Tenth Century
28
Eleventh Century
45
Twelfth Century
54
Thirteenth Century
49
Fourteenth Century
27
Fifteenth Century
17
Sixteenth Century
24
Seventeenth Century
15
Eighteenth Century
20
In the first centuries the numerous but nameless martyrs of the Neronian and other
persecutions are not separately counted. The Holy Innocents, the Seven Sleepers (in the third
century), the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (fourth century,) and other groups of martyrs are counted
only one each. Lecky asserts too confidently that the seventh century was the most prolific in saints,
and yet the most immoral. It is strange that the number of saints should have declined from the
seventh century, while the church increased, and that the eighteenth century of infidelity should
have produced five more saints than the seventeenth century. It would therefore be very unsafe to
make this table the basis for
§ 75. Clerical Morals.- Social Position. The clergy stood, during the middle ages, at the head of society, and shared
with kings and nobles the rule of the people. They had the guardianship of the souls and consciences
of men, and handled the keys of the kingdom of heaven. They possessed nearly all the learning,
but it was generally very limited, and confined to a little Latin without any Greek. Some priests
descended from noble and even royal blood, others from slaves who belonged to monasteries. They
enjoyed many immunities from public burdens, as military duty and taxation. Charlemagne and
his successors granted to them all the privileges which the Eastern emperors from the time of
Constantine had bestowed upon them. They could not be sued before a civil court, and had their
own episcopal tribunals. No lay judge could apprehend or punish an ecclesiastic without the
permission of his bishop.
They were supported by the income from landed estates, cathedral funds, and the annual
tithes which were enacted after the precedent of the Mosaic law. Pepin, by a decree of 764, imposed
the payment of tithes upon all the royal possessions. Charlemagne extended it to all lands, and
made the obligation general by a capitulary in 779. The tithes were regarded as the minimum