Cap. XXII. The friar who transgresses the rule of his order is an apostate and a follower of the apostate fiend. He finds entrance everywhere, and everywhere he lays snares, encourages hatred, and fosters impurity. Under a veil of virtuous simplicity he conceals a treacherous heart. These are ministers of the Synagogue rather than of the Church, children of Hagar, not of Sara.
Cap. XXIII. They are dispersed over the world like the Jews, and everywhere they find ease and abundance. Their churches and their houses are built in the most costly style and adorned with the richest ornaments. No king has chambers more magnificent than theirs, and their buildings are a mark of their worldly pride. Unless their souls are fair within, this outward pomp of religion is of no avail.
Cap. XXIV. Friars differ from one another in the garb of their order, but all equally neglect their rule. Only the order founded by brother Burnel still maintains its former state. Two rules of this order I will set forth, which are almost everywhere received. The first is that what the flesh desires, that you may have; and the second that whatever the flesh shrinks from, that you should avoid. So the new order of Burnel is thought better than those of Benedict or Bernard.
Thus, if bad times come, I shall hold that the error of the Clergy is the cause. The body is nothing without the spirit: we have darkness instead of light, death instead of life, and the flock is scattered abroad without a shepherd.
Liber Quintus.
Cap. I. I will speak in the second place of the order of Knighthood. This was established first to defend the Church, then for the good of the community, and thirdly to support the cause of the widow and orphan. If a knight performs these duties, he should have praise, but not if he makes war merely for the sake of glory.
If a knight overcomes his enemies, but is overcome by the love of a woman, he has no true glory, for he makes himself a slave instead of free.
Cap. II. If the knight would reflect on the variety and uncertainty of love, he would not allow himself so easily to be made captive.
Cap. III. But when he sees beauty in woman decked out with all its charms, he thinks it divine and marvellous, and he can offer no effectual resistance. Lovers are blind and are driven by every kind of unreasonable impulse. Women deceive men, and men also deceive and betray women.
Cap. IV. The knight has little need to fear bodily wounds, which may easily be healed; but love is not to be cured by physicians, and this deprives him both of reason and of honour.