IN CHURCH HISTORY. 8$ 



as applied to the Bishop of Rome, although pre- 

 viously it had been given to the Bishops of other 

 places. 



There were few causes that brought about so 

 much evil as this increase of the power and 

 dominion of the Bishops of Rome. It tended to 

 beget and to perpetuate error, and bound men in 

 bondage to superstition. In subsequent days the 

 Pope claimed power to bestow crowns upon rulers, 

 to regulate the affairs of nations, and to receive 

 the homage of all men, in matters temporal and 

 spiritual. 



The Rise of Monastic Orders. — We are not to 

 look for the first beginnings of the monastic sys- 

 tem in this period, for, as we have seen, Anthony, 

 in the fourth century, was the founder of a brother- 

 hood who devoted themselves to an ascetic life. 

 Even earlier than his time, there were many who 

 turned their backs upon the world, and lived in 

 caves and solitary places as hermits and anchorites. 

 The monkish orders, however, were greatly multi- 

 plied in this period, and came into very great favor. 

 The Benedictine order was founded in a. d. 529, 

 by Benedict of Nursia, a pious, zealous man, 

 whose aim was to encourage others in devotion 

 and usefulness. Money poured in upon them, 

 and the order became the leading one in the west. 

 Others flourished in different sections, and pres- 



