It must be remembered that in the great majority of the smaller
monasteries, and indeed in any religious house where there were
chaplains to do the routine work in the church, there was nothing to
prevent an absolutely illiterate man or woman from becoming monk or
nun. It was, however, impossible for a man to discharge the duties of
his calling as a parish priest without some education and without at
least a knowledge of Latin. I will not stop to argue that point; they
who dispute the assumption have much to learn. Moreover it is only
what we should expect, that while some were hardened and brutalized
by the scenes through which they had passed, some were softened and
humbled. The prodigious activity in church building--church
_restoration_ is perhaps the truer term-during the latter part
of the fourteenth century in East Anglia is one of many indications
that the religious life of the people at large had received a mighty
stimulus. Here, again, the evidence near at hand requires to be
carefully looked into. In historical no less than in physical
researches, the microscope requires to be used. As yet it has
scarcely been used at all. History is in the empirical stage.
Meanwhile, such hints as that of Knighton's are significant when he
tells us that, as the parsons died, a vast multitude of laymen whose
wives had perished in the pestilence presented themselves for holy
orders.
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