ional ideals of the Church; but, from the
eighth century, the ecclesiastical morality was of such a low order as
seriously to affect the moral tone of the people and to invalidate the
efficacy of the Church as a teacher of religion. The celibacy which
was enjoined upon the clergy was largely responsible for this state
of affairs. It is unfortunately not true that the ages of faith, so
called, were ages of great moral purity. In spite of the interdict of
councils, priestly marriages were looked upon as common events. The
marriage of priests being under the ban of the Church, concubinage
was regarded as almost a legitimate relationship, and carried less
of stigma than the proscribed marriages. It is not singular that such
impairment of moral ideas was not confined to the priests, and that
the same low moral tone invaded the convents, many of whose inmates
became the partners of the priests in their derelictions.

"The known luxury and believed immoralities of the wealthy
monasteries" in England, says Sharon Turner, "made a great impression
on the public mind. Even some of the clergy became ashamed of it, and
contributed to expose it, both in England and elsewhere." Nor was the
tone of morals outside the cloister of higher grade than that of the
monks. In 1212 a council commanded the clergy not to have women
in their houses, nor to suffer in their cloisters assemblies for
debauchery, nor to entertain women there. Nuns were ordered to lie
single. In England, these and many other moral prohibitions were
repeated at various intervals, showing that, in spite of the
prevailing corruption, there was an appreciation of pure ideals; and
in its councils the Church took cognizance of and endeavored to stem
the rising tide of unchastity. Thus, inquiries were made in 1252 as to
whether the clergy frequented the nunneries without reasonable cause,
and a year or two afterward an inquisition was made all over England
into the character and actions of the various religious personages.
The conduct of the nuns is frequently alluded to in terms of the
severest censure, while the ecclesiastics were enjoined not to
frequent taverns or public spectacles, or to resort to the houses of
loose characters, or to visit the nuns; they were not to play at dice
or improper games, nor to leave their property to their children.
The vices of the clergy were the unavoidable consequence of the
independence of their hierarchy from civil control. The release o