uld possibly be an occasion of perdition to the wife left
behind in the world, we desire thee, without any excuse allowed, to
restore her husband to her, even though he should be already tonsured."
It is quite noticeable that the bishop would much prefer that the woman
follow her husband's example and embrace the monastic life. It is
possible that Gregory, in addition to his constant zeal in gaining
recruits for this vocation, realized, personally inexperienced though he
was in such matters, that the wife would find but cold comfort in the
enforced embraces of a husband who preferred the monks of a religious
house to her own society. Still, even in the case of a professed nun who
had been forcibly compelled to marry against her will, he did not
suggest that the matrimonial bonds should be severed without the consent
of the enterprising husband, but only that she should have the right,
after providing for her children, to devote the residue of her property
to the Church to which she would gladly have sacrificed her whole life.

In those parts of the Christian world to which the authority of Pope
Gregory did not extend, monasticism showed some peculiarities that were
very dissimilar to the Benedictine rule. Perhaps the most striking of
these is to be seen in the ancient British Church, that apostolic
foundation which, until after the Saxon conquest, had never come under
the influence of the Roman See. At Whitby, in Yorkshire, Saint Hild, the
daughter of a king, reared a monastery which included, under her own
personal government, both men and women. In adjoining buildings, nuns
and monks lived in contemplative retirement, their life and studies
superintended by this gifted woman, whose wisdom was such that her
counsel was eagerly sought by the highest nobles in the land. Her
institution was a training school for bishops and priests, as well as a
haven of religious recreation for women of the world. That her rule was
salutary, and this combination not prejudicial to good living, seems to
be proved by the fact that she included among those who were trained
under her supervision John of Beverly, who was as famous for his
holiness as for his learning.

Thus, monasticism became an increasingly powerful factor in the social
life of that far distant age. The importance of the institution lay in
its complete universality. Wherever was found the Christian Church,
there also was the religious house, a harbor of sanctity, presided o