Note 581 — Chapter III
Reading edition
Vet. An. 290. “Cum fames populum oppressisset, essetque impossibile unius copiis generalem afflictorum indigentiam sustentari, ex communi cleri plebisque consilio, aurum et argentum quod erat in tabula altaris sanctorum martyrum Gervasii et Protasii pius temerator accepit; illudque fideli dispensatione pauperibus erogavit.” Compare the action of Abbot Leofric of Saint Alban’s, and the “prædictæ rationes” which led him so to act, together with the argument of Matthew Paris with regard to its lawfulness; Gest. Abb. i. 29, 30.