Of course there were
scandalous brethren. Here and there--but rarely, very rarely--there
was a wicked abbot or prior. Of course there were instances of
abominations on which one cannot dwell; of course there are stories
which are bad to read; stories which find their way into the
chronicles because they were strange or startling; but these stories
are always told with horror, and commented upon with severity and
scorn. Excuse for wickedness or any palliation of it, you simply
never find.
On the other hand, the intense _esprit de corps_ of a convent of
monks went beyond anything that we can now realize, and led to grave
sins against truth and honesty. The forgeries of charters, bulls, and
legal instruments of all kinds for the glorification of a monastery
by its members was at least condoned only too frequently. It can
hardly be doubted that the scriptorium of many a religious house must
have been turned to very discreditable uses by unscrupulous and
clever scribes, with the connivance if not with the actual knowledge
of the convent, for such things were not done in a corner. If the
forgeries succeeded--and that they often did succeed we know--the
monastery got all the advantage of the rascality; no inquiry was
made, and it was tacitly assumed that where so much was gained, and
the pride of "our house" was gratified, the end justified the means.
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