798 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
of thirty others. Absalom and Andrew of Lund were fa mous warriors.1 So were Odo of Bayeux, Roger of York, and Geoffrey, his successor, and many other English prelates. The abbot Henry, afterwards archbishop of Narbonne, went at the head of the armies sent against the Albigenses, and did more, wearing the monk's garb, to encourage bloodshed than he could have done in military dress.
The chastity of the bishops was often open to just sus picion. The Christian, already referred to, a loyal supporter of Barbarossa, kept a harem.2 When the confirmation of Geoffrey Riddel to the see of Ely was being prosecuted at the papal court, and Geoffrey was absent, the bishop of Or leans facetiously explained his absence by saying, " He hath married a wife, and therefore he cannot come."3 The case of Henry of Liege, prince-bishop of Liege, is perhaps the most notorious case. He was cited before Gregory X. at the second council of Lyons, and forced to resign. He was an illiterate, and could not read the book presented to him. For thirty years he had led a shameless life. Two abbesses and a nun were among his concubines and he boasted of hav ing had fourteen children in twenty-two months. The worst seems to have occurred before he was made priest. Innocent IV. had been his strong friend. Salimbene tells the popular tale of his day that the saintly Cistercian, Geoffroi de Peronne, came back from the other world and announced that if he had accepted the bishopric of Tournai, as the pope urged him to do, he would have been burning in hell. From the pages of this chronicler we have the pictures of many unworthy prelates given to wine and pleasure, but also of some who were model pastors.4
The prelates of Germany had no better reputation than those of Italy, and Caesar of Heisterbach 6 reports the con versation of a Paris clerk, who declared that he "could believe all things, but it was not possible for him to believe that any German bishop could be saved." When asked the
1 See Hurter, III. 292 sqq., for a list of warrior prelates.
2 Gregorovius, IV. 610. 3 stubbs1 ed. of Hoveden, II. 58.
* Coulton's ed., p. 264 sqq. & Dial., II. 27, Strange's ed., I. 99,
§ 126. THE LOWER CLERGY. 799
reason for such a judgment, he replied, that the German prel ates carried both swords, waged wars, and were more con cerned about the pay of soldiers than the salvation of the souls committed to them.
The other side to this picture is not so apt to be pre sented. Chroniclers are more addicted to point out the scandalous lives of priests than to dwell upon clerical fidel ity. There were faithful and good bishops and abbots. The names of Anselm of Canterbury and Hugh of Lincoln, Bernard and Peter the Venerable only need to be mentioned to put us on our guard against accepting the cases of un worthy and profligate prelates which have been handed down as indicating a universal rule.
§ 126. The Lower Clergy.
The cure of souls — regimen animarum — was pronounced by the Fourth Lateran, following Gregory the Great, to be the art of arts, and bishops were admonished to see to it that men capable in knowledge and of fit morals be appointed to benefices. The people were taught to respect the priest for the sake of his holy office and the fifth commandment was adduced as divine authority for submission to him.1
The old rule was repeated, making the canonical age for consecration to the priesthood twenty-five. Councils and popes laid constant stress upon the priest's moral obligations, such as integrity, temperance in the use of strong drink,2 simplicity in diet and dress, abstinence from the practice of usury.3 He was forbidden to frequent taverns, to play at dice, to attend theatrical and mimic performances, and to allow dances in church buildings and church yards.
1 Innocent III. Ep., II. 142. "Hundreds of times," says Hurter, III. 388, does this pope insist upon obedience from the priest to his superior and says ' the evil of disobedience is the crime of idolatry,' inobedientice malum est scelus idolatries.
2 Fourth Lateran, can. 15.
8 The practice of usury so frequently forbidden to priests was also for bidden to the laity, laicis usura dampnabilis est. Gratiani Deer, causa, XIV. 4, 9, Friedberg's ed., I. 737.