Against the corruption of Rome one cry of hatred and contempt arises from a crowd of witnesses.

Dante's fiery denunciations, Jacopone's threats, the fierce invectives of Petrarch, and the thundering prophecies of Joachim lead the chorus.

Boccaccio follows with his scathing irony.

'Send the most obstinate Jew to Rome,' he says, 'and the profligacy of the Papal Court will not fail to convert him to the faith that can resist such obloquy.'[1] Another glaring scandal was the condition of the convents.

All novelists combine in painting the depravity of the religious houses as a patent fact in social life.