The Order of the Most Holy Trinity was founded to ransom Christian Captives (especially those in danger of renouncing their faith). The Motto of the Order expresses well the charism of the order: "Glory to the Most Holy Trinity and Liberty to Captives". There have been "tertiaries" of the "Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives" since the beginnings of the Order though they were not known by that name. Lay "confreres" were admitted already in 1199 by the permission of Pope Innocent III. Statutes attributed to William the Scotsman, the third Minister General of the Order (1217–1222), give some idea of the primitive organization of the Trinitarian Fraternity.