00 MEDL'EVAL CIVILIZATION Church. Let him bo accursed in his town, accursed in his Held, accursed in his home. Lei no Christian speak to him, or eat with him; La no priest say mass for him, nor give him the communion; Id him be buried like the ass. . . . And as these torches cast clown by our hands are about to be extinguished so may the light of his life bo extinguished unless he repent and give satisfaction by his devotion/' In the de\enth century the "interdict" began to be employed against the lord who braved the excom- munication. The clergy deprived of the sacraments not only the suzerain, but all the people in his domains: in all the length and breadth of his possessions no one could be married or buried, the church bells were not rung; the people chastised together with their suzerain were obliged to fast, and to let the hair grow as a sign of mourning. Thus did the clergy force the lords to respect the laws of religion, and also prevent them from taking possession of the property of the church. REFORM IX THE CHURCH Confusion of Power—In the eleventh century the spiritual power over the soul and the temporal power over the body were not sharply defined. Bishops and abbots were not only religious chiefs, they had a large share of political power. Because of their large domains they were great lords, seigniors, sovereigns over their peasants and over their vassal knights. Mure than that, kings, princes and all men at arms needed the help of the ecclesiastics in the, for them, too complicated cares of the government. The bishops