Note 93 — Chapter XIX · : The Monastery of St. Aliquis[89]: Buildings. Organization. An Ill-Ruled Abbey.

While such children would be sometimes presented out of motives of genuine piety, to save their own souls or to redeem those of their relatives, often they were thrust into the convent merely to dispose of unwelcome heirs or to avoid the cost of rearing them. Wise abbots would, of course, sift out such cases carefully.