More on Crutched Friars from Infoplease:

• Crutched Friars - Crutched Friars is the Latin cruciati (crossed) —i.e. having a cross embroidered on their ...
• Friars - Friars [brothers ]. Applied to the four great religious orders —Dominicans, Franciscans, ...
• Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: C - Definitions, origins, and illustrative excerpts for words, phases, and literary allusions starting with "C"