Note 499 — XII. PETER DAMIANI.

Nam pro eo quod filius sacerdotis dicitur, si cæteræ virtutes in eum conveniant, non rejicimus, sed suffragantibus meritis connivendo, eum recipimus.—Alex. II. Epist. 133. Baronius attributes to this the date of 1071.

The contrast between the weakness of Alexander and the unbending rigidity of his successor, Hildebrand, is well shown by comparing this unlimited acceptance of priestly offspring with the refusal of the latter to permit the elevation of a clerk requested by both his bishop and the King of Aragon, simply because he was illegitimate, although in other respects admitted to be unexceptionable (Gregor. VII. Lib. II. Epist. 50). We have already seen that even amid the license which prevailed during the early part of the century, some German bishops habitually refused orders to the sons of priests.