[51] Milman's Hist. of Latin Christianity, vol. iv. p. 407
[52] He died about 1308, at the age of one hundred. A selection from
his satires is to be found in Raynouard's collection of Provençal
literature.
[53] Among these, the most formidable, at one time, was the great
order of Knights Templars--_Ecclesia super Ecclesiam_.
[54] See _Révue des Deux Mondes_, 1866, vol. 64.
[55] Cf. also Richard of Hampole--
'Ther is lyf withoute ony deth,
* * * * *
Ae yatte the most sovereign joye of alle
Is the sight of Goddes bright face,
In whom resteth all manere grace.'
[56] It may be objected that 'La Bible Guyot' was a satire on the
times. But this curious book is, so far as it deals with the Church, a
querulous complaint of certain indignities and privations suffered by
the author, chiefly in the way of eating and drinking. 'The Abbot,' he
says, 'gets the meat and the clear wine; the monks get beans and muddy
wine. And they are obliged to be "roaring and bellowing" all night
long, so that they can get no sleep.' A monk, whose chief complaint is
the frequency of church services and the rigorous mortification of the
flesh, can hardly be called a satirist.
[57] It was, among others, the cause of that most singular movement,
the Crusade of Children. Friar Nicholas preached that by reason of the
rapacity and lust of the soldiers, the Holy Land would never be
conquered, but that, were the children to invade it, the arms of the
infidels would drop powerless from their hands. Acting on this belief,
hundreds of children started from Germany and France, in the belief
that the Mediterranean would be dried up for them to pass. Seven
shiploads were kidnapped and sold for slaves in Alexandria, several
thousands perished; only a few found their way back. The story is told
by M. Capefigue in a note to Michault's 'Histoire des Crusades.'