St. Angela spent 17 years leading a group of women known as The Company of St. Ursula, who regularly met for conferences and devotional practices, but did not live together. They were recognized in 1544 by Pope Paul III; in 1572 Pope Gregory XIII, at the instance of St. Charles Borromeo, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, declared it a religious order with enclosure under the rule of St. Augustine.
In the following century, the Ursulines were powerfully encouraged and supported by St. Francis de Sales. In most cases, especially in France, the sisters adopted enclosure and took solemn vows; they were called the religious Ursulines as distinct from the congregated Ursulines, who preferred to follow the original plan. There were Ursulines in Canada in 1639, who taught catechism to Indian children, and subsequently helped to preserve a religious spirit among the French population and to westernize the Indians and Métis.
Towards the beginning of the 18th century, the period of its greatest prosperity, the order embraced some 20 congregations, with 350 convents and from 15,000 to 20,000 nuns. The members wore a black dress bound by a leathern girdle, a black sleeveless cloak, and a close-fitting headdress with a white veil and a longer black veil. Their patron is the St. Ursula mentioned above. The founder was beatified by Clement VIII in 1768 and canonized as St Angela Merici of Brescia by Pius VII in 1807. The Irish Ursulines were established at Cork in 1771 by Miss Nano Nagle. While some convents in Europe, Canada, and Cuba still observe strict enclosure, most convents have adopted less restrictive forms.
In the United States, the Ursulines have founded two well-known Catholic women's colleges, Ursuline College in Ohio and the College of New Rochelle in New York.
One Ursuline secondary education school is Ursuline Academy of Dallas, an all girl's school. Ursuline Academy's brother schools are Jesuit College Preparatory School and Cistercian Preparatory School, which are both also located in Dallas, Texas. Ursuline High School in Youngstown, Ohio, founded in 1905, has recently produced a number of state championships in various sports.