of the growing dislike to ecclesiastical
authority was the immorality of the priests. The contrast between the
professions of humility, and the greed, vice and tyranny of the clergy
was too pronounced. The ecclesiastical offices were publicly sold.
Divine forgiveness was cheaper than a new garment; every priest was
allowed to keep a mistress if he paid a tax to the bishop. Two poems of
the troubadour, Guillem Figueiras, express the state of affairs very
bluntly: "Our shepherds have become thievish wolves, plundering and
despoiling the fold under the guise of messengers of peace. They gently
console their sheep night and day, but once they have them in their
power, these false shepherds let their flock perish and die." In the
other poem he says of the priest:

He lies in a woman's arms all night,
And wakes--defiled--in the morning light
To proffer the sacred host.

Worse invectives even, no less forcible than those of later reformers,
he hurled against Rome. "In the flames and torments of hell is thy
place!... Thou hast the appearance of an innocent lamb, but inwardly
thou art a raging wolf, a crowned snake, begotten by a viper, the friend
of the devil!" Even the good-natured German minnesinger, Walter von der
Vogelweide, found bitter words against Rome: "They point our way to God
and go to hell themselves." Bernard of Clairvaux, the supporter of the
Church, sharply criticised the abuses of pope and clergy in his book,
_De Consideratione_: "The property of the poor is sown before the door
of the rich, the gold glitters in the gutter, the people come hurrying
up from all sides; but not to the neediest is it given, but to the
strongest and to him who is first on the spot." He accused the pope of
extravagance and luxury: "Was Peter clothed in robes of silk, covered
with gold and precious stones? Was he carried in a litter surrounded by
soldiers and vassals?" And he uttered a word which to this day is a
historical truth: "In all thy splendour thou art the successor of
Constantine rather than the successor of Peter."

Dissatisfaction with the life of the clergy and the tyranny of Rome was
the more external reason which, although it vexed even those who were
indifferent to religion, did not question the sacred tradition; the
other reason was more a matter of principle; it was rooted in the desire
for a religious revival and openly attacked perverted truths. The
dreaded, hated, and cruelly persecuted heretics