'None the less, even if I had done it for
the reason attributed to me, the departure from the usual custom
would have been in no way illogical.
CHAPTER XII
OF THE PERSECUTION DIRECTED AGAINST HIM BY SUNDRY NEW ENEMIES OR,
AS IT WERE, APOSTLES
And so I dwelt in this place, my body indeed hidden away, but my
fame spreading throughout the whole world, till its echo
reverberated mightily-echo, that fancy of the poet's, which has so
great a voice, and nought beside. My former rivals, seeing that
they themselves were now powerless to do me hurt, stirred up
against me certain new apostles in whom the world put great faith.
One of these (Norbert of Premontre) took pride in his position as
canon of a regular order; the other (Bernard of Clairvaux) made it
his boast that he had revived the true monastic life. These two ran
hither and yon preaching and shamelessly slandering me in every way
they could, so that in time they succeeded in drawing down on my
head the scorn of many among those having authority, among both the
clergy and the laity. They spread abroad such sinister reports of
my faith as well as of my life that they turned even my best
friends against me, and those who still retained something of their
former regard for me were fain to disguise it in every possible way
by reason of their fear of these two men.
Pages:
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100