, consisting generally of penitent courtesans, sometimes also called Magdalenettes. Such were those at Metz, established in 1452; those at Paris, in 1492; those at Naples, first established in 1324, and endowed by Queen Sancha, to serve as a retreat for public courtesans, who should betake themselves to repentance; and those of Rouen and Bordeaux, which had their origin amongst those of Paris in 1618. In each of these monasteries there are three kinds of persons and congregations; the first consists of those who are admitted to make vows, and these bear the name of St Magdalen; the second is the congregation of St Martha, composed of those whom it is not judged proper to admit to vows; and the third is the congregation of St Lazarus, composed of such as are detained there by force. The religious of St Magdalen at Rome were established by Pope Leo X. Clement VIII. settled a revenue on them, and further appointed that the effects of all public prostitutes dying intestate should fall to them, and that the testaments of the rest should be invalid unless they bequeathed to them a portion of their effects, amounting at least to a fifth part.