The cloisters became luxurious, and sheltered, and, what is worse, sanctioned lewdness and debauchery.
There was a great difference indeed between the _regular_ clergy, or those belonging to orders and monasteries, and the _secular_ clergy or parish priests, who were far better; and there was a jealous feud between them.

There was a lamentable ignorance of the Scripture among the clergy, and gross darkness over the people.

The paraphrases of Caedmon, the translations of Bede and Alfred, the rare manuscripts of the Latin Bible, were all that cast a faint ray upon this gloom.

The people could not read Latin, even if they had books; and the Saxon versions were almost in a foreign language.

Thus, distrusting their religious teachers, thoughtful men began to long for an English version of that Holy Book which contains all the words of eternal life.