ALbeit that the Apostle Saint Paul saith , Coloss. 2.2.3.4 . vnto the 22. verse . That in Christ Iesus , and in the knowledge of him all the treasure and wisdome of God lieth hidden : so that the faithfull ought not to receiue any institution or doctrine of men . Yet many hundred years after the Apostles decease , the Church of Rome hath found out a wonderfull and vnspeakable hoord of wisdome and knowledge , through which a man may come to perfect Iustification , and to an Angelicall life , and withall get a store and a heape of merits and good workes , to helpe a good friend withall at a pinch , and to release a dozen or twaine of silly soules out of Purgatory . And these are they , especially the holy Orders and full perfections of Monkes and Friers , especially of Saint Francis , Saint Bernard , Saint Dominick , Saint Ignatius , and many more of the same stampe , which the Apostles knew not of , when men were satisfied with the pure and vnmingled milke of God Word , Like new-borne children , as Saint Peter saith , 1 Pet. 2.2 . Iohn 14.29 . & 15. yea these rich treasures were not yet reuealed to Christ himselfe , who taught nothing , but that which he had receiued of his Father ; and the same did he fully and wholly deliuer to his Disciples and Apostles . This is plainly written in the fifth booke of Sexti Decret. & in Bulla Nic. 4. beginning at Exit . qui Sem. nec his 1. de Verb. sign . And in their Legends , and in the booke which Almas made in the Inspiration of Mary the Aegyptian . Vid. Conformitat . S. Francisci 83. and established with the Popes Bulles . But this ( as it seemes ) was too daintie a dish for his mouth , and therefore must be kept for the last course , against the time that the holy Fathers , Saint Francis , Saint Dominicke , and Saint Alane ( who sucked the blessed Virgins brest , as well as Christ himselfe , and walked about the towne with her , as the Bridegroome with the Bride ) and many more of that rable should appeare . I dare giue them a paire of siluer Eyes to be offered to the blacke woodden Lady of Loretto , if they can finde in the Bible that either Christ , or his Apostles did euer know or teach , that whosoeuer should die in a Gray-friers habit , should neuer come into Purgatory : or that Saint Francis is placed in Lucifers seat in heauen aboue all Angels at the vpper end , and that he did liue a more perfect life than Christ , and that the Angels are not to be compared with him : or what knew they that he that should die in a White-friers Scapularie , should be saued , as ( they say ) the blessed Virgin did declare to Frier Symon Stocke : In hoc moriens saluabitur , that is , Who so dies in this shall be saued , as in their Churches euery where is painted forth . Or what knew they that Frier Alanus should make the Rosary of our Lady , which must be esteemed as the Gospell , as Tarthemius , Leander , and others their Diuines haue written , and their famous great Champion Blindasinus in his book called Panopolie , or his full furniture of Weapons and harnesse , saith , that Saint Francis his Vineyard , the Golden Legend , the booke of the Conformitie of Saint Francis , and the Masse-booke must be as much esteemed in all respects as the holy Scripture ; yea in the booke of the Conformitie of Saint Francis , made by Frier Bartholomew of Pisa , Anno 1389. and allowed by the Chapter generall of Assyso , is written that the same booke is better than the Gospell . And therefore to maintaine these errors and blasphemies the Church of Rome and the Popes her holy Vicars haue at sundrie times erected seuerall Orders of Monks and Friers ( like so many bulwarkes , or strong forts to oppose all batteries and assaults whatsoeuer her Aduersaries shall plant or set against her : ) As the Benedictins , Carthusians , Ieromites , Bernardins , Augustins , Carmelites , Dominicans , Franciscans , Capuchins , Recollects , Iesuites , Theotines , Oraterians , Fullians , Barnabists , and an hundred more of these bald pates . Also Nunnes , Beghins , close Nunnes , loose Nunnes , Sisters , Canonesses . And Hermites , as those of the Orders which they attribute to Saint Anthony , Hilary , Macarius , S. Theon . S. Frontinian , S. Paul the Heremite , S. Apollonius , and many more . Now hath the Popes added to these the holy Gildes , or Confraternities of Saint Roch , Saint Hubricht , S. Sebastian , S. Coronna , who are clad in blew , Saint Anthony in blacke , Saint Martin in white , Saint Dominicke in blacke . Of the Iesuites and Capuchins , &c. Yea moreouer holy Orders of Knights , as those of the Rhodes , or Malta , Teutonickes or Dutch Knights , Templers , Knights of Saint Iames : Our Ladies Knights , Knights of Ierusalem , Knights of the Order of Calatraua , and many more , whom for breuitie sake , I omit : for truly I had need of six hundred tongues , and two hundred pens , yea a mouth of steele , with a brazen voice , if I should declare all the diuersities of Orders and Religions which the holy Popes haue set vp , not only without , but also against the holy Scripture . And yet I name not the Popes themselues , their Cardinals , Prelates , Patriarkes , and such like beasts , whereof neither the Apostles or Prophets euer heard of ; nay I dare boldly say , that if the Apostles or Prophets had but once seene or heard the hundreth part of these new Religious Orders named , they would haue beene afraid of them . For , seeing that Saint Paul could not suffer , that among the Corinthians , some should call themselues the disciples of Peter , others of Paul , and others of Apollo : how would he haue been then afraid and out of quiet , to haue seene and heard of such an innumerable company of new and diuers names , Professions , Religions , and Rules of perfection , some clad in black , some in white , some in gray , greene , blew , some in red , and some in furres , &c. And euery one to esteeme his owne Order and Rules for the best , and most worthy to be regarded , he would surely haue thought himselfe to be in a new world . Therefore the holy Father the Pope and his Monks and Friers , yea all his Clergie men , will not haue men to found themselues , or depend only vpon that which the Prophets and Apostles haue written and taught , for ( say they ) the world is now altered , and the Popes haue found out and established new Religions , new Commandements , and new Articles of Faith ; whereof the Apostles neuer heard , or knew of . For otherwise ( beleeue me ) if nothing else were esteemed but the bare Scriptures and writings of the Prophets and Apostles , then should the Decrees , Decretals , and Ordinances of the Church of Rome , and all the Councells which haue beene kept and holden by the Order and Commandements of the Popes ; yea all the before specified Orders and Religions of Monks , Friers , Nunnes , Heremites , Gildes and Knight-hoods , be vtterly ouerthrowne : yea all their pretended Merits and Supererogations , Prayers to Saints , Purgatory , and such like trumperies , would not be worth a rotten Apple . If men ( I say ) would begin to esteeme the holy Scripture alone , for a true and sufficient rule and direction to attaine to saluation , then should Luther be commended and praised for causing the Decrees and Decretalls of the Pope to be burned in Germany , when his bookes were burned at Rome .

Now because there are many Monks , Friers , and Iesuites sent and transported into England out of the English Seminaries , Colleges , and Cloisters that are in forraigne parts , as trading Factors for the Pope and the King of Spaine , to extoll the sanctitie of the one , and the power of the other ; I haue ( according to my bounden duty to my natiue Country , and out of the zeale and reuerence I beare to Gods Church and true Religion ) vndertaken to write this ensuing Discourse ; my purpose being to discouer the beginning , and ( in some manner ) the proceedings and present estate , drifts and impostures of all Monks , Friers , and Iesuites in generall , and of our English in particular , and as well to instruct all those my louing Country men , that are not as yet thorowly acquainted with their Impostures , Hypocrisies , Fornications , Murders , Idolatries , Blasphemies , & many other abominable Impieties , and inaccessible Mysteries : as also to informe those that are carried away with the blind loue of these busie Hornets , that they will not be perswaded , that they are such wicked Hypocrites , and impious Traitors , as they are indeed : to the end , that the truth being knowne , it may appeare in the face of the world what they are , who in stead of the wholsome milke of the Word of God , doe feed them , who are committed to their charge , with the poison of detestable Blasphemies and humane Traditions ; applying vnto the Virgin Mary and others , their Saints , many passages of holy Scriptures , which are only proper vnto the Diuinity : with their impious and abhorred doctrine of killing and murdering of Kings and Princes , that are excommunicated by the Pope and Church of Rome .

We reade that many religious men heretofore contemning the world , and all the pompe , pride , and vanity thereof , withdrew themselues into Wildernesses and desart places in Syria , Egypt , and other Countries , to the end they might the better ( being not troubled with worldly cares and incumbrances ) bestow their time in reading and studying the holy Scriptures , fasting , praying , meditating , and such diuine exercises : Whereof Paul , ( surnamed the first Heremite ) Anthony , Hilarion , Basil , and Ierome , were the first and chiefest among the Christians , who for their sanctity of life , were in those daies had in great honour ; for then this kinde of life was simple and free , and not bound or tied to such vnlawfull Vowes , and ridiculous Ceremonies , as our moderne Monkes and Friers now adaies pretend to obserue and keepe . Their Habit was then homely and yet decent , as euery man best pleased to weare ; Neither were they bound , to abide or remaine in any one particular place or Couent , nor tied to one kind of life by vow ; but free to stay there , where they liked best , or to goe vnto any other City or Country where they would at their owne pleasure : & if that at any time it repented any of them to haue vndertaken or entred into that kind of life , it was in his owne proper power to recant , and withall to returne to his former vocation or calling againe , without any note , or signe of inconstancy or scandall : which kind of life , if the Monks of our time would imitate , we should hold them farre more holy than we doe , or ( to say the truth ) than they are indeed .

They sought out the most desart places they could find , that is , in the Wildernesse , and therefore were called Heremites ; ( quasi eremum colentes , inhabiting in the Wildernesse ) which the Grecians call Anchorites , because they liued alone without any company , and therefore our Monks call themselues Monachus , that is to say , a solitary man : but by little and little afterwards they began to gather themselues together , as hereafter shall be shewed . So that in those daies , the Monks by their Prayers , Fasting , Watching , Reading , and studying of the holy Scriptures , liuing hardly and far from the company or society of men , working with their owne hands , and getting their liuing with the sweat of their browes , gaue a singular good example to all men to liue verruous and godly ; and afterwards those that were first gathered together into one Congregation for a long time , following the foot-steps of their Predecessors , instructed their Families , and others that resorted vnto them , to leade a godly and a Christian life : and were admired and honoured of all good men , for their doctrine , integrity of life and godly zeale : for as yet the Christians Common-wealth had but one Law and one Religion ; which now ( to the great griefe and sorrow of all good men ) is rent and diuided into so many Sects and Factions , Superstitions , and Ceremonies , that it is a lamentable sight to see or thinke vpon the present misery and calamity of the Church .

There are some of our Moderne Monks and Friers which affirme , that Elias and Iohn Baptist were the first that led a solitary life in the Wildernesse ; and were the Authors or Patrons of their Orders , and therefore would perswade the world that they doe imitate them ; yea , deriue their Rules and Orders from them ( of whom I shall haue occasion hereafter to speake in another place ) but as the one was greater than a Prophet ; so was the other more , yea farre better than euer any Monk or Frier was , as our Sauiour himselfe testifieth of Iohn saying , That among the sonnes of men there was neuer any one greater than Iohn Baptist . Neuerthelesse , the Monks of the order of Saint Anthony hold it no lesse than Blasphemy to say that any order of Monks or Friers is more ancient than theirs ; and yet those of Saint Benets Order doe deny it flatly , and in all Processions or solemne meetings doe take the vpper hand and place of them , and of all other disordered Orders or rable of Monks , or Friers whatsoeuer .

Others there be that think this kinde of Monasticall life to haue beene first instituted by a sort of religious men in Palestina , called Essaei or Esseni , a Sect in those daies very famous & in great reputation among the Iewes , as Philo the learned Iew , cited by Eusebius , testifieth saying , Euseb. li. 8. de Euang. Praepa . Palaestinam maxima gens Iudeorum , inter quos qui dicuntur Essaei , &c. The chiefest people of the Iewes doe inhabite Palestina , among whom those that are called Essaei , be ( as I thinke ) more in number than foure thousand : they are called Essaei quasi Sancti , that is to say , Saints ; because they are the chiefest worshippers of God , not in sacrificing of beasts , but by offering vp their bodies and soules as an acceptable sacrifice vnto God . There is neither boy or youth among them because of the instability of their age , but all old men . They dwell not in Towns or Cities , imagining , that as the contagion of the aire is hurtfull to the body , so the conuersation of the people to be dangerous to the soule . Some of them do till and manure the ground , others doe exercise some peaceable and quiet trade to his owne profit , and his neighbours good : neither doe they lay vp in store any gold or siluer , or possesse any great Farmes or Liuings ; but onely so much as is sufficient to maintaine them . They , of all other men , doe contemne and despise Lands and Money ; holding themselues to bee richest in vertue , and iudging a meane calling , without any great want , the greatest wealth in the world . None of them doth make any kinde of weapon , either Swords , Helmets , Bucklers , or any other warlike Instrument : Neither doe they exercise any Art or Trade that is noisome , or hurtfull to any man ; they neuer trade or trafficke in Merchandise , or keepe any Inne or Victualing house : they know not what Nauigation meaneth , they vse no manner of rapine or deceit . They haue no seruants among them , but all are equall and free men , the one seruing and assisting the other . The seuenth day they repaire to a holy place , which they call a Synagogue , the younger sort sit beneath the elder , there they reade the Scripture diligently , and expound it truly and sincerely . They learne to liue godlily , holily , and iustly , and haue a threefold rule or order ; the first , to loue God aboue all things zealously ; the second , to seeke after vertue diligently ; and the third , to loue their neighbours feruently . And that they loue God aboue all things , we may alleage many Arguments , as perpetuall chastity , their hatred towards swearing and lying , and especially that they confidently beleeue God to be the only Author and efficient cause of all good things , and not of any euill thing . And that they study Vertue may appeare , because they neglect money , despise honour , and hate all voluptuousnesse . And lastly , their beneuolence , society , and equality are apparant testimonies of their brotherly loue and Charity : for none hath a house that is not common to all the rest , and their money and expences are common . Moreouer , their Apparell , Meat , and Drinke , yea all that they haue is in common . Hither are the words of Phylo cited by Eusebius . Now let our Monks , who liue like Kings , who swim in all manner of delights and pleasures , who affect nothing more than promotion and honour ; and whose chiefest care and study is to gather wealth , and hoord vp Gold , Siluer , Pearles , and precious Stones , bee ashamed that their righteousnesse doth not now exceed those Essaeians or Essenians , but doth rather come farre short of theirs .

But yet most of the learned , yea they of the Church of Rome are of opinion that this Saint Anthony was the first that instituted this Monasticall life , which was in Thebaica , a region in Aegypt , where he built a Monasterie , and there together with Sarmatas , Amatas , and Macharius his Disciples , liued many yeeres , spending the residue of their time in fasting and praying ; their food being but Bread , Herbs , and Roots , and their drinke Water . He died in the Wildernesse in the yeere of our Lord God CCCLXI. being 105. yeeres old .

Whereby it seemes , that this kinde of Monasticall or priuate life was very ancient , and such as the time and estate of the Church required then : but that which after in place thereof sprang vp among vs , was of later time , and being at the first farre vnlike the other , the longer it stood , did notwithstanding still degenerate more and more , till at length it grew intolerable .

Of the Benedictin Monks .

AFterwards about the yeere of our Lord 567. being two hundred and six yeeres after the death of Saint Anthony , one Benedictus Nursinus ( whom the English Papists vulgarly call Saint Benet ) a man borne in Vmbria , a Region in Italy , hauing led some certaine yeeres a solitary life in those desart places , at length retired to Subl●cum , a towne distant forty miles from Rome , whither many people ( by reason of the great fame of his integrity and holinesse of life ) resorted vnto him : but within a while he departed thence and repaired to Cassinum , an ancient City in that Region , where he built a Monasterie , and in a very short time gathered together all such Monks as then wandred here and there in the Woods and Desarts of Italy ; and gaue them certaine rules and statutes to obserue and keepe : And withall bound them to three seuerall Vowes ; the which were neuer heard of , before that S. Basil had ordained them in the East Country to his Monks , which was about the yeere 383. for Basil was the first that gaue Rules or Orders vnto Monks . Among other Lawes and Statutes , hee ordained , that after that a Monk had remained the space of one whole yeere in his Abbey ( if so be that he was willing to continue there still ) hee should make three seuerall solemne Vowes : first to liue chastly , ( but with this Prouiso , Si non castè , tamen cautè , that is to say , if he could not liue chastly , he should goe about his bunesse warily . Secondarily , to possesse nothing . And thirdly , to obey his Superiours in what thing soeuer they should command him . Which decree of Benet ( or rather of Basil , but receiued and allowed of by Benet ) was ratified by the Church of Rome for an Euangelicall Law or Decree .

Againe Benet gaue his Monklings a new kinde of foolish habit ; appointing them also a certaine forme of praying ; allowing them but meane Commons , and withall a new manner of Abstinence , that was likewise neuer heard of before .

But now the world is altered with them ; for whosoeuer will suruay or view them well , shall see that they liue like Princes , and farre more like Epicures than Religious men , as all those that are , or haue beene acquainted with them , can testifie .

This Congregation of Saint Benet grew , by little and little , to be so great , that it is almost incredible . Yet in the end there hapned such a Schisme among them , that it was and still is diuided into many families , as Cluniacenses , Camalduenses , Vallisumbrenses , Montoliuetenses , Grandimontenses , Cistercienses , Syluestrenses Coelestini , and diuers others , who are now adaies either vnited with other Orders , or else quite extirpated and abolished .

All these seuerall Sects of Monks ( who apply their minds to nothing else but to sloth , idlenesse , gluttony , idolatry , whordome , fornication , and the like impietie ( vnlesse it be to inuent and bring in daily more new Sects of Monks and Friers ) are reported to haue proceeded from the first Family of Saint Benet . Those that were first instituted by this Saint ( as they themselues confesse ) are those that now adaies weare a blacke loose Coat of stuffe reaching downe to their heeles , with a Cowle ( or hood ) to couer their bald Pates , which hangs downe to their shoulders ; and their Scapular shorter than any other of these Monks ; and vnder that Coat another white Habit as large as the former , made of Stuffe or white Flannen . They shaue the haires of their heads , except one little round circle which they leaue round about their heads , which they call Corona , their Crowne forsooth , because they would bee honoured as Kings and Princes . By the rule that their Patron gaue them , they are bound to abstaine perpetually from flesh , vnlesse , when they are sicke . And therfore these immodest moderne Monks ( who doe eat Flesh daily , except the time of Lent , and other fish daies ) must of necessity be alwaies sicke , vnlesse they will impudently confesse ( as indeed they cannot deny ) but that they obserue not the Lawes and Statutes of their Patron Saint Benet , and therein haue infringed and falsified one of their vnlawfull Vowes . Where you may obserue that this Monasticall Institution , being but humane , and not grounded or warranted by the Word of God , did not continue long inuiolated ; the nature of men being inclined ( yea in the best things ) to wax daily rather worse than better . And therefore the Benedictin Monks haue contaminated their former Piety and Deuotions with the Mammon of this world , as Promotions , Sloth , Gluttony , and all manner of Luxury ; which was the cause that this one Family was so rent and diuided into so many Sects and Schismes as daily experience teacheth vs . How religiously they haue liued heretofore , and still liue , those that are conuersant in their owne Histories , and haue trauelled in forraigne Countries , can best tell , to their perpetuall shame ; although our new vpstart English Benedictin Monks would haue the world beleeue that their Order first planted the Christian Religion in this Land , and that the Monks of their Order were euer godly and religious men , and therefore not to be ranked with the Iesuites who are great Statesmen ; for they ( good Monks ) meddle not with matters of State , or with Kings affaires : but for all their counterfeit holinesse let me tell them in their eares , that an English Benedictin of Swinsteed Abbey poisoned King Iohn ; for the which fact he was , and still is highly honoured by all Papists in generall . And one saith of him thus , Iohannes Maior de gestis Scotorum lib. 4. c. 3. Cluniacenses . Regem perimere meritorium ratus est , he thought it a meritorious deed to kill the King .

The Monks that are called Cluniacenses , being formerly of the Congregation of Benet , were first instituted in Burgundie by one Otho an Abbot of that Congregation , vnto whom William ( surnamed the Godly ) Duke of Aquitaine , gaue a certaine Village called Mastick , and other lands towards their maintenance , which was about the yeare of our Lord DCCCCXVI .

Camalduenses . Not long after the Camalduenses Monks started vp ; the Author of it was one Romoaldus , who had beene formerly a Monk of Benets Order in a Cloister neare Rauenna in Italy , from whence he made an escape , to the Prouince of Hetruria , which is now the Duke of Florence his Dominion , where , hauing obtained a conuenient place of one Modulus , he built a Monastery on the top of the Appenine hills , and there erected another new Family . These Monks weare a white habite , and professe to lead a very austere kinde of life ; but , to say the truth , all is but meere hypocrisie .

Vallis-vmbresenses . In the other side of those former hilles , at a place called Vallis-Vmbrosa , in the yeare of our Lord 1060. one Iohn Gualbertus , a Florentine , instituted another new Family of Monks , who did weare a purple habite .

Monteliuetenses . The Monteliuetenses began to peepe out about the yeare 1047. at the same time when there were three seuerall Popes liuing , who troubled all Christendome for the Papacie . The Institutor of this Family of Monks , was one Bernardus Ptolomeus , they liued at the first at Sienna , a Citie in Tuscan in Italy ; but afterwards ( hauing gathered their crummes together ) they built an Abbey on the top of an high hill not farre from thence ; they weare a white habite , this Family was approued by Pope Gregory the twelfth .

Grandimontenses . The Author or Institutor of the Grandimontensian Monks , was one Stephen , a Noble-man borne in Auernia in France , who gaue them ( much about that time ) large possessions and reuenues to maintaine themselues withall .

The Cistercienses , or Bernanardin Monks . And about the very selfe-same time one Robert , Abbot of Molismenia , perceiuing how the old Benedictin Monks had then almost quite left and forsaken the ancient rule and discipline that Benet had giuen them , accompanied with more than twentie other Monks , repaired to a place called Sistercium in Burgundie , being an horrible stupendious place and not inhabited , and there erected another new Family , and called them Sistercienses of the place he built his first Abbey . In the yeare of our Lord MXCVIII . The Bernardin Monks . Saint Bernard being a man nobly descended in Burgundie , and one that before that time had vndertaken this Monastical life ; at Cistercium aforesaid became very famous as wel for his learning as for his sanctitie of life ; and therefore was chosen to bee Abbat of the Abbey of Claranallensis , which Abbey one Robert a Noble-man of that Countrey had then lately built , and then began the Order of the Monks of Saint Bernard : but to say the truth , the Cistercensian Monks , and the Bernardine are all one , sauing a little in their habite ; for the Bernardins weare a blacke gowne ouer a white coat , and the Cistercians all white , and yet the Bernardins weare ( most commonly ) euery festiuall day the habite of the Cistercians , to shew the beginning of their Order , as Seb. Franckin witnesseth . Seb. Fran. Chron. folio 470. These Bernardine Monks haue their Abbeyes , for the most part , in some pleasant valley neare to some riuer side accommodated with woods and groues , as an ancient Poet well obserued in these verses : Semper enim valles Syluestribus vndique cinctos Arboribus , Diuus Bernardus , amaenaque prata Et fluuios , &c. — amabat . That is to say : In valleyes and groues neare some riuer side The Bernardine Monks doe loue to reside .

The Celestine Monks . About some fourescore and foure yeares after , one Petrus Moronēus ( who had beene formerly an Anchorite , and afterwards Pope , and called Caelestinus the fift ) erected an Order of Monks , and called them Caelestini . His Order was confirmed in the Councell of Lyons by Pope Gregory the tenth , who gaue them many priuileges and indulgences , they obserue the rule of Saint Benet . An. Dom. 1294. This Sect or Family did afterwards increase so fast , that within few yeares , hee himselfe did consecrate six and thirty Cloisters for them in Italy , wherein were six hundred Monks : afterwards they came to inhabite all Christendome . Their first comming into England was in the yeare 1414. Surius in Caelestino , tom. 3. de vitis Sanctorum . Vide Tho. Walsingham , George Lilyus , and Balaeus , Centuria 7. cap. 50. in Appendice .

There is also a Confraternitie or Brotherhood of this Order . Their Institutor gaue his Monks , among other things , this caueat , Tunc Caelestinus eris , si caelestia mediteris , that is to say , Thou shalt be a Caelestin in deed , ( that is , a heauenly man ) if thou wilt alwaies meditate vpon heauenly things . They weare a kinde of a Skie-coloured habite ouer a white coat , and doe neuer or seldome eat flesh ; and haue their Monasteries in some fertile and pleasant soile , and most commonly a mile or two from any Towne or Citie .

Of the Gilbertin Monks and Nuns .

THe Institutor of this Sect was one Gilbert of Sempringham , a Knights sonne , borne at Sempringham in Lincolne-shire , his fathers name was Iocelin . This Gilbert was a man very deformed in his body , but very studious and learned , and withall very superstitious , as most men then were . After such time that hee had spent some certaine yeares in France in study , he repaired backe to England , vnto whom many people resorted , by reason of the great fame of his holy life . And in a very short time he erected thirteen Cloisters of Friers and Nunnes , whereof the chiefest was at Sempringham , Anno 1148. wherein were ( as Balaeus witnesseth ) seuen hundred Friers , and eleuen hundred Nunns . Capgrauus & Scropus in Chron. And about the yeare 1148. he went againe into France to Pope Eugenius the third ( who then liued at Auignon ) to haue his Order confirmed ; who admiring much at his deuotion and forwardnesse , confirmed his Order . From thence he came backe to England , and gaue his Friers and Nunns a Rule , which he had formerly taken out of Saint Benet and Saint Augustines Rules . Of these Religious Votaries chastitie , one Nigellus Wireker , an ancient Poet , wrote these ensuing verses : Nigellus in speculo stultorum . Quid de Sempringham , quantùm aut qualia dicam Nescio ; nam nouares me dubitare facit . Hoc tamen ad presens , nulla ratione remittam , Nam necesse nimis fratribus esse reor , Quod nunquam nisi clam , nulla sciente sororum Cum quocunque suo fratre manere licet .

Thus I finde these Verses of Sempringham Englished many yeares since : What should I much prate , An order it is begun of late Yet will I not let the matter so passe , The silly Friers and Nunnes , alasse , Can haue no meeting but late in the darke , And this , you know well , is a heauie warke .

The same Poet wrote likewise these Verses . Canonici Missam tantùm , reliquumque sorores Explent officij debitajura sui : Corpora , non voces , murus distinguit in vnum . Psallant , directo Psalmatis absque mero . That is to say : The Monks sing the Masse , the Nuns sing the other , Thus doe the Sisters take part with the Brother : Bodies , not voices , a wall doth disseuer ; Without deuotion they sing together .

And of the Nunnes he wrote thus : Harum sunt quaedam steriles , quaedam parientes , Virgineo tamen nomine cuncta tegunt . Quae pastoralis baculi dotatur honore , Illa quidem melius , fertiliusque parit . Vix etiam quaenis sterilis reperitur in illis Donec eius aetas talia posse negat : That is to say : Some Nunnes are barren , and some bearing best , Yet all are Virgins at principall Feasts : She that is Abbesse as doth her befall , In fruitfull bearing is best of them all . Scarce one shall you finde among the whole rout That is vnfruitfull till age comes about .

But now adaies ( God be blessed ) this Sect among others is quite extinguished , for since the dissolution of the Abbeys here in England , which was in the reigne of King Henry the eight , or to say the truth , since the beginning of the Reigne of Queene Elizabeth , these Gilbertins were neuer heard of .