In the hour of their distress they cast their eyes greedily--as in the Norman and Angevin days--on the riches of the Church.

Never had her wealth been greater.

Out of a population of some three millions the ecclesiastics numbered between twenty and thirty thousand.

Wild tales of their riches floated about the country.

They were said to own in landed property alone more than a third of the soil, while their "spiritualities" in dues and offerings amounted to twice the king's revenue.