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It is clear that the Pope's were foremost interested in the destruction of the" Heirat aus Liebe" (love match) of the clergy. The main reason was to avoid having children of a clergyman's marriage inherit any worldly goods. All possessions of a Priest was to go to the Church. So, the intentions of the Papal chair, was not the upholding of chastity as most people like to believe. It was utmost greed!!
Many Bishops were not in favor of sanctions against the married Priests. They did not want to see the Papacy incite drastic actions against Priest's marriages or having affairs with concubines. It was in their favor to have their Priests disobey the Papal orders, because, if the Priest paid a certain amount to the Bishop, he could practically get away with "murder".
Heinrich von Hewen, who was Bishop of Konstanz, a city located am Bodensee (lake Constance, southwest of Germany) was used to a very luxuriant life style. During the middle of the 15. Century, this "Gentlemen" his main income were "duties" paid by his Cleric's for the permission to keep their concubines. His yearly subsidiary income arrived from the sins of his Pastors was approx. 2,000 Gulden.
At the time of the Reformation (16th century) many Priests and Monks had to pay 12 Taler for every child they produced (in wedlock or outside).Under these circumstances it was understandable that none of the Bishops ever wanted to have the law of celibacy enforced. Eventually, the Pope's did acknowledge that these circumstances were working to their own advantages as well. So it was decreed: Every Cleric, if he had a female companion or not, was married or not, had to pay a "WHORE RENT" to the Papal chair. There is proof that Concubinage was so widely spread, that contemporary philosophers and/or writers reported on this situation. Nicholaus de Clemanzis , Papal "Geheimschreiber", "Schatzmeister" and "Kanonikus" of the Church of Langres, who died in 1440 as Kantor and Archdiakonus of Liseur did describe his impressions of what happened within the Church. He considered the Bishops as beasts. They allowed most any hideous and monstrous crimes against humanity FOR MONEY. The greed for power and money, pride, indulging in good food and wine made them truly black sheep. They kept their out-of-wedlock children and their whores in their houses and behaved gruesome in their Churches. It was common knowledge, that if a male wanted to pursue a life of easiness and lethargy , there was no better trade than to be a Priest. One of the greatest problems, next to the sexual, was drunkenness. When in good spirit, the saying was: "We are the salt of the earth, but one has to moist it, as no good mind lives in Dryness." Specially in the Monasteries, good food and spirits (wine and beer) were very important for the well being of these "representatives of GOD". I would like to give an example of the extravagant life style of these HERMITS. On the day of the installation of Georg Nevils, Archbishop of York, following was consumed:
62 Cooks, 515 Kitchen helpers were needed to prepare this sumptuous meal. 1000 servers brought it to the tables. NOT BAD, FOR THE SERVANTS OF GOD!!.
Enough of this - I just wanted to give you a factual account how these monsters lived - on the backs of the poor. I would like to return to the favorite pastimes of the Priests and Monks. during the Synod of Basel (1431 - 1448) a futile effort was made to delete the orders of the Vatican.There were cool minds who did advocate to have the cleric marry and have a family Life. The "Geheimschreiber and Zeremonionmeister" (Secret writer and Master of Ceremony), Clemens Sylvius Piccolomini , on the court of the Pope, among others, favored this move. It was brought to the attention of the Synod, that Pope's were married before, even St. Peter had a woman. Bishops of great foresight, good character and concerned about their Priests and Monks, as Bishop Berthold of Strassburg and Bishop Stephan of Brandenburg, fought in vain. He pointed out that in his diocese, many of his Priests are keeping women for the purpose of sexual gratification and that they in general are conducting themselves slovenly. He continued: These Priests think it to be a trifle to commit sexual offenses and adultery.
One of the Bishops thought that this was not really something to be worried about. It was not so much what sins they committed , but rather the fact that they admitted them openly. Yes, they openly celebrated the birth of a child, invited their fellow Priests and Monks for the festivities. In some countries, where it was common knowledge of the "whore-like" behavior of the Cleric , one closed both eyes and let be....In Switzerland, some jurisdictions authorized the legacy of the Testament of a priest toward his children. Bishop of Tarent, the legate of the Pope for Switzerland, was informed about the many out-of-wedlock children of the Priests & Monks. He was accused to be in conspiracy with the Priests by not putting down the law. It was brought to his attention that the nuns of his district are on the loose and do whatever they wished. He remarked:"They will be punished if they get pregnant and will be incarcerated, blissful are the ones who are infertile!!
It was not just the life style of the Priests and Monks, but also the spreading of venereal disease.Contemporary writing of Medical Doctors of that time period, tell horror stories of illnesses directly related to sexual misconduct. It was allegedly that the German citizens, doing service in the French Army, brought home with them this disease, called: "Lust-epidemic". Some medical Doctors advanced the notion that this disease was spread mostly by the cleric. Dr. Wendelin Hock, requested the Duke of Wuerttemberg to keep the debauchery of the Cleric in check or " the whole country will be a pest". Bartholomaeus Montagne, Professor of Medical Science, had first hand experience dealing with the "holy people's" venereal diseases. It came so far, that in some cities, special hospitals were created to accommodate these victims of beastliness. He reminded everyone that even Pope Alexander VI. and his second in command, Archbishop von Segovia had also syphilis. No wonder, the Archbishop was the warden of the whore houses in Rome. He took his job so seriously, that he died on the Job!!
When the Reformation came about, the outcry of the upper class, the ruling class and also the working class, against the rotten behavior of the Priests,Monks and Bishops, became like a huge tidal wave.Geiler von kaisersberg (died 1510) was a teacher of Theologie to Freiburg and later Preacher at Strassburg.He told his Bishops: " If none-chaste Priests would be prevented from holding holy mass, there would be no one left to serve in the Church.Kaspar Torella first Cardinal on the court of Alexander VI., Bishop of St. Justa in Sardinia and personal physician of the Pope admonished the cleric: " Do not have any sexual experiences short after holy mass, but it would be much better for the digestion to do it after lunch. This would not interfere with the general health".
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