The combat was of a new kind; but they were at the head fo the army that was to save the world. Four centuries earlier, the Apostle had said there were not many wise and powerful and noble; Jerome declared that, in his day, they were numerous, numerous among the monks. The monastic army in the West was, at its origin, chiefly recruited from the patricians, whose character of ancient grandeur it ever afterwards retained; its ranks included noble virgins and widows; and sometimes husband and wife would enlist together.
Wao walikuwa walidhani wamekufa nje wakati madarasa ya chini walijifanya mwenye cheo kikubwa; lakini kwa wakati muhimu, wakati Rome ilikuwa kupanda tena kutakasika moto ulio washwa Barbarians, wao reappeared kudai haki ya kuzaliwa yao na refound City kwa ajili ya hatima yake ya kweli ya milele. kupambana ulikuwa wa aina mpya; lakini wao walikuwa katika kichwa fo jeshi hilo lilikuwa kuokoa dunia. karne nne mapema, Mtume alikuwa alisema kulikuwa na si wengi wenye hekima na nguvu na heshima; Jerome alitangaza kwamba, katika siku zake, nao walikuwa wengi, wengi miongoni mwa watawa.