86 MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION 



the Church became the protector of the exposed 

 peasants, and sometimes her clergy would put on 

 the garments of the soldier, to fight for the rights 

 of the Church and of the poor. 



In picturing to ourselves the condition of the 

 things during this period, especially towards its end, 

 we are to think, first, of the monastery, with its 

 great church, its cloisters, its farm and tenants, 

 and its schools ; then of the castle, with its armor- 

 clad soldiers, its surrounding peasantry ; and then 

 of the few cities where commerce had attracted 

 population, and accumulated wealth. 



It is difficult to describe in sufficiently clear 

 terms the utter misery which prevailed at the close 

 of the ninth century and extended still later. 

 Education was confined almost entirely to the 

 clergy, and even they, as a general rule, were in a 

 deplorable condition of ignorance. The peasant 

 population of Europe was depressed, poor, and 

 unhappy. Robbers frequented every road, and 

 there seemed to be no authority left to punish 

 them. Lands were left untilled, and famines and 

 plagues spread in every quarter. 



As the ninth century drew to an end, there 

 prevailed almost throughout Christendom the 

 belief that the world was coming speedily to an 

 end. 



The year 999 was regarded as the last year, 



