humble estate were not happy in their own way. Lacking
the luxuries of the table and the fine attire of the ladies of the
castles, life still had for them many elements of pure joy. But while
the women of the lower ranks would have contrasted well in the matter
of morals with the women of the nobility, yet no more then than now
was virtue the exclusive possession of any class.

The monasteries were not only centres of culture, but were also the
great distributing centres of charity, the nuns being looked upon as
the especial friends of the poor. We hear little of complaint against
the character of these houses at this time, and it is clear that the
rules for their direction had become efficacious for the establishing
of a discipline sufficiently rigid, on the whole, to ensure exemplary
character. Many penances and mortifications were imposed on the nuns,
besides others which were voluntarily assumed. In a book of rules
published at this time appears the following, which seems to indicate
that even sunshine savored too much of worldliness for the occupants
of the religious houses: "My dear sisters, love your windows as little
as you may, and let them be small, and the parlor's the narrowest; let
the cloth in them be twofold, black cloth, the cross white within and
without." It may be, however, that it was not too much sunlight that
was to be avoided, but men, who sought to converse with the nuns
at their windows. This indeed appears to be the true meaning of the
recommendation, as is indicated by another enjoinment: "If any man
become so mad and unreasonable that he put forth his hand toward the
window cloth, shut the window quickly and leave him."

Besides the nuns, whose office dedicated them to acts of charity, many
of the noble ladies found pleasure in alleviating the afflictions of
the poor. In their care of the distressed they were incited to acts
of humility by the very high value that the Church placed upon the
performance of such deeds. Matilda, the good wife of Henry I., had the
training of the monastery in developing her benevolent instincts, and
set an example to the ladies of her court by establishing the leper
hospital of Saint Giles; there she herself washed the feet of lepers,
esteeming such lowly service as done unto Christ. In a hard and cruel
age, the gentler sentiments common to womanly nature, especially when
under the influence of Christian feeling, poured themselves out in a
wealth of affection up