They were still resolute to assert their exemption from the common justice of the land, though the mild punishments of the bishops' courts carried as little dismay as ever into the mass of disorderly clerks.

But privileged as they thus held themselves against all interference from the lay world without them, they carried on a ceaseless interference with the affairs of this lay world through their control over wills, contracts and divorces.

No figure was better known or more hated than the summoner who enforced the jurisdiction and levied the dues of their courts.

By their directly religious offices they penetrated into the very heart of the social life about them.

But powerful as they were, their moral authority was fast passing away.