section_path: History/Little Union
section_name: Little Union
paragraph_text: Little Union
  
  The Augustinian friars came into being as part of the mendicant movement of the 13th century, a new form of religious life which sought to bring the religious ideals of the monastic life into an urban setting which allowed the religious to serve the needs of the people in an apostolic capacity. In 1243 the Tuscan hermits petitioned Pope Innocent IV to unite them all as one group. Innocent IV issued the bull Incumbit Nobis on 16 December 1243, an essentially pastoral letter which exhorted these hermits to adopt "the Rule and way of life of the Blessed Augustine," and to elect a prior general. The bull also appointed Cardinal Riccardo Annibaldi as their supervisor and legal guide.