登陆注册
14725700000013

第13章 CHAUCER'S TIMES.(12)

On the other hand, neither did the Mendicant Orders, instituted at a later date purposely to supply what the older Orders, as well as the secular clergy, seemed to have grown incapable of furnishing, any longer satisfy the reason of their being. In the fourteenth century the Dominicans or Black Friars, who at London dwelt in such magnificence that king and Parliament often preferred a sojourn with them to abiding at Westminster, had in general grown accustomed to concentrate their activity upon the spiritual direction of the higher classes. But though they counted among them Englishmen of eminence (one of these was Chaucer's friend, "the philosophical Strode"), they in truth never played a more than secondary part in this country, to whose soil the delicate machinery of the Inquisition, of which they were by choice the managers, was never congenial. Of far greater importance for the population of England at large was the Order of the Franciscans or (as they were here wont to call themselves or to be called) Minorites or Grey Friars. To them the poor had habitually looked for domestic ministrations, and for the inspiring and consoling eloquence of the pulpit; and they had carried their labours into the midst of the suffering population, not afraid of association with that poverty which they were by their vow themselves bound to espouse, or of contact with the horrors of leprosy and the plague. Departing from the short-sighted policy of their illustrious founder, they had become a learned, as well as a ministering and preaching Order; and it was precisely from among them that, at Oxford and elsewhere, sprang a succession of learned monks, whose names are inseparably connected with some of the earliest English growths of philosophical speculation and scientific research. Nor is it possible to doubt that in the middle of the thirteenth century the monks of this Order at Oxford had exercised an appreciable influence upon the beginnings of a political struggle of unequalled importance for the progress of our constitutional life. But in the Franciscans also the fourteenth century witnessed a change, which may be described as a gradual loss of the qualities for which they had been honourably distinguished; and in England, as elsewhere, the spirit of the words which Dante puts into the mouth of St. Francis of Assisi was being verified by his degenerate Children:--So soft is flesh of mortals, that on earth A good beginning doth no longer last Than while an oak may bring its fruit to birth.

Outwardly, indeed, the Grey Friars might still often seem what their predecessors had been, and might thus retain a powerful influence over the unthinking crowd, and to sheer worldlings appear as heretofore to represent a troublesome memento of unexciting religious obligations;"Preach not," says Chaucer's "Host,"

"as friars do in Lent, That they for our old sins may make us weep, Nor in such wise thy tale make us to sleep."But in general men were beginning to suspect the motives as well as to deride the practices of the Friars, to accuse them of lying against St.

同类推荐
  • Tom Swift and His Air Scout

    Tom Swift and His Air Scout

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 法法

    法法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 海绡说词

    海绡说词

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 望仙

    望仙

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 翼庵禅师语录

    翼庵禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 嘴强争霸

    嘴强争霸

    作为一个穿越且重生的人,李小明没有得到那些如天选之人一般的待遇,反而是重生到了一个傻子身上,而在这个要靠说话的世界,这样的李小明无疑是很难生存下去的,但是上天既然赋予了他第二次生命,那么必定会让他绽放出不一样的颜色。
  • 重生之都市侠客行

    重生之都市侠客行

    南宋淳祐九年进士,武林盟主之子飞雪山庄少庄主的夏侯风在一次灾难中穿越了!穿越了九百年,来到了现代,被人当成了神经病,送入精神康复中心,还开具了间接性精神障碍证明。该如何生存下去?这是一个问题!
  • 妖殿大人万万岁

    妖殿大人万万岁

    一代叱咤风云的妖王,一失足落入凡间,灵魂尽碎,只留一丝残魂寄居与一位人类的身上,一代灵主,为帮助妖界寻得妖王不惜自散灵力,只为寻得他。呆萌妖王、傲娇灵主,悲剧也能变喜剧,我才不要回妖界,即使落魄至此,我也是那魅力无边的王。妖界不能一日无首,妖王却又迟迟不归,这可如何是好?《妖王大人万万岁》带你见证一代呆萌妖王的凄惨遭遇
  • 艾丽丝的故事

    艾丽丝的故事

    三位帅气的男主,在艾丽丝高中读书,遇到了一位长得美丽可爱,活泼的刘茜,他们直接的事情一连串的发生,结局会怎么样呢???
  • TFBOYS爱出发

    TFBOYS爱出发

    “一起长大的约定,那样真心,与你聊不完的曾经,而我已经分不清,你是友情,还是错过的爱情”当这首歌的旋律在你耳边响起,你是否会想起那年青涩的自己。爱一个人是成全,是放手,是等待;还是和他(她)永远在一起到老到死。一句“傻瓜”是否能唤醒记忆?一段不属于他和她的过往,是否会成为一道无法愈合的裂痕?一个“被动”的耳光能否让他们从此沦为陌生人。。。
  • 白色眷恋

    白色眷恋

    因为不满皇马6比2的比分,中国青年律师沈星怒砸啤酒瓶,结果电光火石间,他穿越成了佛罗伦蒂诺的儿子,且看来自09年的小伙子如何玩转03年的欧洲足坛
  • 因灵

    因灵

    某日,杜途忽然接到自己在一个月后就会死亡的预言……某处,一个奇异的立方体突兀地出现,所有人都看得见,却摸不着,触不到,即便用核弹轰炸也毫发无损……这个立方体被称为因灵,而杜途体内寄生着一块因灵的碎片……因灵,你究竟为何物?又为何求?
  • 老夫子诠解三国演义

    老夫子诠解三国演义

    要说中国四大名著影响最为深远的,首推《三国演义》。无论是在历史上还是现实中,它的许多人物和故事,在中华大地广为流传。
  • 圣樱学院之公主的校园生活

    圣樱学院之公主的校园生活

    她~紫夜(千月雪樱),皇族唯一的公主,却不愿进皇家学院,反而和自己的三个好友、闺蜜,扮猪吃虎去了圣樱学院,她们究竟能不能在那儿弄出一番风浪呢???(加作者QQ:2502035842了解文章剧情发展吧)
  • 为你而策

    为你而策

    他,养她。他要她嫁入皇宫,杀了阻挡了他的那个人。计划失败,他亲手杀了她。她才知道他不爱她,只是把她当做和它们一样的棋子。她恨他。。。。。望着躺在血潭里的她,回想着她死前的眼神。他猛然惊醒。他爱她。。。再轮回,她步步为营,只为逃离他。而他却步步紧逼。。。“你恨我?”“有脑子的人都看得出来。”“我爱你。”“有脑子的人都看不出来。”