In Latin, the word for a beggar was <em>mendicus, </em>and the word for begging was <em>mendicant. </em>So if you know a little Latin (which was the language of the church in the Middle Ages), then you already know that "mendicant" orders were religious groups that relied on begging for their daily needs. These groups had rejected the usual monastic lifestyle of a group of monks living in a monastery. Though the monasteries did not have lavish lifestyles, to the mendicant orders, the mere ownership of a monastery and its furnishings seemed like a step above poverty. They were devoted to living a Christian life in full poverty and devoting themselves to serving the needs of others. Thus for their own needs, they needed to beg in order to have food or other basic necessities.
