Congregation founded 1817 at Saint-Brieuc, Cotes-du-Nord, France, by Jean Marie de la Mennais, for the instruction of youth. The first novices were trained by the Christian Brothers, whose rule was largely adopted. Primarily intended to furnish religious teachers to the schools of Brittany, this community soon sent missionaries and founded houses in England, Africa, Asia, America, and Oceania. Owing to the French Law of Associations of 1901, the mother-house was transferred from Ploërmel, France, to Taunton, England. Statistics: 262 houses, 1,403 professed religious, 151 novices, 507 postulants.