TJie Medieval ChuirJi at its HeigJit 481 who wished to prove that he belonged to the clergy, in order that, he might be tried by a church court, had only to show that he could read a single line ; for it was assumed by the judges that no one unconnected with the Church could read at all. It was therefore inevitable that all the teachers were clergy- men, that almost all the books were written by priests and monks, and that the clergy was the ruling power in all intellectual, artistic, and literary matters — the chief guardians and promoters of civilization. Moreover, the civil government was forced to rely upon churchmen to write out the public documents and proclamations. The priests and monks held the pen for the king. Representatives of the clergy sat in the king's councils and acted as his ministers ; in fact, the conduct of the govern- ment largely devolved upon them. The offices in the Church were open to all ranks of men, and Offices in the many of the popes themselves sprang from the humblest classes, to airdasser The Church thus constantly recruited its ranks with fresh blood. No one held an office simply because his father had held it before him, as was the case iw the civil government. No wonder that the churckrften were by far the most power- Excommu- ful class in the Middle Ages. "TThey controlled great wealth ; they h^J^erdict^" alone were educated; they -held the keys of the kingdom of heaven and without their aid no one could hope to enter in. By excommunication they could cast out the enemies of the Church and could forbid all men to associate with them, since they were accursed. By means of the interdict they could sus- pend all religious ceremonies in a whole city or country by closing the church doors and prohibiting all public services. Section 84. The Heretics and the Inquisition Nevertheless, in spite of the power and wonderful organi- Rebels zation of the Church, a few people began to revolt against it as clmrch early as the time of Gregory VII ; and the number of these rebels continued to increase as time went on. Popular leaders
